6 weeks in France

What a wonderful trip you are going to have! This is an impossible question to answer, but I will give it a try. I would do something like a week in each of the following: Nomandy, Brittany, Atlantic coast, Dordogne, Auvergne, Burgundy. That doesn't include Fontainebleau. And it's hard to see a region in one week, so you could easily spend 2 weeks per region.

My personal favorite is Auvergne because I studied there long ago. We spent a week there last summer and loved the small villages, wonderful churches and great hiking. We stayed in Salers and Orcival. You will see a lot of cows, not many vineyards. Cuisine is peasant food -- full of potatoes and very filling. You won't see tons of foreigners here. Many Parisians trace there roots back to Auvergne -- it's the heart of France. I would love to go back!

If you've consulted a good guidebook you must have some idea of what areas you want to visit. The RS book focuses on Normandy, Alsace, Burgundy, the Loire, the Dordogne, Provence, and the Riviera, all fine tourist destinations but not all France offers. A more comprehensive guide like Lonely Planet or the DK series might give you more ideas for such a long trip -- lucky you!

Once you know what regions you want to visit, try Gites de France to find accommodations, with the help of a map. I believe most of these rentals run from Sunday to Sunday, or Saturday to Saturday, so your 7-day timelines should work. Other vacation rental sites, like homeaway.com, could provide other options. Whether you'll want to be in medium-size towns like Beaune (Burgundy) or Amboise (Loire) or Sarlat (Dordogne), or in small villages or rural cottages may depend on how much cooking vs. restauranting you want to do. Smaller villages will have limited eating-out options.

Google Earth and its "street view" feature can give you an up-close preview of any town or village you're considering. You can set it up to show you restaurants, hotels, museums, churches, grocery stores, and all kinds of other useful or interesting places.

If you'll travel only as far south as Sarlat you'll miss a lot of France, including Provence. With the time you have, you could easily spread your itinerary across the country. But maybe you're not looking further south because you've been to those areas before and don't want to return.

Hope this helps you get started.

With this amount of time I would divide it up into aprox week long increments with maybe a little in between time -- e.g. a week at a rental in Burgundy with day tripping, then a week in Provence at a rental with some daytripping then a week in the Dordogne with day tripping and then maybe I'd head for the Loire for a few day and on to Normandy/Brittany for a week again renting a base.

I think you need to broadly set out your plan for 6 weeks, then look at individual locations once your route is chosen. For me ...

Week 1 Champagne/Alsace
Week 2 Burgundy/Lyon
Week 3 Cote d'Azur
Week 4 Provence
Week 5 Dordogne/Bordeaux
Week 6 Loire Valley/Normandy

or

Week 1 Burgundy/Lyon
Week 2 Cote d'Azur
Week 3 Provence
Week 4 Dordogne/Bordeaux
Week 5 Brittany
Week 6 Normandy/Picardy

DK Eyewitness has a book, Back Roads France, that has some 20 driving tours all over France. While their tours are designed for a string of 1- and 2-night stays, there's no reason not to stay somewhere central and daytrip to the points on the tour. While there's a lot they don't cover, it's a good tool to start your planning.

I just spent over a week with a car in Burgundy and Alsace in late June. Nearly every little town had a tourist office with maps and brochures. There will be a "wine route" in every area that grows grapes (are there any that don't?). Besides the wine routes, there were food routes and chateau routes. It seemed to me that there were hotels and B&Bs everywhere. France gets a lot of tourists traveling by car (French and other Europeans). I doubt there's an area of the country that isn't
"tourist-friendly."

In Burgundy, I vacillated between Vezelay and Avallon, finally opted to stay in Avallon. I loved my choice, but after visiting Vezelay, I think I would have been just as happy there. In Alsace, I stayed in a village, Equisheim, and was happy with my choice. I returned the car when I got to Strasbourg and spent a couple of lovely days there.

I booked the B&B in Equisheim in March for June and some of the rooms were already taken. When I finally figured out my itinerary, all the highly recommended (and low price) options were fully booked in Burgundy and I ended up paying twice as much. I would expect September to be as busy as June. Also, Les Journées européennes du patrimoine this year in France are September 19-20. That is probably going to be a huge tourist weekend all over the country. If you'll be in France by then and you haven't been in Paris for it, I highly recommend it. All the government buildings are open to the public and it's a one-time opportunity to visit: Luxembourg Palace, Assemblee nationale, Hotel de Ville are all magnificent, to name a few.

With 6 weeks, I'd start by choosing 6 spots that had something special for me, like Arles/VanGogh, Chamonix/Alps, Epernay/champagne, Lascaux/cave art . . . Once you have that, you'll find a logical route on a map. Then you can do some research into what's nearby to see and do. That will help you figure out how much time to spend in each. You may find that you really want to visit an area but only spend 3-4 nights there. You may drop one or two because they are too far or overall less interesting to you. My guess - whatever you choose, you won't go wrong and you'll want to go back to see more.

With so much time it is nice to stay put for a week or so at a time -- you can shop at local markets and cook in rather than eating picnics or in restaurants every day. We have done this in Paris many times but also in the countryside. e.g. we spent a week in a place in Limeuil in the Dordogne (not quite central enough for this but we enjoyed it), a week in Semur en Auxois in Burgundy (heavenly) and a week in Bedouin in Provence. We have also done a week or two in various Tuscan hill towns in Italy. You can of course chop it up a bit but rentals tend to go for a week in the countryside.

Thanks to all for the advise......very helpful. We have travelled extensively in the south of France but not so much in the areas in my question. We will explore many of your recommendations! C

If you are planning on staying 7-8 days in each location, you might consider airbnb or VRBO for places to stay. Obvious advantages are saving money, cooking for yourself with local foods, washing clothes and meeting locals in your neighborhood.
Compay

If you are planning on staying 7-8 days in each location, you might consider airbnb or VRBO for places to stay. Obvious advantages are saving money, cooking for yourself with local foods, washing clothes and meeting locals in your neighborhood.
Compay

Hi,

Great that you have six weeks to spend in France. I would only recommend in addition to other suggestions that you spend a week in the east ie, Alsace-Lorraine or the north, ie, north of the Somme River from Amiens to Nord Pas-de-Calais.

Hi Cindy, check out the itineraries for the RS tours (Tours tab on this site). I've done all of the France tours, and they covered many charming villages and small towns. I really envy you with six weeks to spend in France!

Cindy, we've only been once, but the gite we rented in Volnay near Beaune was wonderful, and sounds like it fits your request for centrally located for day trips. We found it on HomeAway. The property number is #6661438. The proprietress is Charlotte Buffet, and we found her to be absolutely delightful to work with. The house is at their Domain in the heart of the Burgundian wine country -- Domaine Francois Buffet. And it was near enough to Beaune for restaurants and shopping.
Happy travels!

All I have to say is... Lucky you! Have fun! :)

I'll chime in and recommend that you spend some of your time in the region of Languedoc down south. We based ourselves in a small town there called Pezenas for 5 weeks one summer. The town itself is beautiful with winding stone streets and lots of unique shops and restaurants. Their weekly farmer's market is the best in the area and if you're lucky, you'll get a glimpse of the Poulain de Pezenas, a totem animal commemorating a visit by Louis VIII in the 1200s, that is paraded out for festivals.
The whole area is surrounded by vineyards and wineries, is close to beaches, and within easy reach of the Cevennes and the beautiful gorges, caverns, and mountain villages found there.