Chamonix to Paris

It's a long drive, about 7 hours to Paris with short breaks but without traffic. You'd have up to about 4 hours in Fontainebleau, which is enough, but no time for another stop in my opinion. Plus you'd have to set out early in order to arrive in time before the Palace closes.

Personally I would try to drop off the car in Annecy and take the train, tolls and gas cost about as much as one and a half full-price train tickets.

But it's only a matter of comfort. If you don't mind a longish drive and can share the wheel, your plan will work. Avoid Saturdays in Feb and July-Aug (holiday traffic), and Sundays year-round for the evening drive into Paris.

We will be going on a Tuesday in June. I hadn't considered dropping the car in Annecy. We will take turns driving and are used to long drives in the US. Going to drop the car at Orly instead of driving all the way to the hotel

Yes, we have considered the train, but it becomes cheaper to and less time consuming when you factor in the shuttle from Geneva airport to Chamonix. Plus, we really like the idea of exploring the countryside at our speed. all in one day of course ;)

I posted this on the wrong thread originally.

You won’t be exploring the countryside, you’ll be exploring the autoroute. And you will still need to get from Orly into town somehow, which isn’t free.

Uh oh!! Fontainebleau is closed on Tuesday!! That's the day we are driving. Any other suggestions? How far out of the way is Versailles?

Versailles is not on your way, and you wouldn't have enough time to do it justice.
Beaune is, however. It's a great lunch stop, you can easily reach it by 1pm from Chamonix. You can then visit the Hospices after lunch and keep going.

I second the other comment, you will not see much of the countryside, but as motorways go, the one from Chamonix to Paris is quite scenic. Especially the stretch between Geneva and Bourg en Bresse, and between Beaune and Avallon.

And I'm not sure I understand the comment on a shuttle to Geneva Airport? Since you have a car, you would simply drive it to your train station of choice and hand it in?

Thank you! Someone asked me about taking the train and I was trying to explain that renting a car was less expensive and faster since we would have to pay for a shuttle. I will look into Beaune, thanks!

I see Vaux le Vicomte is near the route too. Worth a visit? The other option is to spend more time in Chamonix that morning and leave mid-afternoon and drive straight to Paris. We only have a day and half there.

Vaux le vicomte is worth it but last entry is at 5 pm. You'd need to leave Chamonix at 9 am latest. I would suggest a stop closer to the midway point of the drive, hence Beaune, but there are other options.

I'm very disappointed about Fontainebleau. I really want a to see a castle.

There's a very nice castle south of Beaune in LaRochepot.

It not a palace like Versailles, but it is a castle.

Or you could find a castle between Chamonix and Annecy and take the train the rest of the way. There are lots of castles in France.

There's a castle in Menthon Saint Bernard near Annecy, above the lake, quite impressive!

I have done this trip multiple times, forget about the train, it take way to long and is quite expensive. With a car rental you are free to do how you please. I usually do Paris- Lyon in about 4 hours, then lyon-Chamonix in 2.5 hours. If you want to take a break I consider doing so before Lyon because that area can get quite congested. Annecy might be a little out of the way but honestly is worth seeing, especially under good whether and without crowds.

Wow!!! Any suggestions of good stops along the way? I thought the train looked crazy long and expensive, but this is all new to me.

Huh? Lyon isn't really on the way from Paris to Chamonix... And driving Paris to Lyon in 4 hours is impossible if you obey speed limits. Scratching my head here!

As for the crazy long train : from Chamonix, yes. But since you'll have a car you can drive to Annecy, drop the rental car, and take the train there, right? Then it's a 3.5 hour train journey. And you can see Annecy, which is a great suggestion.

You're talking about an eight hour day, why add to it?