Hey guys were going to do the 3 week rick steves driving trip of france but I am augmenting it by driving from sarlat to annecy and then going to nice after that and flying out from there. Can someone please give me advice of where to stay for one night in the middle of sarlat and annecy so that i do not have a 6 hour drive? Also im cutting out Arles by doing this, is it really someplace that should be seen?
Thanks in advance
Tom
Posted by
USA
383 posts
Arles is a good place to visit; nice preserved downtown to walk around in and Roman forum & theatre to see. But on a trip you can't see everything.
Which brings me to my main point. I assume you mean a trip such as the one RS gives at https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/france/itinerary Sure, you can set foot in all the places he lists. But many people find the pace relentless. The search engine on the site isn't that great but look for older posts about RS best-of itineraries. One night stays are tiring, and if you look at the distances the 2-nite stays are more like a day-and-change.
IMHO Rick and his guidebook authors also have what is called "the curse of knowledge" (yes, its a real thing, you can look it up). They have a good understanding of what tourists like and opinions on what to see. What they no longer have is the ability to drive to a city they've never been before and understand what it's like trying to figure out how to get around town. Rick and Steve Smith can do this easily, they've been all these places multiple times. But you haven't.
Overview trips can work better on a guided tour when someone else is doing the driving and you have a guide that knows how to get to each site, where the tour schedules admission to castles and museums so you don't wait in lines. And even these tours are a bit tiring.
An alternative trip, since you have 3 weeks, is to focus on two or three areas and see them in more depth. His itinerary has Honfleur, Bayeaux, Dinan in a little over 3 days. We spent 12 days in Brittany/Normandy and still feel there is so much more to see! Dinard is nice, as is St. Malo across the harbor. Lunch in Cancale with the best oysters in the world. See the cliffs that inspired many Impressionists in Etretat. Sample Calvados in the beautiful Normandy countryside. Visit Rouen where Joanne of Arc met her end, and the often-overlooked city of Rennes. Find a perfect piece of pottery in Quiberon. The point is you'll see none of this in your 3 days in the region.
Posted by
59 posts
Two weeks ago we stayed at an air bnb right across from city hall in Annecy. Very convenient to everything. And nice. Alice’s home is the name. Good parking in underground garage very close. Walk to the park by the Lake and have coffe and croissants. From there we drove to Cassis. Back up to Grenoble and the charmonix. Flew out of geneva