Hi! We are planning our first trip to France. We have family in Bordeaux and was thinking of renting a car to drive down. Although I am very experienced in planning road trips in the US I am a bit nervous about planning this.
I rented a mini-van (3 adults and 3 kids...ages 14 11 10) for a great price! Is it worth driving...are there any cool places to stop along the way?
Please help!
Will you be visiting Dordogne as well? People love it and the touring the area does work best with a car. Have you seen the rick Steves France videos? He doesn't have one for Bordeaux, as far as I know, But there is one for Dordogne.
I would have a few days in the Venise Vert, based near Coulon and take a boat trip on the waterways or hire bikes to cycle round the pretty villages.
Head to the island of Oleron or Re and have a few days here before heading to Bordeaux.
There are tons of great towns, abbeys, castles, ports, farms, forests, vineyards, prehistoric sights, etc. to visit. It's not much different than planning in the US, find ideas for what you might enjoy then plot them out on Google maps. See if you can link some together into a logical itinerary, ideally a loop route that includes Bordeaux.
