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France in 22 Days

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We are planning to follow Rick's France in 22 Days driving itinerary. The only tweak we plan to make is to completely skip the 1 day for D Day beaches (we've already been) in favor of more time in Normandy and/or Brittany.

In Normandy, we're planning to go to Giverny, Honfleur, Bayeux, and Mont Saint-Michel. We'd love to squeeze in Rouen.

In Brittany, we're going to Dinan for sure, but are also interested in Saint-Malo.

Any suggestions for how we can optimize our time while also taking it easy on a first-time driver in Europe (me)? Rick's original itinerary is as follows:

Day 1:  Fly into Paris (save Paris sightseeing for your trip finale),
pick up your car, and visit Giverny en route to Honfleur (sleep in
Honfleur)

Day 2:  Morning in Honfleur, afternoon in Bayeux to see its tapestry and cathedral (sleep
in Bayeux)

Day 3:  Spend day touring D-Day sights: Arromanches, American
Cemetery, and Pointe du Hoc — and Utah Beach Landing Museum, if you're
moving fast (sleep in Bayeux)

Day 4:  Drive to Dinan and see its sights. In late afternoon, drive to
Mont St-Michel and visit its abbey (sleep on/near Mont St-Michel)

Day 5:  Head for châteaux country in the Loire Valley. Tour Chambord,
then settle in Amboise and take my guidebook's self-guided town walk
(sleep in Amboise)

Posted by
3326 posts

You’re picking up a car on day one and day two?
I don’t recommend driving on arrival day if you are flying from North America. Driving a foreign car in foreign land after a night of no sleep is not a good idea. Best to wait a night or two before renting a car. Instead of renting a car on day one take a train to Honfleur and skip seeing Giverny.

Posted by
417 posts

I'll add a note of caution. The RS books are great and we use them but the itineraries suffer from the curse of knowledge (it's a real term). It's hard for his guidebook writers who know those towns like the back of their hands to put themselves in the place of a first-timer. So they can easily follow the itinerary & enjoy but it can feel rushed for the first-timer. In town they know where the sites are -- you'll have the small not-to-scale map in the book and have to find them. They've done the drive between places many times, you'll be doing it for the first time and it can be a bit stressful including finding parking and navigating one-way streets. If you look on the forum you can see that at least some people have posted they've tried the RS itineraries and found it rushed.

Posted by
15 posts

Good feedback, thank you! Rick's itinerary does sound ambitious which I admit appeals to me as someone who has limited vacation time, but it does sound sensible to slow down as a first-time driver -- at least at the beginning of the trip.

I think on Day 1, we'll train to Rouen from CDG, pick up our rental car and then drive the 1 hour to Honfleur to spend our first night there. My rationale is that Rouen is a bigger city and rental car selection will be better than in Honfleur. We'll save Giverny as a day trip from Paris at the end of our trip.

Then Day 2 will be Honfleur and Bayeux (and maybe revisit the WWII museum in Caen). Day 3 will be Mont Saint-Michel and the Emerald Coast drive through Saint-Malo to Dinan. Day 4 will be a full day in Brittany -- we'd love to grab some bikes and just explore around the Rance River.

Hope that sounds more reasonable?

Posted by
1522 posts

cherrylv,
Your new plan sounds better, but it is a shame you are not spending at least one night in Rouen. Even with just a few hours in the late afternoon and evening you can visit the beautiful cathedral, see the Grand Horloge, walk among the half-timbered buildings, and enjoy a lovely meal. The start out with renting your car and driving to the coast on day 2, more well-rested also.
Have a great trip!

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