France Itinerary Help

Looks pretty good. Each traveler would do that route somewhat differently, of course.

You'll be jet lagged on the drive to Chartres, so be extra careful on the drive.

You can do Giverny in 2 or 3 hours, once you get there, it doesn't require an overnight unless you really want to sleep in Giverny, but if you want to do that, go for it.

I see several 1 night stands: if that's your travel style, great. As you probably know, a 1 night stand means you probably have about 1/2 a day to see and do the stuff, in that area, that you paid all that money to come to France to see and do.

You might want to look at returning the car in Versailles or on the outskirts of Paris, rather than driving all the way out to CDG. I just did a quick search on some random dates in July, and there seem to be a number of companies with offices in Versailles.

I spent about a week in the Loire Valley last October; we started at Azay-le-Rideau to see the more western chateaux, then moved to a little cottage south of Amboise, on the Cher, for the rest of our stay. Your plan of the central Loire [maybe around Amboise?] and then Chinon looks good.

Have a great trip!

Regarding your night 12 at Giverny - we drove from Bayeaux to Giverny, saw Monet's garden from 10 to 2 and then drove to Paris. I don't see any reason to stay in Giverny overnight. See day 10 of https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/france/paris-france

I think that the D-Day beaches require a tour guide, otherwise, you are just looking at sand. One of the nicest experiences I had on the tour was seeing the relatively large number of French at the D-Day sites and the American cemetery.

I googled & found a traveler reporting on his trip that had a similar itinerary to the one you posted - http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/just-back-from-10-days-in-normandy-brittany-loire-valley-and-paris.cfm
and there's this - https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/france/itinerary

Like the Fodor's traveler, I liked Cancale and Dinan where, on my trip, we stayed for just a few hours. Dinan is very picturesque and Cancale's food makes it worth the stop but Cancale is rather plain. I would want to see a coastal village or harbor town like Beuvron-en-Auge or Honfluer.

I agree with Kent about the drive from CDG to Chartres, just take it easy and remember how tired you probably are. Ordinarily I'd say Chartres wouldn't require two nights, but you might want to put off the cathedral till after a night's sleep (i.e. on day 3).

You're wise to spend at least two nights in each town, and I think splitting your Loire stay between Chinon and somewhere east of Tours (Amboise would be good) makes sense.

According to Via Michelin, it's about 2 hours from Chinon to Rennes and less than an hour from Rennes to MSM. I haven't been to Rennes but I wonder what draws you there for a night when you could easily move on to MSM that day, giving you another full day for Normandy or Paris. As you may have already found, the Via Michelin site is useful for route-planning though it probably underestimates driving times. So add some to the above, but it still seems like an easy day from Chinon to MSM with a stop in Rennes for whatever you want to see or do there. (But ignore this paragraph if you're seeing friends or something that means a lot to you.)

It does seem like on day 12 you could drive from Normandy (say, Bayeux) to Giverny, see the gardens and museum, and be in Versailles that night. You could drop the car there (saving a day's rental?), and on day 13 leave your luggage with your hotel, see the palace and gardens, reclaim luggage, and RER into Paris. Maybe a taxi from the RER stop to your hotel since you have bags. You probably won't pay more to return the car in a different city, as long as it's in the same country.

Hi All,

Thank you very much for all of your ideas.

Based on your inputs, and on the info I have just received regarding Tour de France 2016 below, I will re-plan, and will ask your inputs again.

http://www.velowire.com/article/880/en/the-race-route-of-the-first-tour-de-france-2016-stages-in-google-maps-google-earth.html

Again, thank you very much. Your inputs are very valuable to me.

Perhaps overnight in Rouen on Day 12 and return the car here. Do Versailles as a day trip from Paris.

Coming from Giverny to Paris you can drive through the scenic Vexin region, just north of the Seine. La Roche-Guyon is worth a stop.