France Itinerary Help Please

Might as well rent the car on the outskirts of Paris and drive to Mt St Michel since there is parking there. Plan to keep it the entire trip; who knows what the train strike situation scheduled so far through June will be

Hi Catherine,

You might consider taking the TGV to Rennes, near MSM, to get your car. In my opinion it makes more sense to drive to the Loire from there than to take the train, which entails returning to Paris and then going back out.

I hope you won't mind my saying that you have really shortchanged nearly all these destinations and I think you will regret it. There is a point at which the logistics-to-experience ration is just too high, and you'd be better of saving a destination for another trip.

In particular, just 2 days on the ground in the Dordogne is a poor payoff for so much time spent going to and from. But a day in Lyon is also pretty stingy. Since you have some allocated days, perhaps you can remedy this.

If you have not actually purchased your tickets yet, there are some improvements you could make to your itinerary by flying home from Toulouse or Bordeaux and starting your trip in Burgundy or Lyon.

Have you been to Paris before? If not I think you need more time there. With 5 nights (4 full days) and 2 days away for Giverny and Versailles, you aren't allowing yourself much time to actually be in Paris.

In my opinion you are moving around too much for the time you have available. Spending 2 nights in a location gives you only one full day. Even with 3 additional nights to allocate you might want to eliminate something. You also need to account for your transportation time in transit. My suggestion is to look at a map and see what seems to be out of the way from a logical route. Also prioritize what is the most important to you. Assume you return some day. If you have listed things in the order you plan to go, you should go to Lyon before Burgundy.

I agree with the PPs. You need at least another night in just about every one if your places. All of that travelling around cuts away from the actual time IN the places you want to see. That means cutting at least one of your choices.

I think the idea of picking up the car in Rennes before going to MSM makes sense. And if you're going to be in Reims on your last night, you might as well just drop off the car at CDG. That way you don't have to worry about the trains. Hopefully you don't have a morning flight. If you do, then you might want to stay closer to CDG the night before.

Agree with Adam that you should take the TGV, a 90 minute ride, to Rennes from Paris Montparnasse, as opposed to the 4h drive. You can rent you car in Rennes. Agree with Adam and Andrea that there is a lot of driving involved for the amount of time in each place. Amboise to Sarlat is over 4 hours, but doing your own navigation, stopping to rest and eat, you need to add a couple more hours. Sarlat to Lyon is also over 4 hours with a couple more added on for meals, rest. This is a drive over the central France mountain range, crossing France from west to east. Lyon to Beaune is reasonable. You could return your car in Dijon and take the train back to Paris, or end in Lyon and start your flight home from there. However, it would be a good idea to make fewer moves and stops but stay for more nights. Adam is suggesting you cut off the top part, MSM and Amboise, to save your time for the areas further south. Or, you could eliminate the eastern side stops, Lyon and Beaune. No matter what you decide to keep or drop, this itinerary looks like a gastronomic delight!

It is my understanding that you are looking for advice on this plan, AND looking to add 3 more days/nights to the plan. Here goes:

Paris 5 nights (including trips to Giverny and Versailles)
Mount St-Michel 1 night

• TGV to Rennes and rent car there
• Spend 3 nights in Dinan, seeing MSM on one of those days

Amboise 2 nights-chateauxs and eat/drink

• No changes

Dordogne 3 nights -caves, drive around to see sights

• Increase to 5 nights

Burgundy/Beaune 2 nights-drive around, food, wine, sights

• Increase to 3 nights

Lyon 2 nights-drive around, food, wine, sights

• Eliminate

Reims 1 night, CDG train in morning to fly out

• No changes

That's 5 additions and 2 subtractions.

-Matt

I agree with Matt. Unless you think you would prefer Lyon over Beaune, which is arguable (it is a great destination). In which case save Burgundy for another time.

You will really be glad of more time in the Dordogne.

PS I did not mean to suggest cutting out MSM or the Loire, sorry if it sounded as though I did. MSM is a logistical outlier, though. La cour a ses raisons.