Guedelon - looking for an overnight "home base" within driving distance

Hi Lisa,

From Paris to the Dordogne via Guedelon—that is what you are seeking, right? I probably do not need to tell you that the latter is not exactly enroute to the former.

If the idea is to visit Guedelon and then advance towards the Dordogne, I think you can do better than Orleans. Bourges, perhaps? It is supposed to have a magnificent cathedral.

In the more immediate area is Vezeley, a stunning French hill town, though in the wrong direction.

The Bourges strategy might look like this: Train to Cosne, rent a car, visit Guidelon, drive to Bourges.

If you have another day, though, which it sounds like you do, you might take the train to Auxerre, rent a car, drive to Vezeley, spend the night, see Guidelon the next day, and proceed from there. Vezeley is really spectacular, and there are some very pretty towns on the road to V from Auxerre.

Hi, Adam~

Yes, we know it's a bit of a detour but we really want to visit the castle. I appreciate your suggestions and will take a look at Vezelay and Auxerres. They definitely look closer and (hopefully) not so touristy. We'll probably take 2 days for this detour before heading down to Carcassonne -- 1 day to catch the train, rent the car, and see the castle; the 2nd day to see the area and head south (or maybe flip-flop the two).

Thanks for the help!

Your closest city is Auxerre, which does have a car rental. That's about a 1.45 hour train ride and then a 40-50 minute drive on Departmental roads. (Vezelay, though magnificent, is quite a bit out of the way southeast.)

However, I would just get an early start. Pick up a car at Orly. Drive to Guedelon, which is only two hours, visit most of the day, and then head out to your overnight stop. Orleans is a two-hour drive mostly on two-lane roads. Bourges is the best suggestion, only 1.5 hours on 2 and 4-lane roads. This is a wonderful suggestion with the Cathedral and the famous Jacques Coeur Palace. Bourges puts you on our most direct route to pick up the autoroute towards the Dordogne.

If you still want to go to Orleans, I'm going to suggest a counter-intuitive route. You could drive one hour north from Guedelon to Montargis (on two-lane roads) where you would pick up autoroutes for the rest of your trip. Otherwise, the trip is two hours on two-lane roads to Orleans. Though picturesque, two-lane roads are slower, especially when you've got a tractor in front of you.

Since my in-laws lived in northern Burgundy, I've driven this whole area quite a bit. Going east-west is somewhat of a pain, but better now with the new autoroute going through Montargis.

You've added some details. Carcassonne isn't in the Dordogne, but it's in southern France, in the Aude department of the Languedoc, almost at the Mediterranean Sea. You could still go via Bourges and Limoges. If you have two days, you would have time to pick up a car in Auxerre and see Vezelay, as suggested. Note: it is quite touristic in Vezelay. but definitely worth going. Afterwards, you could either stay in Vezelay, go back and stay the night in Clamecy, an interesting town, or in Auxerre, to be on your way to Guedelon in the morning and on to Bourges for the evening.

Well, I would disagree with a couple of the opinions posted thus far.

First, having been to Bourges and Orléans several times, I think Orleans has more to offer and is more interesting. I'd take the downtown area of Orléans, its squares, and the Cathédrale Saint-Croix d'Orleans over the Jacques Coeur Palace any day.

Second, you mentioned you would be making this trip in the fall. I've visited the hilltop town of Vézelay twice: in October and in January. On neither visit did I find it to be touristy. Perhaps in June through August when the pilgrims come through, it can be touristy, but not in the off-season, in my experience.

Auxerre (pronounced Oh-sair, not Ox-air) is a relatively small (compared to Bourges or Orléans), old town that has some decent restaurants and is worth at least a part of a day or an overnight.

Saint-Fargeau is a small town about a one-hour train trip from Paris and seems to have a car rental facility (www.communes.com/bourgogne/yonne/saint-fargeau_89170/location-voiture.html). While not a touristic hot spot it is only 15 minutes or so from Guedelon.

I can't improve on the suggestions already made for touring bases. But I do want to to put in a strong thumbs up for the Guedelon construction project itself.
It's always a matter of what your interests are, but I could have stayed all day at Guedelon. There's so much going on and nothing like you'll see elsewhere. I hope you enjoy it.

There's a little mix up because there's more than one Saint-Fargeau involved here. The one near Paris, in the 77 department, is only an hour's train ride. The one in the 89 department, next to Guedelon, is over three hours via Auxerre, with a change to a bus to the small town of Saint-Fargeau. The owner of the Saint-Fargeau Chateau is the person financing Guedelon, so indeed, Saint-
Fargeau and Guedelon are intertwined, but it is the one in the 89/Yonne Department. There is a car rental in the 89 Saint-Fargeau, as bob71 posted, but it takes 3+ hours to get there by train in bus. I was a bit perplexed by the mention of a one-hour drive, so I looked it up.

By far the easiest and fastest is to pick up a car at Orly and shoot down the Autoroute A6 to the A77 to Guedelon in two hours. I haven't been there for ten years; time to go back.

If you want to check transportation, go to rome2rio.com. For itineraries and driving time: viamichelin.com

Ah... the old more than one city with the same name trick. A periodic curse in France.
Thanks for the correction.