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Help Please: Overnight stop between Toulouse and Niort. Early March

Posted by on

Bonjour!
Taking a train from Northern Spain and arriving in Toulouse around 2pm on SUNDAY, Mar 8th 2026. Picking up family at Niort train station the following day around noon, and would like a great stop-over hotel/town along the way. Renting car in Toulouse and would like it be about 2- 2.5 hrs from Niort so we don't have leave too early that next morning. Niort is near an ancestral village my dad would like to see, Thorigne.

Would love a romantic hotel/chatueau/castle to stay with restaurant on-site OR, a small town/village with hotel that we can walk around for dinner, etc. Château de Castel Novel in Dordogne looked cool.

Any "must-stops" along the way would be great as well.....

Would love to get in sooner to Toulouse, but can't figure better train time from Figueres, Spain. Toulouse seemed like a good middle-ground for time on train and driving. Any advice on better ways to get there, places to switch over from train to car or other travel logistists is welcomed as well. Cross-border car return was too costly.
Thank you!
Rex

Posted by
3204 posts

Maybe the Relais de Saint Prieul?
It's a bit out in the countryside, but on your route with a slight detour.

https://rdsp.fr/

It's near Cognac, 1 hour 45 minutes' drive to Niort and 3.5 hours from Toulouse.

Posted by
1665 posts

I've not been there myself, but Limoges, looks like an interesting place to stop. There is a lot of info online, including a 3D map. I would be interested in the history of Porcelain manufacturing. Looks like many Castles, Palaces and Abbeys, etc. in the surrounding areas. P.S. Look on maps for driving distance times! It looks Limoges is within the 2.5 hrs. from Niort. Bon Voyage!

Posted by
2516 posts

rexbenton,.
Have you investigated finding a car rental place that is open on a Sunday afternoon? Perhaps Toulouse, being a fairly large city, won't have the limitations for car rental that so many places in France have. I think that should be your first consideration. (Just in case you have to wait until Monday morning to get a car, where you stay Sunday night may be moot.)
Best of luck.

Posted by
3204 posts

Have you investigated finding a car rental place that's open on a
Sunday afternoon?

This is indeed often something to check in some provincial towns, but I reassure the OP that most agencies are open on sundays at Toulouse Matabiau station.

However, since this is France, some may be temporarily closed during lunchtime.

Posted by
1982 posts

When we drove from Sarlat to La Rochelle (June, 2025) , we stopped for a mid-day break in Brantome. That might be a good overnight stop. It's a bit more than halfway between Toulouse and Niort.

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