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How does my itinerary look?

My husband and I are taking our 5 kids (ages 7-18) for 23 days to France beginning May 26. The kids travel very well and we are thinking of renting a van (after our stay in Paris) and road-tripping. You'll notice a brief stop in Lyons. I don't want to stay in Lyons but I have a nephew there that we would like to see for lunch. Stopping in Lyon may seem crazy but it is important to us to see him at some point in our trip (we could be flexible on the exact day). Day 7 we are meeting my brother and following his schedule, so it is not changeable. Other than that we are still flexible in our plans. Any suggestions, advice and critiques are welcome! Thanks!!

  • Day 1-5 Paris
  • Day 6- Drive or train to Annency (7 hours), Stay in Lausanne, Switz.
  • Day 7- Gruyeres, Bern, Grindelwald, stay in Grindelwald
  • Day 8- Stay in Grindelwald
  • Day 9 - Drive to Chamonix (3 hours)
  • Day 10 -Stay in Chamonix
  • Day 11 - drive to Lyon (2.5 hours), lunch with nephew, drive to Provence region (stay in undecided central location) (2.5 hours)
  • Day 12-15 Provence with day-trips
  • Day 16 - Drive (or train) from Provence to Amboise (or other town) (7.5 hours)
  • Day 17 - Stay in Amboise (or other town)
  • Day 18 - Drive to Bayeux (or other town) (3.5 hour drive)
  • Day 19-21 Stay in Bayeux with day-trips
  • Day 22 - Bayeux, drive 3 hours in afternoon to Paris
  • Day 23 - Fly Home
Posted by
11027 posts

Finding a 7 passenger van is probably not too difficult. A 7 passenger van with space for 7, PLUS the luggage, may be the challenge. And if you need AT the pool of available vans shrinks.

Start shopping now

Posted by
6428 posts

This is a motion-packed itinerary, you'll be moving your family on seven separate days, a third of all the days you have in France. Each time you move you're packing, checking out, either getting a train or driving, finding a new hotel, checking in, and unpacking. So most of those days are spent just moving yourselves, with a lot of scenery but little time for much else. And you're covering pretty much the whole length of France, a country the size of Texas.

This website will help you find rail options all over Europe, including France. I'd be surprised if you could find a train from Provence to the Loire on Day 16 without having to go into Paris and change stations, a major hassle. But without a city in Provence to use as a starting point I didn't try to research this further. Maybe there's a convenient way by train, but my guess is you'll want to drive.

You have only one full day in the Loire (Day 17), a big area with lots to see, and you'll be tired from the previous day's long journey. But you have three full days in Normandy (Days 19-21) after a shorter journey there. Both areas are great, and you may have strong reasons for wanting to spend that much more time in Normandy, but you might consider a more even balance. Bayeux is a good base for Normandy, you have more choices for the Loire but Amboise would be a good one (Blois might be another).

On Day 22, might as well drive right to CDG and get a hotel there, especially if your flight home is in the morning. The drive isn't difficult, certainly easier than into Paris itself. If time allows you could go back into the city for your last evening, or even overnight if the flight is late enough the next day.