Need help with travel itinerary: Loire, French Alps, Provence, Barcelona

In reality 3 nights is insufficient time to do Barcelona justice, so perhaps leave it for another trip, and end your journey in Nice.
Your husband may appreciate choosing St Gervais Les Bains from where trains can access Chamonix (in 45mins) and Annecy (in 85mins). By doing both as day trips you would eliminate one hotel move, and potentially free up a night for somewhere else.

Hi Patti. Where are you going after Chamonix? The only Annecy I know of is near Geneva, which is about 6 hours away, not 1. I am curious about the area (Loire) as we will be basing for several days in Amboise this June, and I am working on our itinerary now. If it is close to Amboise, let me caution you about one thing. You didn't say what time of year you will be going, but be aware that your "3.5 hour" drive to Arles may, in fact, take a lot longer than 3.5 hours if you are going at the end of July, especially on Friday. We learned that lesson the hard way last summer. Happy travels.

your itinerary, in my opinion, is far toooo ambitious..in fact i would say "nutty".. is this your first trip to Europe? and of course, how old the 2 of you ?

Take your first day for example, that's an awful lot to do after a sleepless night on a plane,, Google maos says 2hr 20 min to Amboise, i was lucky to make it to Orleans in 2.5 hrs,,

I would chop off Chamonix and Barcelona and figure on soaking in the experience without rushing all over the place. I tracked your route it comes to over 1100 Miles and 18 hours of driving , if you are lucky. , poor hubby would be sick of driving.
If i were planning this trip I would do this:
Paris, Orleans, Amboise, Beaune, Arles and fly home from Marseilles.( total of 885 miles, 9.5 hrs) If you really want Barcelona, its another 260 miles and 4 hrs. I would prefer to relax and enjoy the day and locale where you are rather than doing a treasure hunt.

Hi. Thanks so much for replies so far! Will definitely check out St. Gervais Les Bains. THANKS!
Sherrie: We are going to be in Amboise at the beginning of June! HBU? From there we make the 6+ hour drive to the French Alps (near Geneva). Chamonix will allow us to explore high up in the mountains, whereas Annecy allows us to explore the lake at the base of the mountain. My husband is doing most of the research for this part of the journey, and he says he wants to experience the area near Geneva from both perspectives. GOOD TO KNOW about the added time for drives... I honestly never considered traffic since, well....I'll be on vacation, so traffic doesn't exist. We will be driving to Provence on a Saturday. haha.
NOT our first trip to Europe...one 40 something, one 50 something. Now that you point out how much driving there is... we may see if there is an opportunity to train from Amboise to Chamonix. THX!

Patti,

I think you are on the right track. I've been to all of these except Barcelona, so I won't comment on the last 4 days of your plans. Here's some thoughts:

1. If you want to skip the long drive on day 1, you can take the 10:19am TGV direct from CDG to St Pierre to Corps, and rent a car from EuropeCar (best rates - rent through AutoEurope). They have automatics at that station if that's what you need (I do). You will be in Amboise by 12:30. This is what I like to do, rather than battle the traffic getting around Paris.

2. Yes to both Chamonix and Annecy - I agree with your point of view. I love both of them. You must go up the chair lift at Flegere while in Chamonix - so much fun. In the Alps, note that if you order a baguette, you get a whole wheat baguette - you must specify if you don't want that. Annecy traffic is nuts on Saturday - keep that in mind. The parking garage at the Chateau will fill up early. As you enter the city you will see the status of each parking lot displayed on an electronic board. Rick's recommended hikes in both towns are great.

3. Your Provence days have some glitches. You shouldn't leave your luggage in your car while visiting Orange and here are the drive times:

Orange to Vaison Romain (start of the Cote to Rhone drive): 30 minutes
Direct driving from Vaison to Arles: 85 minutes
If you want to do Rick's Cote du Rhone scenic drive, factor in another hour (but it is worth it).
When you add that to the 3 hour drive from Annecy, you have a tiring day.

drive time from Arles to Cassis is 80 minutes (a Marseille traffic jam could double this) - another long day

Consider consolidating your Provence activities into a tighter area. Something like this:

Drive to St Remy, Visit St Remy, Carrieres Lumieres and Les Baux, sleep St Remy
Drive to Pont du Gard in AM, Lunch in Uzes, PM in Arles, sleep St Remy
Drive around the Luberon and some Cote du Rhone, Sleep St Remy

While the 3rd day is a lot of driving, there would be many stops and you wouldn't have your luggage with you.

1. If you want to consolidate further, consider replacing the Loire with Burgundy. Both are great places to visit and the latter will cut your driving down.
   

-Matt

I think that you're off to a good start and now your plans need some fine tuning.

I agree with Matt's suggestion to take the train on your arrival day rather than trying to make the drive.

Other than that I think that you have one or two too many stops for such a short trip, as well as too little time for Barcelona.

Patti, we are going in mid-June, so I hope you will post a trip report PDQ after you are back! I realize now that I mis-read your initial post about the order of Annecy. Anyway, have fun!

With traffic in the mountains I would lean towards relying on public transport for that section.
Avoid driving the long distances by keeping your hire car use for local touring in the Loire Valley and Provence.

Day 1: Arrive Paris CDG (6 am). Train to Chartres - 1 night
Day 2: Train via Le Mans to Tours. Pick up hire car for Loire Valley - 3 nights
Day 5: Return hire car in Tours. Train to Lyon and Chamonix - 2 nights
Day 7: Train to Annecy - 3 nights
Day 10: Train to Avignon. Pick up hire car for Provence - 4 nights
Day 14: Return hire car and depart from Marseille to Chicago

Driving jetlagged is equivalent to driving drunk. I encourage you to take the train fro CDG to your first stop and rent a car the next day - or get the car on Day 1 for an early start on Day 2, but don't drive on Day 1.

Use viamichelin.com to see driving times. These are optimal times, no traffic delays, no pit stops.

Do you have your plane tickets? I'm going to assume that you do, since you'll be traveling in June. So, you need to fit 2 weeks with arrival in Paris and departure from Barcelona. Here are the problems I see with your itinerary:

Day 1 - take the train, rent car when you get off the train (I don't see how you can do Chartes or Versaiiles without driving, but I also think driving around Paris after no sleep is not a good idea)
Day 4 - long. long drive -- essentially just a travel day -- why drive all day when you only have 2 weeks?
Day 10 - long drive. If your heart is set on Cassis, you could possibly take the train, but I would not do this as a day trip from Arles.
Day 11 - long train day but at least it's a train! Do you have your tickets? It might be pricey!

Is your heart set on seeing the Loire on this trip? I agree with Matt that Burgundy would be a good replacement -- it's a wonderful region and it is closer to the mountains and you don't have to go through Paris to get from Burgundy to Alps. But, if you really want to see the Loire, I would explore on Day 3 and then drive part of the distance in the late afternoon, possibly to Bourges, although you would still have a long way to go the next day. You could take the train from Amboise, but you might have to go through Paris, which means changing stations. Ugh! Train tickets this late might be expensive. Is your heart set on Chamonix/Annecy? If not, you could train to Paris, then train to Avignon (it's a long way to Avignon, but the train is fast!)

Day 10 -- you have many good options in this area without going as far as Cassis.

2 full days in Barcelona isn't enough, but you can see the things that you want to see the most, and come back to see the rest on another trip.

Hope you have a good trip!

Thank you all so much for your input!!! We have taken your input to heart about the vast distances we were planning to drive and the potential for traffic and have decided to:

• keep Loire, but train to Chamonix (I loved the idea of substituting Burgundy, but Loire won out!)
• keep Chamonix/Annecy--I think this is the part my husband is most anticipating!!!
• train to Arles
• skip Cassis (save for another time)
• keep Barcelona as is... We do already have our tickets and will make what we can of it and plan to come back.
  

Thanks a ton!! Will post a reflection when we get back.
Patti :)

I have been to the Loire valley several times and am returning in June. I wonder why you are only going to see Amboise as that requires very little time and if you are staying in Amboise you could do it in the evening. I would suggest taking a tour to two of the near by chateau's requires one full day from Amboise. We found a wonderful hotel in Chinon , near Amboise, that is just great. Do not try to drive to the chateau's yourself although I have and will do it again this June 16th, 17th.18th with a GPS.[ Make sure rental agency switches your GPS to English} There are several chateau's that are amazing.
There is much to do around Arles beside Pont du Gard that you will have time to catch. None of this would be a strain on your husband. We are also returning to Arles in June. Nice/Monaco/ French Riviera save it for another trip and include the coast of Italy and the five towns. if you in Arles the 22,23, or the 24 we can have dinner at the base of the colosseum some evening. Little pizza place worth the stop. Good Luck

Keep in mind that to take the train from Amboise to Annecy, you will most likely first go into Paris (from Amboise or Tours or wherever), then east to Annecy. That will take you a bit of time.

SCNF is having strikes each Wednesday and Thursday. Apparently, not all trains are effected. On a strike day, you can take any train for free, as I understand it, and apply for a refund of your original ticket (if your train doesn't run). I'm familiarizing myself with this situation because we'll be in Barcelona and France in the next several weeks, so I haven't been through a French rail strike yet, but am keeping the options in mind.

Take out a map of the country of France. Note that you are planning destinations to the north , on the far east side, on the southern border, then way west into Spain. Think about your travel time. You may decide that your precious vacation time is worth some extra money, and be willing to pay a change fee to give you more vacation, as opposed to travel, time.

As another way of looking at things, use the rule of thumb calculation that every time you change sleeping locations, you lose 1/2 day (between packing up, checking out, getting to your next destination, checking in, unpacking). Add that to your travel time, and see how much vacation time you have left. Again, you might decide to pay a change fee and leave off Barcelona for this trip, so you can enjoy the other locations a little more fully.

Keep in mind that to take the train from Amboise to Annecy, you will most likely first go into Paris (from Amboise or Tours or wherever), then east to Annecy. That will take you a bit of time.

SCNF is having strikes each Wednesday and Thursday. Apparently, not all trains are effected. On a strike day, you can take any train for free, as I understand it, and apply for a refund of your original ticket (if your train doesn't run). I'm familiarizing myself with this situation because we'll be in Barcelona and France in the next several weeks, so I haven't been through a French rail strike yet, but am keeping the options in mind.

Take out a map of the country of France. Note that you are planning destinations to the north , on the far east side, on the southern border, then way west into Spain. Think about your travel time. You may decide that your precious vacation time is worth some extra money, and be willing to pay a change fee to give you more vacation, as opposed to travel, time.

As another way of looking at things, use the rule of thumb calculation that every time you change sleeping locations, you lose 1/2 day (between packing up, checking out, getting to your next destination, checking in, unpacking). Add that to your travel time, and see how much vacation time you have left. Again, you might decide to pay a change fee and leave off Barcelona for this trip, so you can enjoy the other locations a little more fully.