Normandy and Dordogne in 8 days?

It is doable but you will spend a lot of time on the road. Use Google or via Michelin to work out exactly how much time this is and how the logistics would actually work (for example, one entire day would be spent driving from the Dordogne to the car rental place in Paris, dropping off the car, getting to your Paris hotel, etc).

Do those eight days include travel, and where are you traveling from? If you have eight days, excluding travel, it will be a little rushed due to the distance between Normandy and the Dordogne region. Two full days in Normandy would let you get a good overview, but more would be better. You're going to use most of a day to get from Normandy to the Dordogne and then most of another day to get back to CDG. That would leave you four days in the Dordogne, which will again give you a decent overview, though you could easily spend a week or two there. I think you could do it, as long as you're willing to sacrifice a quarter of your days to travel. I don't think I'd be willing to do that, but it might make sense for you.

I agree with Carroll, this is doable but not without a rush. Use Via Michelin to help you plan routes and estimate driving times, remembering that it commonly underestimates drive times by not accounting for traffic and necessary stops.

It isn't clear whether your trip includes any Paris time at the start. If so, consider taking the train to Caen and renting the car there, to save driving on the crowded highways near Paris. If not, rent the car at CDG when you land and head for Normandy (remembering that fatigue and jet lag will affect your driving). Drive back from the Dordogne to CDG, which Michelin estimates (from Sarlat) at about six hours, not counting stops and traffic getting around Paris. It would be wise to get to CDG, or very near, the night before your homebound flight so you don't risk missing it. There are several hotels right at the airport and others in nearby Roissy.

Thanks for these ideas.

To be clearer, we will be in Paris a few days before Oct 24, which I count as the first day of the Normandy / Dordonge trip. We fly home out of CDG on Nov 2. We're in our mid 60s and don't do long travel days like we used to. If it's either/ or for the two regions -- that seems a hard choice. But maybe a smarter one?

Incidentally, we'd like to do some day-cycling on that trip too.

OK, so on Oct. 24 an early train out of Gare St-Lazare gets you to Caen in about 2 hours, pick up the car and you can be in Bayeux by lunchtime, view the cathedral and tapestry that afternoon. Next two days, 25th and 26th, you can explore the beaches and/or take one of the guided tours.

Oct. 27 you drive to, say, Sarlat or one of the nearby Dordogne towns. This will take 7-8 hours without building in stops. Most of it is on fast autoroutes. That's a long day's drive. You could break it in Tours or Poitiers or thereabouts and give it two days. Or just drive to Tours (about 3 hours from Bayeux) and spend the rest of your trip exploring the Loire Valley if you haven't been there and it interests you.

If you've toughed out the long drive on Oct. 27, then your wake up in, say, Sarlat on the 28th and have that day plus the 29th, 30th, and 31st for the Dordogne, four full days. That's enough to see and do a lot. If you broke the drive into two days, your three days will still give you a good Dordogne visit. Or you could spend one less day in Normandy and spend it here.

On Nov. 1, drive from Sarlat, or thereabouts, to Bordeaux, about 3 hours, drop the car and take the 3:23 TGV direct to CDG, arriving at 7:41 that evening, where you check into your airport hotel (we liked the Ibis, there are others) and make your flight the next day. There are only two TGV trains a day from Bordeaux direct to CDG, the others take you to Gare Montparnasse where you have to cross Paris to get to the airport.

That's one possible scenario, though maybe a rushed one. And you're paying train fares and car rental charges on the same day, twice. I probably wouldn't do it myself, though I enjoy driving, for the same reasons as you (I'm a little older). In that case, I'd pick one area or the other, or maybe add the Loire to Normandy. You could easily enjoy 8 days in any of those regions (with Normandy, you could build in an overnight at Mont-St-Michel). Without knowing your interests, I'd just suggest that late October weather could be a tie-breaker -- Normandy is one of France's colder wetter regions, though you could have weather issues anywhere that time of year.

Have fun figuring this out! ;-)

The above poster's reply is excellent. Another consideration would be the Burgundy region which also has a lot to see/experience. I enjoy staying in Meursault, outside of Beaune. Have a great trip.

Personally, I would not try to combine Normandy and the Dordogne in one trip with only 8 days (especially since you lose a day driving from one to the other). I would pick one. Or I would pick one and extend to a neighboring region. For example, Normandy and into Brittany. Or Normandy and the Loire. Or Normandy, MSM and maybe Nantes or Poitiers. There are many good choices. It really depends on what you do when you get there. I prefer to move only 2-3 hrs max every few days. Anything more and I feel rushed.

All of these comments have been very helpful. Thank you. I think we'll try one or the other, not both, and come home a little relaxed!

The Dordogne, area and surrounding countrysides are magnificent. We are there now staying in the most glorious B&B (2nd visit) in Sarlat. We have been traveling Italy and France for the last 2 months, and I forgot how lovely it is here.
B&B is Les Cordeliers...$95 a night, gorgeous large rooms, immaculate, fantastic breakfast, lovely host Amanda will even do your laundry at no cost
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Susan