One month in France?:

Brendon.. because you have a whole month I will suggest your parents look into leasing a car.. it is a better deal then renting.. and they can do it for one month.. I think my dad used Europcar. but I am sure there are folks here who have rented more recently and will have good ideas too.

I think you may enjoy the Dordogne region a lot .. especially if you like the older castles.. which are really more interesting to me then the Chateaus of Loire Valley.. ( I like the Loire Valley.. but it only needs 2 days .. since you will have already seen some cool castles in other regions..)

I agree about leasing a car. I leased from Peugot, but Renoit (sp) also has a program. You only need to be in France for at least 17 days. The advantages are that you get to pick out the car you want -- and get it -- and it is a brand new car. All insurance is included, even collision. It works like a "purchase - buy back". The car is registered in the lessee's name and when you return it, the lessor "buys it back." I found the entire process to go very smoothly. Just go onto the Peugot website (Google Peugot buy-back leasing) for more information. Both companies programs work the same way, it's just a matter of preference. Especially since there are three of you, you want to be able to get a car that will accommodate all of you and your luggage in comfort and the best way to guarantee that is to lease. When renting, you get whatever they have on the lot with no guarantee as to size, etc. I was also able to lease an automatic with no problem. I also recommend getting a diesel as it is less expensive than regular gas in France (unlike the US - at least it was 4 years ago), and you get better gas mileage.

As far as where to go...Alsace is a long way from the Dordogne. I've been to both and would be hard pressed to choose my favorite, but I really don't see how you can do both in the same trip in a month without spending a lot of time on the highway. Look at a map of France and pick regions (you could possibly do 4 in a month) that are fairly close together. For example, you could do Alsace, Burgundy, the Alps, and Provence; or Provence, Languedoc (my personal favorite), the Dordogne, and the Loire. This is just off the top of my head, of course, but my point is for you to enjoy the time you spend without spending all of it on the road. I like to pick one base in a region and rent a house or "gite," then do day trips. The more often you move, the less time you have for touring. You need to do your own research with the help of good regional maps and guidebooks and decide what appeals to you the most. Bonne chance and bon voyage.

Carolyn, it's Renault... ; )

If your priorities are the Dordogne, Provence, and Alsace (great choices) it will be easy (logistically) to add Burgundy, hardest to add Brittany, and feasible to add the Loire.

I think you will especially love the south, given your priorities, and would suggest at least a week each in (1) the SW, including (but not limited to) the Dordogne and (2) western Provence, emphasizing the Rhone valley and the Luberon hill towns. That would leave you about 2-1/2 weeks for the remaining destinations, plus de-Jet lagging, plus travel days.

Here's how it could work: Fly into Toulouse or Bordeaux and drive to the Dordogne. Spend at least 5 nights there with day trips by car. Drive south, visiting hill towns, and then to Provence.

Spend a week in Provence and drive north to Burgundy. Possible stop in Lyon, if you'd like a big city, possible detour into the alps to Annecy. If you'd like a break from driving you can do this leg by train, which would actually be quicker, and then rent a second car in Burgundy.

Burgundy deserves at least 4 nights; Beaune makes a fine base though it alone is not a 4-night stop. Then drive to Alsace, and eventually fly home from Paris.

If you really want to bypass Paris altogether there is a direct train from Strasbourg that will deliver you to Charles deGaulle by 9:44 AM. So if you like you can wake up in Alsace and catch an early afternoon flight home.

I don't think I'd add the Loire to this mix, but you could squeeze in a few days there between Alsace and your departure. If you do I recommend taking the train for that leg because it is so much faster (4 hours!) than driving; then you can rent another car in Amboise.

You can reverse this itinerary, of course, but I think I'd start in the south and work north.

Have a wonderful trip!

Price out a regular rental instead of a lease. I rent a heck of a lot of cars, in France as well the rest of the world, and a lease has never been more financially advantageous -- by a long shot. A car that will work with three people should be on the order of six hundred bucks a month, up to maybe nine with an automatic.

Keep in mind that France hosts the European Soccer Championships ("Euros") in June 2016. This is the 2nd biggest soccer tournament after the World Cup and France will be one big party during your visit. Book hotels as soon as you have dates, especially in the host cities (Paris, Lyon, St Etienne, Marseille, Bordeaux, Nice, Lens, Lille)

With a month I would plan in one week blocks and plan to focus on various regions for a week. I love Burgundy -- we once spent a week in Semur en Auxois and drove to various towns and sites in the area and really had a wonderful week. Here are some snapshots of that: https://janettravels.wordpress.com/category/burgundy/
Alsace is certainly worth a few days. Provence would be a good place for a week. ANd perhaps best of all the Dordogne where you could visit prehistoric caves (get to the Font du Gaume if you can -- it probably means lining up at 6 am some morning for the limited tickets) and visit the prehistoric museum nearby. See Lascaux II and Roffingnac ( you go underground about a mile in a small train to see that one) Do one lovely leisurely day canoeing down the Dordogne in the section around La Roque Gageac which is full of quaint villages and castles. You can picnic along the way or do as we did and pull into a riverside restaurant for lunch.

At any rate, if it were me I would mostly have bases in regions for a nice chunk of time and then explore the region by car. If you need to fly home from Paris then start at the furthest spot -- either get to the south by train or plane after arrival or fly into a southern town like Nice or Avignon and then finish in Paris arriving the night before your flight.

Sounds like a wonderful trip.

I would suggest to you to spend 3 days in the Loire Valley coming from Paris to Dordogne. It will be a stop on the way, and you will have some time to visit the area. The castles are not the same as the ones you can see in Dordogne, so it is worth taking time to visit them ... For the places where you intend to stay 1 week, as you are a family, think about "gites" : these are self catering houses, usually in nice old houses but with all the necessary comfort, and it is less expensive as beeing in an hotel and having to go to a restaurant for every meal. You will enjoy to go to the market and choose the local fresh food !