Hello,
We are going to be in France for approximately 2-3 weeks in late April-May. We have been to Paris several times and will probably come in to CDG but only spend 2-3 in Paris. We then want to go the Loire Valley and spend 3-4 days there. Moving on we would like to go the Dordogne region and spend a few days there, especially to see the caves. From there, we would like to go on to (possibly) Dinan and Brittany. Then finish up with the Normandy beaches/Bayeaux then leave out of Paris. We will be driving most of the way. Here are my questions. 1).We really don't want to drive in Paris. Should we train to Tours and pick up a rental car there? Advice on places to stay/see/etc. 2)Is including the Dordogne too much for this trip? If not, advice on where to stay 3) best route from the Dordogne (or Tours if we don't do Dordogne) to Dinan. I know this is a lot to ask, but any advice and/or suggestions are much appreciated.
Sheila
Posted by
Boston
4132 posts
These regions really do not work well together, esp in the time you have. But of you are determined to do it, you should start in the south and work your way north, especially time of year.
Fly into Toulouse or Bordeaux and spend the night.
Drive to your chosen Dordogne base and spend 5 nights (not kidding! That is only 4 days) or 6.
Drive to your Loire base and spend 4 nights (3 days)
Drive to Dinan and stay 2 nights
Drive to Bayeux and spend 3 nights
Lose the car, take the train to Paris, and stay 3 nights
Fly home
That's 18 nights, so you have a few more days you can spend at the destination of your choice.
Posted by
Washington DC
27190 posts
I definitely recommend more time In Brittany, and 3 nights in Bayeux may only be enough for a one-day tour of the invasion sights and a day in Bayeux (multiple sights, including a good invasion museum). I think it would be hard to see much of the rest of Normandy in such a short amount of time.
I agree that you should allow a generous amount of time for the Dordogne. It's a lovely area, and it's a bit awkward to get to. I'd hope to see a lot of it after the hassle of getting there.
Posted by
Gettysburg PA
6128 posts
We did a 22 night road trip similar to your plan in Sept 2018.
We flew into Paris- stayed just 2 nights (we've been there before) then we picked up car at Orly- this was easy- drove to Normandy for a total of 4 nights.
Next was Amboise- 2 nights this was our least favorite area. Chateaux are lovely but 2-3 was enough for us.
Drove to Sarlat- spent 4 nights- loved loved loved this area- could have spent longer
Drove to St-Remy- spent 6 nights in St-Remy/Arles- dropped car and took train to Nice for our final 4 nights.
If you can fly out of Bordeaux rather that RT Paris you might look into that.
Paris 2-3
Normandy/Brittany 4-5
Loire- 3-4
Dordogne- as many nights as you can give it.
Bordeaux- drop car- fly home from here- or if that is not an option- TVG to Paris for your flight home
Posted by
169 posts
I agree with Adam that if you are trying to get all this in, you should probably start from the south and work your way north. We stayed in Sarlat and liked it a lot, but it does have a lot of tourists. You can probably find a good B&B there if you start early. We lso loved Bayeux and did a tour of Normandy beaches through the Churchill (?) hotel there. Peter
Posted by
OP
42 posts
Thank you all so much for the feedback! So helpful. We will reconsider the direction of the route and also a great idea to leave/arrive at Bordeaux. Had not considered that. Thanks again and I may post more later asking for more ideas.
Posted by
11185 posts
You are skipping Vannes, Pont Aven, and Quimper,etc in Brittany. To me, you have too many places on your itinerary and are not doing justice to most of them.
Posted by
151 posts
This itinerary would mean very short hops in every region, you would get only a very superficial feeling of them (for example seeing only Dinan does not reflect Brittany, even if it is a nice place. You could spend 3 weeks in Brittany to see its diversity...). But maybe it is what you are looking for and you do not mind spending much time driving.
Otherwise you already have much to see over 3 weeks with Normandy, Brittany and the Loire valley. Dordogne would suit better with a whole trip in the south west of France, with Bordeaux and Pays Basque...