Paris to Dordogne - Help with Itinerary Please

Posted by bmps on 09/11/15 06:46 AM

Hi, I have started a new question, as I have realised I need more help!
We will be spending one week in Paris. From there we would like to go to Normandy beaches, Honfleur, ?Rouen, Bayeux, St Malo, St Michel. We want to see some of the Normandy beaches, see the Bayeux Tapestry, maybe a couple of nights in St Malo, ? night Honfleur?, maybe St Michel. From here we are hoping to go to Bordeaux, then to the Dordogne and spend 7-12 nights, possibly split into 2 x different destinations. I am thinking maybe 5-6 nights in Baynac, or similiar, then 5-6 nights in the Lot area.

As you can see, I am very vague on how to do all this. We are happy to hire a car when driving in smaller villagey areas, but would not want to drive out of Paris, or in and out of other big cities.
I was thinking Paris to Rouen by train, hire a car. Would we drop off the car before Bordeaux (avoiding big traffic) and get the train to...?and hire car again? Or am I making this too difficult?
We have three weeks after Paris to play around with. Am I being unrealistic thinking this can be done in this amount of time?
Oh, all tres difficile!
Thanks everyone, if you have any ideas for me!

After our time in Paris, we have 3 weeks to play around with how long we stay in different places.

Posted by Laura

Rick Steves' Europe

09/11/15 07:00 PM

16895 posts

Do you have particular sites in mind for the big city of Bordeaux? It's not on Rick's priority list for tourists and you could experience the wine region in a more "villagey" way. My plan would be to keep the same car and skip Bordeaux.

Posted by bmps OP

09/11/15 08:51 PM

18 posts

Thanks Laura
No, no plans for Bordeaux. I think I was just thinking of the general direction we would be going after Paris. Suggestions on where to pick up and drop off car and how long to stay in places I have mentioned, would be great - if anyone has any ideas.
We want to avoid driving in and out of big cities. What we really want to see more of in France is the villages, and countryside. Big cities are not a priority.
Thanks!

Posted by Dick

Olympia, WA, USA

09/12/15 03:07 AM

6713 posts

Take the train from Paris (St-Lazare) to Rouen and get the car there. After Normandy and MSM, drive south toward the Dordogne. You might have time for a Loire chateau or three on the way, if you're interested. Use a map and Via Michelin to help you plan your route, aiming for Perigueux or nearby. Via Michelin will often give you a choice of routes, or you can choose midway destinations to customize a route that avoids big cities if you want. The autoroutes are very easy and fast, though tolls can be high. No reason to go into Bordeaux unless there's something you particularly want to see or do there. Beynac is an excellent base for the Dordogne, so are other villages around Sarlat, or Sarlat itself for a more urban (but hardly "big city") experience.

If you're returning to Paris, look for a city along the way with good train service to drop the car and take a train back. Or drive all the way to Orly and drop it there, south of the big city. Use the discussion of trains under "Travel Tips" on this website to get started with this planning.

I think three weeks is plenty of time for good visits to the areas you're looking at, including driving between them. You'll want a car in both Normandy and Dordogne, so why not just use it to get between them? One very long day's drive, or break it with an overnight or two somewhere that interests you. Pas tres difficile, pas du tout! :-)