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This October's 1st-timer France Visit!

Posted by (Pacific Northwest) on

Hello to this fantastic community!
My wife and I never honeymooned, so for our 20th anniversary we're making our dreams come true with a 21-day trip to France. This will by my first European adventure (my wife has been to Ireland, the UK, and Italy). Rick's blogs, videos, podcast, and travel books have made planning joyfully easy and I feel so fortunate to now tap into this resource.

We have our dates, flight plan, and a mostly-solid idea of our stops. We will be renting a car for our entire trip. Our hotel and chambres d'hote stays will all be made with Rick's guide-book recommendations (or yours here!). Our route is loosely based on Rick's "Whirlwind Three-Week Tour of France by Car" plan, but modified for our places of interest and a less-break-neck pace. Our objectives combined soaking up places of interest while covering plenty of ground over 21 days.

As I lay out our agenda in broad strokes, I would love to hear any input from those who have been to the areas outlined--side trips, must-sees, "stay in this adjacent town instead" (thinking specifically about our time in Sarlat-la-Caneda), of any other tid-bits to which you're privy!

Here it is in rough form:

Fly into Paris
Day 1: Travel from Paris to Chartres; Day 2: Explore Chartres; Day 3: Travel from Chartres to Chinon; Day 4: Explore Chinon and West side chateaux; Day 5: Travel from Chinon to Amboise; Day 6: Explore Amboise and East side chateaux; Day 7: Travel from Amboise to Sarlat-la-Canéda; Day 8: Explore the Dordogne; Day 9: Explore the Dordogne; Day 10: Explore the Dordogne; Day 11: Travel from Sarlat-la-Canéda to Carcassonne; Day 12: Explore Carcassonne; Day 13: Travel from Carcassonne to Beaune; Day 14: Explore Beaune; Day 15: Travel from Beaune to Eguisheim; Day 16: Explore Alsace; Day 17: Explore Alsace; Day 18: Explore Alsace; Day 19: Explore Alsace; Day 20: Travel from Eguisheim to Reims; Day 21: Travel from Reims to Paris.
Fly out of Paris
(Yes, you are correct to notice we do not plan to spend any time exploring Paris. That gives us a reason to start planning our next trip!)

Thank you in advance for all your wonderful pointers!

Posted by
280 posts

My partner and I visited many of those places in 2021 - Amboise, Dordogne, Carcassonne, Burgundy. Trip report: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/trip-report-france-28-days-aug-sep-loire-dordogne-languedoc-roussillon-lyon-burgundy-honfleur

A bit old, but in 2017 we visited Alsace; trip report: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/alsace-france-colmar-and-villages-bacharach-germany-sep-2017

Posted by
1694 posts

I'd take one day, at least, from the Alsace to specifically visit Nancy. And you may also want to stop in Metz enroute to Reims. Also don't forget all the battlefields and beautiful country between Metz, Verdun, and Reims. One town to consider, that does not get a lot of American tourists, is Wissembourg, which is up on the German border and the start of the French wine road. It's an old medieval town, with much of the wall and fortifications still in place, and quite attractive. And if you have any interest in pottery the villages of Betschdorf and Soufflenheim may be worth visiting.

The weather in October changes quite a bit between the beginning and end of the month. Be prepared for colder, wetter, days as the days grow short. Also, a lot of the tourist stuff, like the forts on the Maginot Line, start closing in October. You need to check the opening dates and time carefully for smaller attractions outside the main cities.

Posted by
2576 posts

What makes the Dordogne unique and interesting is its rurality, its hundreds of small villages and medieval castles, its caves and its quiet and lost places.

So if it is true that Sarlat has become the "Dordogne-land" for tourists and can be visited in half a day, it is certainly not there that you will have the best of the region which is 95% outside Sarlat. And since you are "thinking specifically about your time in Sarlat-la-Caneda" I am posting this map again as an example:

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1OdPOg8AgsNn0Jlv1cNHkujaWv9p_Jpc&usp=sharing

Posted by
4773 posts

We did the RS Loire to the South of France tour in 2019 and loved it. My only complaint was that it was rushed, but it also gave us inspiration to go back and extend some stays that we originally only had 1-2 days. In particular, I fell in love with Beynac in the Dordogne and we went back last Fall. Your trip is rushed with a lot of driving but hopefully it will give you inspiration for future trips. It was our first trip to France and we also skipped Paris except for a half day at the beginning and a half day at the end.

Here my trip report for the Dordogne trip last Fall. https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/trip-report-part-2-hills-and-castles-dordogne

Also, on your way from Amboise to Sarlat I highly recommend a stop at Oradour-sur-Glane. It was an eye opener about fascism run amok.

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