My husband and I will spend 20 days touring parts of France next summer (June 17-July 8). We will begin with six nights in the Marais area of Paris, and take two day trips ~ one to Versailles, the other to Giverny. We will then take a train to Beaune, rent a car, and spend two nights, including an excursion to Vezelay. We will then drive to the Loire Valley and headquarter ourselves in Amboise for two nights. We hope to visit Amboise, Chenenceaux, and Chamborrd. From there we will have a night in Mont St Michele and two nights in Caen as a base for visiting the D-Day beaches. We'll take the train back to Paris for one night, then take a train to Biarritz. The plan was to rent an apartment for seven nights (Friday-Friday). We are locked in to leaving the apartment on July 8 as we will be joining a Rick Steves Basque Country tour that day. Here are my questions:
Would we benefit from an extra night anywhere?
The apartment rentals at this time of year apparently only go from Saturday to Saturday. We can arrange to arrive on Saturday but will still need to leave on Friday. Is six nights in Biarritz or St Jean de Luz too long? Should we split the time between the two locations? Should we add more time to Beaune, Loire Valley or Normandy and spend less time at the beach resort? Thanks for any insight.
Posted by
L'Occitanie, France
10623 posts
Yes, you should add on nights in Burgundy and the Loire.
Yes, that's a long time hanging out at the beach before the RS tour. I'd get a hotel room for a couple nights instead unless you are real beach lovers. Indeed, rentals in Biarritz are weekly that time of year. Those are resort towns built up only a hundred years ago.
You could rent your car at Orly, which is south of Paris, and visit Vezelay on your way to Beaune, or visit Chablis, or Guedelon. There are hundreds of other places in Burgundy to visit, so you shouldn't make it such a quick stop, only a day and a half in reality.
Driving to the Loire from there takes most of a day, so add more nights in the Loire.
You're lucky to have an abundance of time. Bon voyage.
Posted by
Florida
610 posts
If you are going to be in the Amboise area, I would recommend a visit to Cheverny as well, if you can manage it. We visited it along with the other three you mentioned on a day tour. It had the most beautiful interior of any of the chateaux we visited, and it had beautiful grounds and a lovely garden in back. Chenonceau and Cheverny were my favorites.