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Trip from Paris to Normandy to Loire Valley

Posted by on

Hello all,

I realize that others may have asked the same question :) My husband and I will be taking a train from Paris and renting a car somewhere in Normandy. We will then rent a car and travel to the Omaha Beaches, American cemetery. The question is where should what train station should be get off and and then rent the car?

From the tour at the beaches, we will drive to Mont St. Michel and stay overnight on the Island. In the morning we will tour Mont St. Michel and then drive to Amboise, Lore Valley.

We will spend a couple of days and then drop the car off in Tours train station and then take the train back to Paris.

Thank you in advance!

Posted by
5324 posts

You may find that getting off in Caen is better for car rentals since there are several rental agencies in close proximity to the train station ( that also have offices by the St Pierre des Corps station for drop off). It's a fairly short drive from there to Bayeux, if that's where you'll be staying.

Posted by
7755 posts

Going the other direction, we drove from Chinon to Dinard in one day with two sightseeing stops along the way. But it was a long drive. (Note that Chinon is west of Tours, and Amboise is East of Tours. And I'm not saying you must visit Dinard, at all.) Perhaps the biggest attraction along the way is Fontevraud Abbey, but there are others.

Rather than the actual Tours train station, many travelers use the TGV station nearby, which is called St. Pierre des Corps. Note that the car rentals there close for a two hour lunch, 12-2, and may have short hours on weekends. This is well-displayed on the websites of the large rental companies, when you drill down to specific agencies. Hotels on MSM also tend to book heavily all year long. Some posters here found the rooms small and the dining options on the island limited, but found the romantic atmosphere of the island without day trippers to be magical. We settled for a few hours at midday, which was fine for us.

Note that with a car, you can do the research to see the D-Day sights on your own, if you prefer to. The most popular private-tour companies book up early in high season, if that is your preference. (We can't tell from your first post.) It's wise to give the month of the year when asking questions like these.

Posted by
6713 posts

Looks like a good plan. I'd take the train to Caen and rent the car there. I hope you're planning at least a night in Bayeux or nearby before you head to MSM.

Posted by
19 posts

We will be doing basically the same thing, except ending in the South of France. Sounds like a good plan.

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