Hello - MY wife and I were attracted to an upscale bus tour company that did a 14 day trip of stops in England-Normandy, Brittany & the Loire Valley. TripAdvisor and Epinion reviews cited poor accomodations, poor meals and extended stops at stores favoured by the tour company. Consequently, we are thinking about "doing it on our own" in late September 2010 Has anyone done this recently?? - orchestrated their own tour ?? We'd love to hear of your transportation methods, hotel or bed and breakfast choices, must-sees etc. etc. Thanks in advance, John from Canada
Posted by
Gig Harbor, Washington, USA
1820 posts
Hi John,
I don't know what you want to see in England--could you be more specific? In June, 2008, we visited Paris, Loire, Brittany, Normandy, and then on to Calais. It was 15 nights. If you would like specific details, let me know.
Posted by
Fredericksburg, VA, USA
409 posts
We did a 15 day tour of France on our own exactly a year from when you're going (September 2009). We went to Paris--Versailles--Giverny--Normandy--Loire Valley--Provence--Nice. Rented a car in Versailles, stayed in some unbelievable B&Bs (Norman castle, converted mill in the middle of a river in Loire Valley, and an exceptional Provence B&B). Would be glad to provide more info---just shoot me an e-mail. Bottom line - you can and SHOULD do it yourselves.
Posted by
Pensacola
9110 posts
When you give us a couple of more hints, how about include which part of the Loire valley. That's a long stinking river and and I could kill a couple of weeks just messing around there. Also what part of Brittany -- just the north coast or down to Carnac and Quimper?
Posted by
Texas
518 posts
With this site, Rick's books, the internet, and other books to help you, planning a trip is both easy and fun. Driving in Normandy is really your best choice. There are some good tours of the battle areas. The one I've read about most is Battlebus tours, but we really enjoyed driving. Oh, and EVERYONE on this site orchestrates their own tours and are willing to give lots of help.