Starting off late April, landing at CDG Paris.to pick up VW Californian. Will head to Reims and from there where weather/geography /food/wine are excellent. What are the must-see’s? Best campgrounds?
FYI Have spent a lot of time already in Barcelona, Lucca, Florence, Rome and Venice and have set aside 3 weeks in Paris in June. Thanks!
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
33512 posts
There is considerable background in j's previous thread which answers some of the basic questions which will arise...
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/france/a-month-in-rural-france-provence-or
Posted by
OP
11 posts
Thanks Nigel. Appreciated the reminder and I have noted the many excellent suggestions re: France. Beyond France? We can travel at least 2-400km every 2 or 3 days thus can cover a lot of ground.
Posted by
2535 posts
Driving up to 400KM every 2-3 days is much driving and well beyond my threshold. Enjoy.
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
33512 posts
One thing to be careful about with the California, is which Category of tolls you will have to pay on the Autoroute or other European roads. In its base configuration the California as sold in the UK is 1990 mm (78.35 inches) high. The limit for Category 1 in France is 1999 mm (78.7 inches), so you have 9 mm (about 0.35 of an inch) to play with. If the tolerances are a bit off or anything causes to top of the roof to be just a touch out of gauge, such as large tyres, something on the roof, bike rack, etc., you will be in the next more expensive Category 2.
Posted by
Boulder, Colorado, USA
437 posts
What a great puzzle! You have many options and the time to be flexible.
What route and stops depends on your interests so I would suggest spending time with guide books to see where you want to go/do/see and then playing with ViaMichelin to evaluate time/distance plus tolls for various combinations. I assume you don’t intend to drive every day but must stay within the allotted kms to avoid extra fees, ViaMichelin can compute many segments and total distances, time and costs including tolls.
Get the app and set the right values for your car to set the km/hr and expected cost for a liter of gas, to get better cost estimates.
One option: Paris - Rheims - Verdun - Colmar - Lauterbrunen - Chamonix - Eze - Paris. 3 countries 😊 and on toll roads that gives just under 2500 km and 25 hours driving time. Costs shows $764(€642) for gas and tolls, add more for parking and camping fees. The ViaMichelin route goes through Italy via Genova. You could add stops along the way or pick many loops entirely within France. France is great but sometimes flat and boring driving. This suggestion is more in the mountains, reflecting my interests not necessarily yours!
Pay attention to parking and camping places, I suggest you park/camp near city destinations and take public transportation into the city center. I have spent 3 weeks in a camper (in the US) and now I would consider staying in hotels or B&B every 7 to 10 days to clean up and enjoy more space.
40 days plus 3 weeks in Paris sounds amazing.
Enjoy the planning and the trip!
Posted by
OP
11 posts
We thought we would stay off toll roads but didn’t realize there are categories/ some may be unavoidable ...our package includes unlimited mileage, GPS and wifi. Will reassess the distances we aspire to... will gather data from Michelin as recommended. Thanks!
Posted by
Los Angeles
1825 posts
Met some people in Burgundy/ Beaune who were traveling in a camper. Saw a lot of trailer/campers in the Dordogne also.
Posted by
Brisbane, Australia
7175 posts
Five nights in each ...
• Champagne + Burgundy
• Lyon + Chamonix-Mt Blanc
• Nice + Cote d’Azur
• Provence
• Dordogne
• Bordeaux (2 nights)
• Brittany
• Loire Valley (3 nights)
• Normandy
Posted by
seattle
2086 posts
A friend raves about her camping esperiences in France. She did a lot of research and bookked many sites agead. She mentioned that many have gourmet restaurants and lovely pools. Also, we saw several VW campers along smaller rivers in Burgundy.