caldud

HI, Mid June 2010 my wife and I and 3 kids aged 12-18 will be going to France. Arriving in Paris and will spend 4 days in Paris probably at the end of the trip. That leaves 7 days to see other areas. First question is wether to get a gite in one spot and stay for 5-7 days. Or maybe 2-3 days at each stop. Next question is where in France. We could take the train to Avignon and start from there. Or take the train to the French Alps and start from there. Or maybe get the car in Paris and after a good nights sleep head out for Burgundy or Brittany.
I think it will be less costly and more relaxing to stay at a Gite for 5-7 days. But it could also be boring if there aren't many day trips we could take. The kids would not care for wine tours or shopping. But walking through castles and hiking to see great sights would get them some exercise and have us all outside. Any advice from people who know these areas would be appreciated. Thanks.

SemiMike

We recently returned from 12 days in Provence, and enjoyed it immensely. No kids in our case, but going to Avignon, taking a boat trip to the calanques from Cassis, seeing the French cowboys in the Camargue, hiking the picturesque villages of the Luberon, and driving to the top on Mont Ventoux, should all be of interest to your family. For more details, follow the link to our phototravelogue in our trip report at http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...n-provence.cfm

cigalechanta

I think your children would love seeing the coast line after Paris, the contrast, the beachs rocks, historical sights along Normandy and Brittany are very special.
After seeing all of France, my heart lives in Provence.

StuDudley

We've stayed in Gites in all those areas you mentioned. 16 weeks in Provence, 2 weeks in Burgundy (plus 2 in Beaujolais), 5 weeks in Brittany, 2 weeks in the Alps on Lake Annecy).

If your 5-7 days are in the last part of June, the lavender & sunflowers will be blooming in Provence. Provence will likely to have the best weather.

For the following, I'll assume you want to stay in 1 location in each region.
Provence - near St Remy
Alps - near Annecy
Brittany - near Dinan
Burgundy - near Beaune

In order of preference:

1. Best castles
Burgundy
Brittany

2. Best coast
Brittany
Provence

3. Cutest small villages
Provence

4. Most interesting large cities
Burgundy (Dijon, Auxerre)
Provence (Avignon, Aix)
Brittany (Rennes)

5. Best medium sized cities
Burgundy - Beaune
Provence - Arles
Brittany - Dinan

6. Most driving required
Alps
Burgundy

7. Most diversity (differet type of things to do)
Provence
Brittany

8. Best markets
Provence

Of course, these are just my opinions.

If you included the Dordogne in your options, it would come out first or second in most of these categories (castles, diversity, markets, medium cities, cute small villages - plus pre-historic caves, caves with stalactites & mites, canoe trips down the Dordogne). Actually, it would be my first choice if 12 & 18 year olds are involved, and it would tie with Provence for adult interests.

Stu Dudley

StCirq

I think the Dordogne is where you want to be.

caldud

This is the law of unintended consequences. I had been pretty sure I was making progress by doing a lot of reading and narrowing my areas of interest to the three mentioned (Brittany, Burgundy & Alps and Provence). But now with Stu and StCirq both recommending Dordogne I"ll take a look at this area as well. Thanks for the feedback. From a cost standpoint I can drive to Brittany and Burgundy but I think I would need to take the train to Provence or Dordogne and then get a car.

StCirq

Yes, you would probably need to take a train (a good idea would be to get a PREM fare online for as little as 20 euros to either Avignon or Bordeaux, then rent a car). Driving from Paris to either Provence or the Dordogne isn't much fun; the TGV IS fun, and will take half the time.

caldud

Thanks for the reply's. Any suggestions on a good home base in the Dordogne or maybe I should get a car in Avignon and drive to Burgundy staying at a couple of places along the way? Would that make a good trip?

StCirq

A good home base in the Dordogne is within a 25-km radius of Sarlat (preferably north, south, or west of it).

StuDudley

I think your 12 & 18 year olds would love staying IN Sarlat so they can explore on their own.

I have a 20 page itinerary I developed for the Dordogne. I've e-mailed it to hundreds of people on Fodors. E-mail me at [email protected] if you want a copy. I also have a Provence itinerary.

Stu Dudley

iris1745

Hi; You have had great sugestions for the Dordogne and other areas. Now your latest thought of driving from Avignon to Burgundy. It's an easy drive. But not for staying at a couple of stops along the way. Perhaps one, but Burgundy deserves the 5 to 7 days you have available. Each area/city you mention could easly take the 5 to 7 days. I think you should do some more reading of each area and then stay in one of the three you mention, the Dordogne, Provence or Burgundy. Richard www.burgundyeye.com/

Michael

With five traveling by train, a car may be cheaper to get to the Dordogne.

Another possibility: Spend a week on the Burgundy Canal on a self-drive boat. These pictures (maps as bood ends of the barge trip) might whet your appetite: http://travel.webshots.com/album/575042567PplyHX

I would also recommend Guédelon, but you need a car to get there.

caldud

Sorry, I meant to ask about driving from Avignon to Bordeaux not Burgundy. Got my wine regions mixed up.
thanks,

StuDudley

I don't understand the driving from Avignon to Bordeaux thing. Why would you do that? It's a lot of time in the car with not much of interest to see along the way if you take the freeway - unless you get off the freeway quite a bit.

Your original plan was to stay in 1 region for 5-7 days. Now you are thinking of a "road trip" - changing hotels multiple times???.

Like Richard suggested - stay in 1 place for 7 days. Rent a gite so you can go to utdoor markets, buy food, and serve some meals at the gite. You will not even come close to running out of things to do in Provence, Dordogne, or Burgundy in 7 days.

There are direct trains from Paris to Brive la Gaillard, which is what I would do. PREM fares are cheap. There are some neat things to visit on the short drive from Brive to Sarlat.

Stu Dudley

StCirq

Sorry, I meant to ask about driving from Avignon to Bordeaux not Burgundy.

Bad idea.

caldud

Okay. Driving Bordeaux to Avignon is out. And 5-7 Days in one place is in. The Dordogne area is a at the top of the list. And I need to take a look into these PREM fares. Thanks for all the advice and thanks Stu for the amazing itineraries. They are very comprehensive and most helpful.

iris1745

Hi; Good decision. For information, get a map to see what towns you would like to visit. Then for quick info on these towns go to this web site. I will give you one town, but you just have to subsitute other towns at the end of the web site for good information. Richard http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/sarlat

StCirq

There's a wealth of information on this board about the Dordogne. You could start by clicking on either my or Stu's screen names.

Lexma90

Glad to hear you've chosen the Dordogne; it's what I would have suggested too.

Two years ago, when our DS was 12, we decided to visit the Dordogne over Provence with him, primarily based on the fact that there was more that a younger person would enjoy in the Dordogne. I posted a very detailed trip report here on Fodors, which included detailed on the castles and pre-historic sites we visited while there. (On our trip, we started in Barcelona, drove up through the Languedoc area, stayed in Sarlat, then finished the trip in Paris.)

We stayed IN Sarlat, which I would recommend expect for the fact that you'll be there in June, and it may too full of other tourists by that time of year. Even when we were there, in late May, it took a little extra time to get back into Sarlat each day, due to seasonal road construction. But we did like walking around in the city each evening, not having to drive after dinner, and being able to let DS wander around on his own a bit in the city.

glaciermeadows

Dordogne in my opinion is a great destination. We stayed in a gite near Lascaux. Make reservations for the Groto at Font Du Game. How many kids get to see prehistoric cave paintings. Rocamadour is a must see. There is an outdoor market in a village every day of the week. Sarlat's is great. Kids would love canoeing on the Dordogne. Renting a gite is the way to go if you have a car. We stayed in a tiny village in Burgundy for a week in April. Loved it, but liked the Dordogne even more.