Is my plan ok
Dec 16th, 2014, 12:15 AM
#1
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Is my plan ok
Hi I'm travelling in May with my guy and 2 kids 7 and 11 ..this is what I was thinking
CDg airport rent a car to Orleans 2 days
Orleans to Bois or tours 2 days
From there to Nantes 2 day ( puy du fou)
Nantes to la rochella 2 days
From there to Bordeaux leave car there and train to Paris
Paris -5 days
CDg airport rent a car to Orleans 2 days
Orleans to Bois or tours 2 days
From there to Nantes 2 day ( puy du fou)
Nantes to la rochella 2 days
From there to Bordeaux leave car there and train to Paris
Paris -5 days
Dec 16th, 2014, 03:07 AM
#3
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ya i guess its a bit too much of travel..ive been to paris many times but not with kids ..i wanna go wherever its fun for them..i can change the itinerary if anyone has better option ..thanks
Dec 16th, 2014, 04:48 AM
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Why Orleans? I've lived there on and off for years and though it is a nice town there is little of interest for the average tourist. check out Amboise as a good base for the classic castles of the Loire.
Dec 16th, 2014, 04:51 AM
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and you should repost this with a heading saying something about driving thru the Loire or something more specific - your title is too general to attract many folks who may know a lot about this region.
Dec 16th, 2014, 04:58 AM
#6
Do you plan to hire bikes, take a canoe on the river on anything, or is it just visiting castles? For instance La Rochelle is a pretty enough place by Ile de Re is a better place to play, swim, ride etc
Dec 16th, 2014, 08:38 AM
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<<Is my plan ok?>>
No. Too much hopping about within the same area.
And there's no reason to stay in Blois, Tours AND Orleans - you can stay in Amboise or Blois and reach the Loire Valley region.
Tours is just a congested mess.
Unless you're planning to go east of Blois frequently, stay in Amboise and you can reach Villandry, Usse, Azay-le-Rideau, Chenonceau, Chaumont, Cheverny, and Blois in less than an hour.
No. Too much hopping about within the same area.
And there's no reason to stay in Blois, Tours AND Orleans - you can stay in Amboise or Blois and reach the Loire Valley region.
Tours is just a congested mess.
Unless you're planning to go east of Blois frequently, stay in Amboise and you can reach Villandry, Usse, Azay-le-Rideau, Chenonceau, Chaumont, Cheverny, and Blois in less than an hour.
Dec 16th, 2014, 09:54 AM
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You have two identical threads going on this forum. Could you please close one of them as it's very confusing to responders to figure out which thread to post on:
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-with-kids.cfm
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-with-kids.cfm
Dec 16th, 2014, 10:01 AM
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As many have said above, stay in Amboise for the Orleans to Tours part of your trip. Very charming small city and within easy drive of each of the others.
I second BigRuss's opinion of Tours--one of the biggest disappointments in all our travels. If you do go, take the train.
I second BigRuss's opinion of Tours--one of the biggest disappointments in all our travels. If you do go, take the train.
Dec 16th, 2014, 11:15 AM
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<<I second BigRuss's opinion of Tours--one of the biggest disappointments in all our travels.>>
There's not a lot of point to going TO Tours - it's like Inverness in Scotland: the closest city to a region that is attractive to tourists even though the city itself is meh.
For Tours especially there's no need to stay there with Amboise 12 clicks up the road and closer to Chambord, Chenonceau, Cheverny, and Blois (and both Chateau d'Amboise and Clos Luce too, considering both are IN Amboise).
There's not a lot of point to going TO Tours - it's like Inverness in Scotland: the closest city to a region that is attractive to tourists even though the city itself is meh.
For Tours especially there's no need to stay there with Amboise 12 clicks up the road and closer to Chambord, Chenonceau, Cheverny, and Blois (and both Chateau d'Amboise and Clos Luce too, considering both are IN Amboise).
Dec 16th, 2014, 12:33 PM
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rankasej
How much time will you spend in Bordeaux???? I'm not sure what your kids will find there that would interest them. You can easily get back to Paris from La Rochelle by train. You can actually start by train from CDG to La Rochelle and do your plan in reverse - if you don't go to Bordeaux.
Plus, your plan calls for 2 days in Nantes, 2 days in La Rochelle, and ? days in Bordeaux. Be aware that most shops will be closed in these cities on a Sunday and perhaps Monday morning too - and the city may seem quite dead.
We were a little disappointed with Nantes - too much of it was destroyed in WWII and not re-built so great. We much prefer La Rochelle and Rennes. You can drive to La Puy du Fou from La Rochelle. It only takes 35 mins longer than from Nantes. We visited Poitiers this year - which we liked quite a bit. It's on a bluff and access from the train station is up many stairs, however. Someone on your duplicate thread indicated that the Puy du Fou and another park can be visited from Poitiers.
Tours is at the bottom of my list of "interesting" cities that make the tour books (as others have noted). We were there this year for our second visit to Tours.
Actually, I was disappointed with Blois also. I can think of many similarly-sized cities that I like much, much more. We found it a tad difficult do drive into & out from. Amboise has better access - but there is really only a small section of the city that held any interest for us, and that's the street and about 2 side-streets facing the Chateau.
We visited the Loire for 2 weeks this year so my wife could take pictures of the chateaux & gardens for the first time with her digital camera. She took 1,600 pictures of the Ile de Re area (La Rochelle) and the Loire.
In the Loire, we stayed in a gite about half way between Blois & Amboise. I thought this was a perfect location with easy access to all the chateaux east of Chinon (we visited the Chateaux west of Chinon 4 years ago - with digital camera). There was a nice hotel with an excellent restaurant (actually, with another nice restaurant close by too) which was in the village where we stayed. If you are interested in staying in this hotel - let me know & I'll provide the details. Chenonceaux would also be a good place to stay. I would visit the Chateaux/Gardens of the Loire in 3 nights/2 days minimum. 4/3 would be much better. You really need to get to Chambord & Chenonceaux when they first open to avoid the huge crowds. Villandry Gardens too, if you want to take pictures without a lot of people in them. We found that we enjoyed visiting Chateaux when we only visited 1 or 2 a day. But we had 2 weeks to visit them.
Here is a mini trip report my wife did.
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-the-loire.cfm
My wife's Shutterfly book about the Ile de Re & surrounds (La Rochelle), Poitiers, and the Loire.
http://share.shutterfly.com/share/re...=1EYt2Llw1ZMpC
Click "View Photo Book" on the first page, then "Full screen" on the second page.
She ran out of pages, so Chambord & Villandry will be in a separate book (not yet made). There are only a few pictures of Chambord/Villandry in this first book. There are many Villandry pictures in the above Fodors link.
You asked about Normandy on your e-mail to me. I'll send my itinerary.
If you asked me what two areas I thought would interest kids the most (outside of the Paris area), I would answer:
the Loire & the Dordogne.
A good itinerary for the Loire & the Dordogne would be
- Land at CDG & take the TGV to St Pierre des Corps & rent a car. Trains leave CDG at 10:16 & 14:09 for the 1 3/4 hr trip. Stay in the Loire for 4 nights.
- Drive 5 hrs to Sarlat la Caneda (we've done this twice), and spend 4 nights in the Dorodgne. Visit the many caves with pre-historic painting and stalactites & mites, medieval castles (different from those on the Loire), cute little villages (didn't find many/any in the Loire that we liked as much),and canoeing/barge trips on the Dordogne river. Stay 4 nights.
- Drive north to Brive la Gaillarde (1 1/4 hrs) - visiting Collonges la Rouge along the way. Return the car, and take one of the many trains to Paris.
- Paris for the remainder of your stay - perhaps a day-trip to Disneyland.
I'll send my Dordogne itinerary to you also by e-mail
Stu Dudley
How much time will you spend in Bordeaux???? I'm not sure what your kids will find there that would interest them. You can easily get back to Paris from La Rochelle by train. You can actually start by train from CDG to La Rochelle and do your plan in reverse - if you don't go to Bordeaux.
Plus, your plan calls for 2 days in Nantes, 2 days in La Rochelle, and ? days in Bordeaux. Be aware that most shops will be closed in these cities on a Sunday and perhaps Monday morning too - and the city may seem quite dead.
We were a little disappointed with Nantes - too much of it was destroyed in WWII and not re-built so great. We much prefer La Rochelle and Rennes. You can drive to La Puy du Fou from La Rochelle. It only takes 35 mins longer than from Nantes. We visited Poitiers this year - which we liked quite a bit. It's on a bluff and access from the train station is up many stairs, however. Someone on your duplicate thread indicated that the Puy du Fou and another park can be visited from Poitiers.
Tours is at the bottom of my list of "interesting" cities that make the tour books (as others have noted). We were there this year for our second visit to Tours.
Actually, I was disappointed with Blois also. I can think of many similarly-sized cities that I like much, much more. We found it a tad difficult do drive into & out from. Amboise has better access - but there is really only a small section of the city that held any interest for us, and that's the street and about 2 side-streets facing the Chateau.
We visited the Loire for 2 weeks this year so my wife could take pictures of the chateaux & gardens for the first time with her digital camera. She took 1,600 pictures of the Ile de Re area (La Rochelle) and the Loire.
In the Loire, we stayed in a gite about half way between Blois & Amboise. I thought this was a perfect location with easy access to all the chateaux east of Chinon (we visited the Chateaux west of Chinon 4 years ago - with digital camera). There was a nice hotel with an excellent restaurant (actually, with another nice restaurant close by too) which was in the village where we stayed. If you are interested in staying in this hotel - let me know & I'll provide the details. Chenonceaux would also be a good place to stay. I would visit the Chateaux/Gardens of the Loire in 3 nights/2 days minimum. 4/3 would be much better. You really need to get to Chambord & Chenonceaux when they first open to avoid the huge crowds. Villandry Gardens too, if you want to take pictures without a lot of people in them. We found that we enjoyed visiting Chateaux when we only visited 1 or 2 a day. But we had 2 weeks to visit them.
Here is a mini trip report my wife did.
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-the-loire.cfm
My wife's Shutterfly book about the Ile de Re & surrounds (La Rochelle), Poitiers, and the Loire.
http://share.shutterfly.com/share/re...=1EYt2Llw1ZMpC
Click "View Photo Book" on the first page, then "Full screen" on the second page.
She ran out of pages, so Chambord & Villandry will be in a separate book (not yet made). There are only a few pictures of Chambord/Villandry in this first book. There are many Villandry pictures in the above Fodors link.
You asked about Normandy on your e-mail to me. I'll send my itinerary.
If you asked me what two areas I thought would interest kids the most (outside of the Paris area), I would answer:
the Loire & the Dordogne.
A good itinerary for the Loire & the Dordogne would be
- Land at CDG & take the TGV to St Pierre des Corps & rent a car. Trains leave CDG at 10:16 & 14:09 for the 1 3/4 hr trip. Stay in the Loire for 4 nights.
- Drive 5 hrs to Sarlat la Caneda (we've done this twice), and spend 4 nights in the Dorodgne. Visit the many caves with pre-historic painting and stalactites & mites, medieval castles (different from those on the Loire), cute little villages (didn't find many/any in the Loire that we liked as much),and canoeing/barge trips on the Dordogne river. Stay 4 nights.
- Drive north to Brive la Gaillarde (1 1/4 hrs) - visiting Collonges la Rouge along the way. Return the car, and take one of the many trains to Paris.
- Paris for the remainder of your stay - perhaps a day-trip to Disneyland.
I'll send my Dordogne itinerary to you also by e-mail
Stu Dudley
Dec 17th, 2014, 01:53 AM
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wow guys..this is brilliant information ..thank u so so much..im a bit nervous as I'm traveling europe with my girls for first time so want it to b well planned..usually whn i go with my husband its more chilled out ..ill definitely will go thru all the suggestions…thanks again
sejal
sejal
Dec 17th, 2014, 10:57 PM
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hi ..so I'm thinking we rent a car frm cog we arrive at 8 in morn and drive to amboise stopping at chartres
stay amboise 4 nights and see places
drive to Sarlat la Caneda stay for 4 days
day 9 Drive north to Brive la Gaillarde (1 1/4 hrs) - visiting Collonges la Rouge and take train to paris
rest days in paris
thanks
stay amboise 4 nights and see places
drive to Sarlat la Caneda stay for 4 days
day 9 Drive north to Brive la Gaillarde (1 1/4 hrs) - visiting Collonges la Rouge and take train to paris
rest days in paris
thanks
Dec 18th, 2014, 06:12 AM
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Turenne is indeed lovely. It's actually on the cover of my "Most Beautiful Villages of the Dordogne" book. But it has a chateau on top of the hill with a great view over the village. It requires some walking uphill to get to, and, of course, the chateau takes some time to visit. But time well spent.
Lots to see & do in the Dordogne.
Stu Dudley
Lots to see & do in the Dordogne.
Stu Dudley
Dec 18th, 2014, 08:34 AM
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