maryado

In June, my daughter and I will be taking her three children (boys 12 and 10, daughter 5) to France and I'm pushing to include a visit to Guedelon, where they're building a castle using medieval techniques. We'll be in France for more than a month, starting with 10 days in the Loire Valley, and will rent a car for this first stretch.

Since I've read the recent advice on this forum about traveling with young children, let me reassure you all that we're balancing kids' needs with ours and trying to be extremely realistic (and flexible) in our plans! This has been her dream, ever since she spent a year as an exchange student there: to spend part of a summer in France with her children, and I'm along to help until the reinforcements (husbands) arrive!

I've been to Guedelon and that area 7 years ago, but I wasn't looking for things to do with children that time. I'm thinking maybe we should make 2 days out of the trip, since we'll be coming from near Amboise. Day 1 we drive over in the morning, spend most of the day at G, and then stay overnight possibly at a hotel or B&B with a pool (or hot tub for me!). Day 2 we do/see something in that area or on the way back, to break up the 2.5 hour drive.

I have spent literally days online and found Chateau Saint Brisson sur Loire that has a gauntlet the boys would love. Anyone been there?

Any suggestions for great places to stay? Suggestions for someplace to stop on the way back to break up the trip? Thanks in advance for any help.

Robert2533

The boys, and possibly your daughter, might enjoy spending some time in the Parc Naturel Régional du Morvan (www.parcdumorvan.org). And you can always hop over to Dijon (www.visitdijon.com) for the day. Or head down to La Rochelle.

maryado

Thanks Robert2533, but we'll be heading back to Amboise after going to Guedelon (southwest of Auxerre), so what I'm hoping to get are some ideas for family-friendly things to do or see in the Loire Valley between the two locations.

Michael

<i>We'll be in France for more than a month, starting with 10 days in the Loire Valley, and will rent a car for this first stretch. </i>

Where will you go after the ten days in the Loire valley. That may influence your visit to Guédelon. For example, if going to the Rhone valley or anywhere in eastern France, it would not make sense to go back to Amboise. Or if your trip subsequently heads west or south (Brittany or the Dordogne, for example) it might make more sense to see Guédelon on your way to the Loire valley.

maryado

Michael, our plan is to arrive in Paris CDG, take a train to Tours, get the car and go to the house we've rented. Then (for several reasons) we'll be turning in the car and heading to Paris for a week.

I did try to figure out if we could just see it on the way up to Paris. But not sure if it would be smart to have all of our luggage/belongings left in the car while we spend several hours at Guedelon?

maryado

Not sure that I was clear that, upon arrival in France, we'll spend the 10 days in the Loire Valley and THEN turn in the car and spend the next 7 days in Paris. So this round-trip to Guedelon would likely come approximately in the middle of our Loire Valley stay, after everyone is over jet lag and (hopefully) up for a very long day-trip or possibly an overnight jaunt.

Still wondering about other activities and/or lodging in between Amboise and Saint-Fargeau/Guedelon site.

Michael

Suggestion: drive from airport arrival to Auxerre. Spend the night. Visit Guédelon the next day and then go to the Loire valley.

FrenchMystiqueTours

This may seem obvious but I just googled "burgundy with kids" and there are many results, such as below:

http://www.burgundytoday.com/sportin...kids-stuff.htm

http://burgundy.angloinfo.com/af/281...-for-kids.html

http://www.tourisme-yonne.com/en/i-d..._theme=FAMILLE

http://www.tourismeloiret.com/fr/351...0#.VMpMqC79nIU

Tourist office websites almost always have a section devoted to families/kids so check those. There are TO websites for each region and département in France as well as for any city/town/village that attracts tourists.

If you'll be driving back to Paris from the Loire then on your way you might stop just outside the town of Milly-la-Forêt to see Le Cyclop:

http://www.lecyclop.com/

maryado

Thanks so much for all those links, FrenchMystiqueTours! Obviously that wasn't obvious to me ;-) so I appreciate it. I will try that approach to the other areas we're going, as well.

Also will explore the idea of the first night in Auxerre, Michael. Thanks!

We thought about getting the car at CDG, but we live in rural areas and are not used to city driving. How would you describe driving to or from CDG?

Michael

The drive from CDG is autoroute around Paris. Check viamichelin for the actual routing. Driving in the late afternoon/early evening will mean rush hour traffic.