Where to in France, please help.

Old Oct 2nd, 2016, 03:35 PM
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Where to in France, please help.

Hello all

Next year we will again be visiting my happy place France.
We will fly out of Dubrovnik on the 30th June to somewhere in France. I've looked at flights out of Dubrovnik to France and all destinations, other than Paris - (we will end our trip there 3 weeks later), requires at least 1 stop (no direct flights).
So the choice is ours.

We love France and have visited the following areas:
Provence, stayed 2 weeks in the Luberon
Alsace area stayed twice
Loire Valley
Normandy and some Brittany
Sarlat as a base for 1 week
Paris 4 times

After 3 weeks we will end up in Paris for a few days and the only other place on our list is visiting some French friends for a few days, they live near Nimes. I would also like to see Avignon and maybe a possible TGV trip back to Paris from there will work in.

We had thought maybe Dijon Burgundy area. But not sure now.
We will rent a car for all or some of the time. Whatever works in.

Now I know many people have visited and stayed at some amazing places so I am looking for help to make my decision.
Thank you
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Old Oct 2nd, 2016, 04:13 PM
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kja
 
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Unfortunately, I can't help with your main question, as the places I've visited in France are among those that you have also seen.

As a separate issue, I hope you will give Croatia and surrounds at least 3 weeks, if not 4, or that you are prepared to skip a lot of what it offers.
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Old Oct 2nd, 2016, 04:23 PM
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Have you been to Antibes, or other small coastal towns? We just spent a day there, and it's very pretty. Not for more than 3 nights, maybe.

We stayed in Nice, and liked it enough as a home base.
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Old Oct 2nd, 2016, 04:32 PM
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How about the Languedoc - around the Gorges du Tarn? Near Roquefort - if you like cheese. Fly into Montpellier or take the TGV to Montpellier from CDG.

Or the Alps near Annecy. TGV to/from Paris or fly into Geneva.

We've spent 10 weeks in various regions in the Languedoc & I developed a 35 page itinerary that outlines our favorite areas. I also have one for Annecy and the Alps plus Burgundy. I've sent my various itineraries to over 5,000 people on Fodors. If you would like a copy, e-mail me at [email protected] & I'll attach a copy to the reply e-mail. Specify which itineraries you would like.

Stu Dudley
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Old Oct 2nd, 2016, 04:37 PM
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Hi kja, we will be spending some time in Slovenia beforehand, making our way down via Plitvice Lakes to Split. In Split we pick up a sailing boat with 14 others to sail the islands for a week. We then move on to Dubrovnik.

Tabernash we visited Nice 30 years ago, when much younger. We didn't go to Antibes, so maybe a thought to visit that area again.
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Old Oct 2nd, 2016, 04:49 PM
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Hi Stu

I did not see your reply, I must have been typing.
I love cheese! Hmmm Languedoc is ticking some boxes and it would tie in as we wanted to go to Montpellier.

I have a friend who loved Annecy and flying in to Geneva was also an option from Dubrovnik. That tied in with our original thoughts of Burgundy as well.

I have been very fortunate to follow a couple of your itineraries whist visiting France previously, a wealth of information. I will email you again, thank you.
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Old Oct 2nd, 2016, 04:52 PM
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Should be a great trip!

For Slovenia, the Plitvice Lakes, and Split / Trogir, you might consider allocating a bare minimum of 1 week. If you want to add Istria, Zagreb or other parts of northern Croatia, or any of the Croatian coast north of Split, you will, I think, need more time -- perhaps on the order of another week or two.
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Old Oct 2nd, 2016, 05:33 PM
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Given the scarcity of non-stop flights from France to Dubrovnik, perhaps you can reverse your circuit. Is it possible to begin by flying into Marseille, with easy train transport to Avignon. Then work your way towards Paris, and finish by taking that one non-stop a day to Dubrovnik.
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Old Oct 3rd, 2016, 04:32 AM
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There is never enough time to fit in all we want to do when travelling, so it takes lots of reading, advice and suggestions. Thank you everyone and I welcome many more.

Southam, I cannot reverse the trip order as flights are booked. We fly from Australia into Milan and depart from Paris.

Dubrovnik seems to be a very small airport with limited departure options. I am happy to do 1 stop but don't want to do more if I can help it. There seems to be a Croatian Airlines flight that flys to Paris daily. So that may be an option and then to decide where to visit first in France for the 3 weeks.
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Old Oct 3rd, 2016, 04:53 AM
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We have spent a few weeks in Burgundy and love it! Great food, lovely villages and of course delicious wine. I think it is one of my favourite areas of France.
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Old Oct 3rd, 2016, 05:20 AM
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Another vote for Burgundy, especially at that time of the year when most of the French rush to the South and Cote d'Azur.
Beaune is very busy with wine lovers whereas Dijon is never over crowded and has plenty to offer as a home base. http://www.destinationdijon.com/en/dijon_video.htm
Dijon is 3h from Avignon and 1h40 from Paris.
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Old Oct 3rd, 2016, 06:10 AM
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Burgundy, for sure. Or Alsace.
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Old Oct 3rd, 2016, 10:28 AM
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I'd look at Auxerre over to Bescancon and down to the Swiss border. That includes Chablis and the Jura (which is beautiful hiking country) plus of course the Irancy/Chablis/Jura wine. Think of it as the land that links Burgundy and Alsace and was a real discovery for me 20 years back.
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Old Oct 3rd, 2016, 01:40 PM
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Thanks for your votes and suggestions.
Its quite interesting that Burgundy was always going to be part of this trip because it is a region that we always had on our list and we do love wine and food. But then we had had a few negative comments from people saying the region was too expensive and not as cute as other areas. We do like small villages.
So given our likely flights from Dubrovnik to Paris the Burgundy area would fit nicely in and then we could move further south.
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Old Oct 3rd, 2016, 02:58 PM
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You should be just ahead of the school holidays, they start 8 July 2017. Traffic on autoroutes on Saturdays and Sundays will be brutal. If you want to see friends in Nîmes and maybe the area between there and Avignon, best to do that first.

After that, Burgundy gets my vote. I like whites so loved the white burgundys (ies?), and Chablis. Countryside is beautiful, loads of small vineyards, Vélzaley is a special visit.

Don't wait too long to book a base or two in Burgundy. I would love have a week or two in that area, just poking around and taking it easy. Many options to drop a rental car and head into Paris by train.
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Old Oct 3rd, 2016, 03:38 PM
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Thanks Cathinjoetown,
Didn't realise the school holidays started that early. Thanks for the tip.
Hmmm will have to get my plans and routing sorted soon.
Any suggestions for a good base? We prefer smaller towns and staying at a cottage or similar.
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Old Oct 3rd, 2016, 04:01 PM
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You have nonstop flights from Dubrovnik to these:
Bordeaux,
Geneva,
Lyon,
Marseille,
Nantes,
Nice,
Paris (CDG and ORY)
Toulouse

That covers so much of France that your question doesn't rely on flying so much as on personal preference, and on the fact that some of these flights are not daily, so check your itinerary against the calendar.

I don't see the area of the southwest on your list of areas visited - from Perpignan up to Andorra or Carcassonne (!!!) to Toulouse and Albi and over to Bordeaux etc. Plenty to discover!

Or even the Basque country straddling the France-Spain border - maybe fly into Bordeaux and head south.
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Old Oct 3rd, 2016, 04:02 PM
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I stayed here years ago, based on what I could find, it may no longer be opened, no recent reviews:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Re..._Burgundy.html

This was very near Chablis village. Further south, Macon is just lovely. Many people like the countryside nearer Dijon. If I were going, I would narrow in on an area of Burgundy and look for a gîte. Hope others chime in with favorites.

The Domaine was a working vineyard, very interesting to stay in one if you can find something similar.
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Old Oct 3rd, 2016, 04:21 PM
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The Languedoc is an option, or the Pyrenees, or la Rochelle. The French Jura (essentially between Basel and Geneva), so either airport would do to get there.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca...7624529919999/ and subsequent pictures.
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Old Oct 3rd, 2016, 05:01 PM
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>

That seems quite ridiculous.
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