Arcachon Bordeaux Paris
 

My adult daughter and I are planning a four or five day trip to France in mid-September. Traveling from the US. We plan to take the high speed train from Paris to Bordeaux then transfer to the train to Arcachon Bay. We plan to do a bit of bike riding in the Arcachon Bay area. After a day or two in Arcachon we plan on spending a day or two in Bordeaux, finishing with a day or two in Paris.
Any advice on the itinerary? Thank you

Sounds neat - about trains in case you do not know booking early caan get deep discounted tickets - way way early to guarantee and save a ton of money - that is for a specific train however and cannot be changed nor refunded so be sure to have the right dates and times - if landing and taking a train from the airport leave in plenty of fudge factor time in case plane is late.

check www.voyages-sncf.com and www.capitainetrain.com for prices and booking - both have same trains and fares but latter is said to be easier for Americans to get to work. for lots on French trains check www.seat61.com - great advice on discounted tickets and for general info www.ricksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com. TGVs are often Duplex TGVs with two levels and try to get seats in the upper level for much better viewing of the countryside - down below you often just see retaining walls and embankments of the sunken rail line.

A day in Bordeaux would be enough for most - a nice scrubbed up big city with some monumental architecture but I'd spend another day elsewhere near there- St-Jean-de-Luz I found to be a sweet seaside resort and nice town right on the train line if you want some more seaside or say in the Bordeaux wine region.

I take the TGV from Paris to Bordeaux all the time and have never seen a double-decker. Buy your tickets 92 days out from departure and you can get fares as low as 19 euros. Almost every TGV from Paris to Bordeaux has at least 2 iDTGV cars ( a Zap and a Zen), and those are the cheapest to ride on if you can snag tickets early on (they are often available more than the standard 92 days out).

A single day in Bordeaux might have been sufficient 15 years ago, but since André Malraux has turned the city into a UNESCO World Heritage site (in 2007), it has loads to offer and could not be adequately seen in a day - maybe 4-5 days. There are at least a half-dozen different quartiers to explore.

St-Jean-de-Luz is not "near" Bordeaux and should not even be considered in the trip you are describing. If you are going to be around Arcachon, you might consider getting to the Dune du Pylat and Cap Ferrat, as well as some of the coastal towns around the Bassin d'Arcachon. You can check out the official websites for Arcachon and surrounds to get information on bike routes, events, accommodations, etc.

"André Malraux has turned the city into a UNESCO World Heritage site (in 2007)"

You mean Alain Juppé ?

Arcachon is very good for bike riding : flat and many bike lanes (including an old rail track converted).

There is plenty to do around the "bassin" with boats crossing it and saving a lot of time going round it.

Agree that St Jean de Luz does not really fit into the picture (plus Arcachon has the same old age atmosphere)

Andre Malraux died in 1976, he worked under DeGaulle.

I've been to Bordeaux and enjoyed it, I think a couple days there are fine, but it depends waht you want to see. Some people could get by with one day, probably.

Yes, of course, Alain Juppé. I was in Sarlat mode instead of Bordeaux mode.

St-Jean-de-Luz is not "near" Bordeaux and should not even be considered in the trip you are describing>

Yes my stupid mistake - was thinking Arcachon was near Spain even though I have been to Arcachon to climb the Dune de Pylat right next door, a huge sand dune and don't miss thing to do in this area.

Thank you so much PalenQ stCirq and others for the good advice. I will review your comments and let you know what we decided.