How long is the drive from Paris to Bordeaux?

I will be in Paris and staying at the Paris Hilton in October. Will be travelling to Bordeaux for 5 days....I have already make reservations at some of the chateaus and plan on renting a car for driving around in bordeaux.

My question is, should I rent the car in Paris and drive to bordeaux or take the TGV to Bordeaux and rent the car at the train station.

How long is the drive from Paris to Bordeaux and is the directions simple and easy to navigate?

thanks

With only 5 days, I suggest you take the TGV and then rent a car in Bordeaux. Avoid a long autoroute drive and also save time knowing how to return the car.

Use a rental agency that has an office in the station. When you get the car, the lot will probably be some distance away. If this is the case, when returning it, park illegally in front of the station and walk in. Signs will say buses only, but you can park behing a little building and be out of the flow of traffic.

Go to the SNCF web site and see if PREM tickets Paris-Bordeaux are available. You won't be able to order them until 60 days before departure, but then you don't need to rent before that time either. We paid 25€ for one-way PREM tickets, and then picked up a car at the train station in Bordeaux. We used CRX for our rental.

Take the TGV to Bordeaux from Paris, and as Michael says look for the discounted PREM fares starting 60 days out from your trip.
Are you sure you want a car in Bordeaux? It's not a pleasant city to get in and out of with a car. Do you have to stay IN Bordeaux to visit chateaux? I assume you mean wine chateaux. Why not stay outside the city and then go in to visit the city itself?

Thanks for the suggestions so far...I'll definately check out Prem tickets.
The way I saw it was, there will be the two of us on the trip. And right now, I am getting 272 Euro per person on TGV roundtrip from Paris to Bordeaux. Plus renting car for bordeuax would be 130 Euro for the 4 days.

If I was driving from Paris, the car rental would only be 210 Euro for the 5 days.

What is the http address the Prem tickets?

Where else is good to stay around bordeaux? I was planning on staying at the Mercure de Lac(?) of the Accor group of hotels. I have plans to visit the wine chateaus(Latour,Margeaux,LynchBages,haut Brion,etc..)

Hi, we just did this trip last month, so if you click on my name, you can pull up our trip report with details.

To get a general sense of the duration of the drive from Paris to Bordeaux, go to www.viamichelin.com and plug in your departure and arrival points. Then add another two hours to the trip for the unexpected.

Frankly, I wouldn't do it again. The drive is not at all scenic. I would take the train (since you'll be at the Paris Hilton, you'll have easy access to Gare Montparnasse) to Bordeaux.

With the exception of Haut Brion, it sounds as if most of the chateaux you want to visit are in the Medoc. So why not stay there instead? You could actually stay at Chateau Cordellian Bages, or in Margaux. We stayed outside St. Estephe, which was not bad.

Another option would be to stay at the Haut Rive Saint James in Bouliac, just across the river from the city of Bordeaux.

You can buy PREM tickets (non-refundable, non-changeable) at www.sncf.fr. You can't buy them until 60 days before departure. Our second-class tickets from Bordeaux to Paris were 35 euro each.

Hope this helps.

Add another 50€ at least for fuel to go from Paris to Bordeaux, and the same to go back up.

More thoughts.

You wrote, <i>&quot;If I was driving from Paris, the car rental would only be 210 Euro for the 5 days.</i>&quot; Don't forget to add gas and tolls onto this, which will probably account for another 200 euro.

Also, the Mercure de Lac is in an absolutely characterless (and rather remote) section of Bordeaux. It does offer fairly easy access to the D2 (Route de Medoc), but that's about all.

Oh boy, you need help!

The drive from Paris to Bordeaux is an unscenic, expensive hassle.

The Mercure du lac - YUCK! I can't fathom going all the way to France and staying in a characterless place not even convenient to what I want to see and do.

You can get PREM fares for 19-25 euros Paris to Bordeaux if you watch the www.sncf.com site starting 60 days out from your day of train travel. You can then do a several-day rental from Bordeaux and drive to the wine region (where you should be staying).

Don't stay in a Mercure way out of the way in Bordeaux. If your focus is on the wine region, stay in the wine region. Google Alistair Sawday's Bed &amp; Breakfast in France and Fodor's Rivage series and find some place with some ambience IN the wine region. Go into Bordeaux for a daytrip. It's a great city, but the traffic is horrible. Go to Arcachon and the Dune du Pylat and Cap Ferret if you want some seaside treats.

Bonne route!

As suggested, stay at Cordeillan Bages(a Relais &amp; CH. hotel) and you will be in the wine area. I stayed there a few years back and it was great. We made reservations for the wineeries ahead of time..it was a must do! You can't just drive up. They are not like here. They are private tours. You cannot buy wine at the wineries. Very non-commercial. We had rreservations at Lafite Rothschild...If you did not recognie the place from the pictures, you might not find it...no signs in front.
Do drive to Arachon, as suggested.

Thanks for everyone's suggestions again.

Looks like i will take the TGV as suggested. Really don't want to spend 5-6 hours driving in an unfamilar country where I can't even read the signs. hahaha

On the SNCF site, I can order tickets and print them out(PREM tickets) if I am from Canada? I don't see Canada listed as a pickup Country....

As for hotels in and around Bordeaux, I haven't researched that area too much. Just focusing on Paris hotels. Will be there with my Fiance, and in Paris will be staying at the Paris Hilton for 3 nights before the bordeaux trip, and 5 nights at the Hilton Arc de Triomphe after the bordeaux trip....
I thought Bordeaux would be close to the wine chateaus.....guess not..
So I will look at some of the hotels in the Medoc area...As most of the winery I have booked reservations with are in either Pauiliac or Margaux area.
I plan on spending 1 day touring the St. Emilion region, but so far has not able to book any reservations at those vineyards, except for Clos Fourtet. Its difficult to book tours in October as its still Harvest season.
So I am happy that I manage tours with 3 of the 5 1st growth wines (Latour,Margaux, and Haut Brion)

More Hotel recommendations in/around bordeaux are still welcome.
The Cordelian Bages, although sounds very good, and its close to Lynch Bages, might be out of our budget. Looks like it'll be 200 Euro a night...Thats almost like 300 CAD..

Hi C,

&gt;On the SNCF site, I can order tickets and print them out(PREM tickets) if I am from Canada?&lt;

Yes. The computer doesn't care where you live.

Bring the same credit card you used to buy the tickets online with you on the train. They sometimes ask for it.

You might enjoy staying at Chateau Pomys, just outside St. Estephe--just a few minutes from Pauillac and just seconds from Chateau Cos d'Estornel. We paid 71 euros per night, high season.

They don't have a web site, but you can book them on line through France Reservation Service, I believe. You do need to pay in advance.

Try the Ch. Layauga, a Gaillan-en-Medoc ,Lesparre-Medoc area. Very good things said about it, with a very good restaurant too...Fax 05 56 41 21 96

If you're having trouble booking tours of the wine chateaux, consider taking a tour arranged through the Maison du Vin in Bordeaux, or the Bordeaux Tourist Office.

http://www.whatsonwhen.com/events/~38330.jml

http://www.bordeaux-tourisme.com/