DebraW

Hello! We are planning a family trip to France in July – 2 adults and an 8 year old, our first trip to France. We fly in to Paris on July 5, and out of Nice on July 19. After a few days in Paris (3 nights), we plan to rent a car. I am busy researching and planning our itinerary now. I had hoped to do a couple of days in Brittany (2 nights), then the Dordogne (3 nights, some trepidation about the crowds) and Provence (5 nights), and finally last afternoon/night in Nice.

After plotting this all out, I realize that this itinerary would have us driving from Sarlat to Arles on Saturday, July 13 – a holiday Saturday! Everything I’ve read says that’s not a good idea (I had planned to do the Massif route, not the autoroute). So, I am trying to adjust the itinerary, maybe dropping Brittany, spending an extra night in France, going straight to the Dordogne, and traveling from Sarlat to Arles on Friday the 12th. I am interested in any general advice, as well as this specific question – which would be a better driving day – Friday July 12th, or Monday, July 15th?

Thanks very much for your help!

StCirq

I don't know what the issue is. There's no problem driving on that weekend, and there's not much of an issue with crowds in the Dordogne then, either. It'll be busy, and traffic in the one-lane towns like Les Eyzies and Beynac and La Roque-Gageac will be backed up a bit, but no big deal. My general advice is 3 days in the Dordogne isn't enough.

DebraW

StCirq! I was so hoping that you would reply! This is very helpful - I had read that driving on a holiday Saturday would be near impossible. I am also thinking that 3 days in the Dordogne is not enough. Would your advice be to drop Brittany altogether and add 2 nights to the Dordogne, or skim one off of Provence?

Pvoyageuse

"which would be a better driving day – Friday July 12th, or Monday, July 15th?"

Definitely Monday, July 15. It is one of the worst week-ends in terms of traffic. Friday will probably be "orange" and Saturday "red".

Carlux

It will be busy here in the Dordogne but not massively so. It's the summer. But the roads will be busy - French holidays start mid July . Many will have left Friday if they can.

However you are planning a lot of driving. I'd cut out something (Brittany ?) and spend more time in the Dordogne , and drive during the week.

StCirq

I'd drop Brittany - it's way out of the way and deserves a trip of its own. I'd spend another day or two in Paris, reverse the trip and take the TGV to Provence from Paris, pick up a car, go to the Côte d'Azur for a day if you like, then drive to the Dordogne for 5 days (maybe stop in Carcassonne for a coupple of hours on the way), then back to Paris on the train. No driving issues at all on the long-distance runs that way.

And btw, don't refer to it as Bastille Day when in France - no one will understand. It's the Fête Nationale. Happy travels.

Robert2533

July 15th is the official start of the summer holiday season when everyone who can heads for the beach or mountains. In addition, African expats by the thousands from all over Europe will be on the highways heading south for ferry crossing to North Africa. But since the 15th falls on a Monday this year, you can expect the traffic on the Autoroutes to be heavy beginning on Friday, 12 July, but might have eased up a bit by the time Monday rolls around.

blabla

Here's the France-wide info from last year: http://news.autoplus.fr/news/1457168...%25C3%25A9part
The gist of it is that the 14th (a Saturday) was bad, especially on motorways. The Paris area, major urban areas, the Rhône valley as well as the autoroutes A7, A8, A9 and A10 in the south had bad traffic on the 13th, and the 15th had much less traffic.
There is a calendar of traffic by day on this site (July=Juillet, traffic from green - normal traffic to red - really bad traffic):http://www.bison-fute.equipement.gou...-fute-r41.html
This shows the 14th as normal traffic for this year (probably b/c it's a Sunday) while the 12th and 13th are worse.

The Massif Central is one of the least populated areas in France and you probably wouldn't be using the main autoroutes that go from Paris to the south, so you might actually be ok on the 14th.

blabla

However, I second the TGV recommendation- you would be driving pretty long distances and the train is much faster & more comfortable. You should reserve tickets though (you can do it on the sncf website) since it's going to be busy that weekend, especially if you take the advice to go directly from Paris to Provence (I think you should, each of the areas you mentioned could happily take up several weeks on its own). Don't take the car from Paris to Provence though - it's the busiest motorway in France in the summer and the traffic jams are legendary.
Have a lovely trip!

kerouac

Dordogne is not considered to be one of the worst traffic areas. However, the approach to Arles could get a bit congested. Nevertheless, why should you avoid what everybody else in France is doing? It's part of the fun.

Ackislander

See if you can find the Jean Luc Godard movie "Weekend" on one of the video websites. I think it is part of the Criterion Collection.

Carlux

In fact, if you check Bison Fute, which gives you traffic warnings foro the whole year, you will find that 13 July is a 'red ' day, particularly in the South East and Rhone-Alpes.
http://www.bison-fute.equipement.gou...-fute-r41.html

Even if you don't read French, it should be pretty obvious which days to avoid travelling if you can.

DebraW

Thank you all very much for such quick and helpful information. Unfortunately we can't reverse the itinerary because we've already purchased plane tickets.

I've decided to save Brittany for another trip. My current thinking is to take the train from Paris to Limoges and rent a car there (very much want to see Oradour-sur-Glane), and then divide the rest of the time between the Dordogne and Provence. I'm leaning toward driving between the two on the 14th itself. This doesn't give us much time in Provence, unfortunately.

Ackislander - I used to teach film and that Godard traffic jam scene has been running through my head for weeks.