driving in france with kids
 

Hi I'm travelling in May with my guy and 2 kids 7 and 11 ..this is what I was thinking
CDg airport rent a car to Orleans 2 days
Orleans to Bois or tours 2 days
From there to Nantes 2 day ( puy du fou)
Nantes to la rochella 2 days
From there to Bordeaux leave car there and train to Paris
Paris -5 days

Skip Orléans as there is nothing of interest there unless you have some specific reason for a visit. Even then, I would see what you want in a day and get out to spend the night elsewhere.

I would head right from CDG to the Loire and base in Blois or wherever else interests you. If you want info about what to see and do in the Loire you can have a look at this thread:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-de-france.cfm

I think the rest of your itinerary looks OK. Near Nantes you can visit the lovely towns of Guérande, Le Croisic and/or Pornic. From La Rochelle you can visit the Île-de-Ré.

BTW, your question here is different than the one you posted on Trip Advisor:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic...ey_Centre.html

Unless you are arriving after a fairly short flight, I would not want to plan on driving right after you arrive. You might look at reversing your itinerary a bit-take a train to Bordeaux from CDG since there are lots of trains on this route. From there you could rest, enjoy Bordeaux a bit and then pick up a car at the train station or airport. We have rented cars there and it is really easy since it is much smaller than Paris. You could drive from Brittany back to Paris CDG, drop the car and then go into Paris if you are worried about driving into Paris itself-although dropping a car in the city itself isn't really that hard and might be easier with kids.

I'm sure that Orleans has plenty of nice stuff if you research it properly, but it is a city that I would skip as well. And it is too short of a drive from CDG -- go straight to Blois.

You probably already know if you can drive after spending all night on a plane. I am one of the people who can, and I have often done it. Quite a few other people appear to be helpless zombies after a flight, and they absolutely should not do it.

it's not often I see the Puy de fou mentioned here - your kids [and you] will just love it I'm sure. We've been twice and i'd happily go again. As you're going in May it's too early for their evening show, the Cinescenie, which runs on Friday and Sat nights from June to but if you ever have the chance to go, I can thoroughly recommend it.

Allow yourselves plenty of time at the site - there is a LOT to see and it would be a shame to miss any of the shows - our favourites were the Colosseum, the knights, the Vikings, and the birds. if you can manage to see all of those and some of the other side shows, you'll have a great day.

annhig

Just to clarify things - is the evening Cinescenie the only show that does not operate in May? The Colosseum, knights, etc is open in May???

Stu Dudley

yes Stu, all the shows operate all the time the park is open, [unless they are closed for renovation of course, but none were when we were there] apart from the cinescenie.

here's the website.

http://www.puydufou.com/en?season=summer

You'll see that the first few dates in June for the Cinescenie are already sold out, and accommodation in the area goes fast as well. if you are thinking of going, you'll want to stay as nearby as possible - it doesn't end till about midnight in June and July as they need to wait for darkness for the fireworks at the end. It is very popular with the french - the car park was packed with coaches from all over the country.

Another kids attraction not far off from Puy du Fou is Futuroscope:

http://en.futuroscope.com/

You could base in Poitiers instead of Nantes if you wanted to visit both these places and then continue to La Rochelle.

If you stay in Nantes the kids would probably like this:

http://www.lesmachines-nantes.fr/en/

I have relatives who go to the Puy du Fou absolutely every year and won't miss it until the day they die.

You have two identical threads going on this forum. Could you please close one of them as it's very confusing to responders to figure out which thread to post on:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...my-plan-ok.cfm

kerouac - i can believe it. we think it's terrific - the coup de teatre at the end of the show in the colosseum is brilliant and the new bird show [new to us the on the second visit] was amazing. I wouldn't describe it as just a kids' show.

The first year we went to the Puy de Fou we went to the Futuroscope first, which was just as well because it's not half as good. [IMO]

The aquarium in La Rochelle is vey interesting and worth the trip.

thank u guys..im jus a lot confused as to where to go as there are so many options and beautiful places in france and i really wanna make the most of my trip with kids..i wanna be in paris for 5-6 days and loiree 4 days
rest 4 days can't decide where..
confused should i plan Dordogne or
Nantes ( Guérande, Le Croisic and/or Pornic)
and La Rochelle (Île-de-Ré. 
…puy du fou)

pls suggest

french mystique any suggestions how to go to paris from ile de re

Well, I suppose it depends on what your overall plan is but your only two choices are to drive there or drop your rental car off and take the train. If your vacation ends at the Île-de-Ré then you would drop your car off in La Rochelle and take the TGV back to Paris from there. You'll have to compare the cost of fuel and tolls if driving vs. the cost of train tickets for all of your family, keeping in mind train tickets are cheapest when purchased up to 3 months in advance.

Note that it costs 16E per car to drive over the bridge to the Ile de Re from the La Rochelle area in "season". No cost returning to the mainland.

Stu Dudley