First Trip to France Itinerary Help: Paris, Normandy, Provence
 

My partner and I, late 20s early 30s, will be spending 18 days in France, this will be our first time in France is vastly approaching and I want to make the most out of our trip, while it still being relaxing. This has been a last minute trip so I need help with the itinerary! Our tentative itinerary...

• 13: Fly in CDG, rent a car, head towards Giverny gardens, stay in Rouen in an airBNB
• 14: scenic drive to: Veules-les-Roses, Petites-Dalles, Fecamp, Etretat, Honfluer...Stay in Honfleur
• 15: Tour Honfleur, tour local Calvados, Stay in Honfleur
• 16: Head for Bayeux, see the tapestry and city, afternoon D-Day Tour, evening head to Mont Saint Michel....Stay in AirBNB near MSM
• 17: Tour MSM morning to afternoon, take a train from Rennes to Avignon...or Marseille
• I NEED SUGGESTIONS HEREAFTER
• 18: Luberon
• 19: Luberon
• 20: Luberon
• 21: Luberon
• 22: Luberon
• 23: Formula 1 Race, near Le Castellet
• 24: Cassis
• 25: Cassis, Train back to Paris
• 26: Paris
• 27: Paris
• 28: Paris
• 29: Paris
• 30: Fly out of CDG afternoon

The idea after traveling around Normandy was to stay in a local village in the Luberon Valley, and take day trips to nearby villages, Arles, Pont du Gard, Avignon, and Marseille. Also to hike and explore the area and relax. Is staying in one village ideal for this, or would it be better to stay in multiple locations? The only definite plan is we want to go to the formula 1 race near Castellet on the 23, and after spend a day or two at the beach before taking a train back to Paris and spend 3-4 days at the end of our trip. Can anyone suggest a different route for the south. My partner does not like a lot of repacking, and wants to relax which is why I chose the Luberon Valley to take day trips from. Our plans prior to heading South are also not set in stone, I just thought that route made the most sense. Also we discussed adding in the Loire valley prior to heading south but thought it might be too busy. Please advise, thank you!

If you are arriving after an overnight fight, I would be cautious about renting a car immediately. How well do you handle jet lag? You could be dangerous to both yourself and other drivers.

If you are not one of many who can really sleep during most of your flight you may want to take the train from CDG-RER to Gare du Nord, changing to RER E that ends at Gare Saint-Lazare with cheap hourly or more trains to Rouen.

for more on trains check www.seat61.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.oui.sncf - French Railways site - you can always buy a ticket on you arrive at CDG at the rail desk fr the whole route.

Then do nearby Giverny the next day. And don't miss Les Andelys when leaving Rouen. exceptional romantic setting overlooking Seine - old castles, etc.

https://www.google.com/search?q=les+...h=535&dpr=1.75

Do you have my 35 page Provence & Cote d'Azur, and my 20+ page Normandy & Brittany itinerary?? I have sent them to over 3,000 people on Fodors. If you would like a copy, e-mail me at [email protected] & I'll attached them to the reply e-mails. Specify which ones you want - I have others. DO SO SOON - WE DEPART FOR A MONTH IN FRANCE IN LESS THAN 24 HOURS. I JUST PRINTED OUR BOARDING PASSES.

Stu Dudley

While you will be in Rouen, they will be having the Armada de la Liberte https://www.armada.org/ .
If you don't have a place to stay yet - reserve ASAP . We'll be in Rouen one of those days.


Stu Dudley

I will second this advice. Take the train from Paris to your first destination - or spend a night in Paris - but renting a car after a long flight and trying to navigate unfamiliar roads is a recipe for potential disaster. We have rented cars in France, Germany, Spain, and Portugal over the years, and it's always a learning curve with an unfamiliar car, road signs in another language, and directions that are new to you. We have never picked up a car before 48 hours in a country - and even then it's a challenge.

Also - whether you are asked for it at your car rental agency or not, it's a very good plan to have an International Drivers Permit. If you are stopped by police for an infraction or are in an accident (regardless of whose fault it is) you could be asked to show the IDP. It's easy to get at any AAA office, and is good for a year. https://www.tripsavvy.com/internatio...-permit-468481

And International Drivers Permit is required along with your regular state library though a few states may have licenses that fulfill that requirement.

Pal, I doubt if the French would want his library card..

Please avoid driving after an international flight--especially into and around Rouen, which is difficult to navigate even when you're wide awake. We once spent hours going over and back and over the seven bridges in search of our hotel--not an experience I'd want anyone to repeat. If you must drive, go only as far as Petit-Andelys, where you could stay at the lovely little hotel La Ch ine d'Or. It's on the bank of the Seine; rooms at the back have beautiful views. The restaurant is excellent. Nearby you can see Ch teau Gaillard, built for Richard the Lion-Heart.

Thank you for all the advice, unfortunately being a new member has prevented me from replying right away. I do take your advice about not immediately driving in a foreign country; however, this won’t be our first time doing this and thankfully I can read/speak French well enough to navigate. Regardless, I have altered our itinerary to reflect an easier first few days route. Typically, when we arrive in a new country, we like to hit the ground running as we both sleep relatively well on flights (also why we opted for premium cabin on Norwegian). Jet lag is not usually an issue especially to Europe.

Thank you @StuDudley for the very helpful itinerary’s, maybe we will cross paths while in France over the next week.

Already have our IDP for the trip. Great advice as they are required by the French embassy now…. well either an IDP or a notarized French translation of your DL, IDP seems easier to obtain.

Thank you for the Petit-Andelys recommendation, we have decided to skip Rouen, as it didn't fit into the schedule. The first part of our trip is a little tight scheduled, as we wanted to spend most of our time in the south of France.

Looking for more advice as far as the itinerary, I have updated it based on recommendations and due to time constraints. Does anyone else have other must see stops in the south or Normandy recommendations? Also I have the last few days as planned to go to Nice, are the beaches there worth it or should we stay closer to Marseille, mind you “off-the-beaten-path” is more our style.

Day 1: June 13, 2019
· Fly into London, tour London for a couple hours
· Fly from London to Dinard 130pm
· Get to hotel in Dinard
· Tour Dinard for the evening
· Stay in Dinard
Day 2: June 14, 2019
· Morning tour St. Malo** (IF time allows)
· Drive to MSM, get there by 830 am tour abbey early
· Leave by 11am drive to Bayeux
· See Bayeux tapestry** if time allows
· Self Guided DDay tour, Point du Hoc
· Stay in Bayeux
Day 3: June 15, 2019
· Early Drive from Bayeux
· Les Jardins du Pays d’Auge
· Calvados tour
· Beuvron en Auge, cute village
· Dinner in Honfleur, walk the town
· Stay in Honfleur
Day 4: June 16, 2019 (Sunday)
· Scenic drive Drive to Etretat, hike to see the view (really want to see this)
· Drive to Fecamp, (maybe cut this)
· Drive through Petites-Dalles, (maybe cut this)
· Drive to Veules-les-Roses, walking tour (maybe cut this)
· Drive to Giverny tour gardens in the evening
· Stay the night in Vernon OR head to St-Germain-en-Laye
Day 5: June 17, 2019 (Monday)
· Tour St-Germain-en-Laye
· Tour Versailles
· Evening train to Avignon/Marseille
Day 6: June 18, 2019
· Tuesday outdoor market in Gordes (Afternoon/Evening)
· Head to airbnb in Gordes
Day 7: June 19, 2019
· Stay in Gordes
· Day Trip to Avignon or St Remy(both)
· Pont du Gard & Uzes
Day 8: June 20, 2019
· Stay in Gordes
· Lavender scenic drive, hiking, Chateaus…
Day 9: June 21, 2019
· Stay in Gordes
· Market day in Carpentras
· Scenic Drive, Lavender fields, Gorges de St May… Or Gorges de l’Ardeche & Largentiere
Day 10: June 22, 2019
· Stay in Gordes
Day 11: June 23, 2019 (Sunday)
· Drive from Gordes to Paul Ricard
· Formula 1 Race Day
· Drive 2 hrs to Nice OR 1 night in Cassis
Day 12: June 24, 2019 (Monday)
· Nice OR Cassis
Day 13: June 25, 2019
· Nice
· OR Stay near Marseille beaches…..recommendations? to take TGV to Paris
Day 14: June 26, 2019
· Nice
· Fly from Nice to Paris or TGV Marseille to Paris
Day 15: June 27, 2019
· Paris
Day 16: June 28, 2019
· Paris
Day 17: June 29, 2019
· Paris
Day 18: June 30, 2019 (Sunday)
· Fly home afternoon ORY

Those long-distance trains can be booked at a discount if you do it soon enough to get those limited in number seats at www.oui.sncf. www.seat61.com has loads on doing that yourselves online.

Your itinerary looks great!

In general I don't love the beaches in the Nice area-they are mostly rocky and hard on the feet. Dinard actually has a much nicer beach in terms of sand and the walking is lovely there. However, weather in beginning of June in Brittany can still be much cooler than you might want and also could be rainy. Any chance you can reverse the direction-fly into Nice and then put Brittany at the end before you go back to Paris? And Provence and the Riviera will be less crowded and perhaps cooler in early June than later June. Anyway, just a thought.

However, weather in beginning of June in Brittany can still be much cooler than you might want and also could be rainy.>

Heck after several years of going to St Gilles Croix-de-Vie - popular beach - the times it was comfy swimming were rare - but with climate change that may have changed. Cannes of course has primo beaches not yet really crowded in June - day trip there from say Antibes, which is a nice old regional town with sandy beaches just around it.