My husband and I are leaving Lyon on 14/7/23 and are due in Bordeaux for a family event on 18/7/23. can anyone one help us with an itinerary here - WE are open to ANY ideas. Prior to Lyon we will be in Paris for 3 nights, and Amboise for 5 nights (using Amboise as a base for biking). After Bordeaux we will be going to Portugal. We are in our early sixties and would so appreciate some input here for these four nights.
Thanks in advance!

If driving I would cross the Massif Central. Moudeyres has a very nice upscale hotel (reservations recommended) and an ordinary one in the village.

https://flic.kr/p/7Dbq5q
Stop in le Puy-en-Velais to visit the cathedral and maybe climb to the Eglise Saint-Michel à Aiguilhe

https://flic.kr/p/7DbsvY https://flic.kr/p/7Dbs91
The next stop could be around Ussel, and then Hautefort

https://flic.kr/p/ogH6N3
and then Bordeaux

By train, you are also spoiled for choice. Any one of Nîmes, Avignon, Montpellier, Narbonne, Carcassonne or Toulouse are direct and easy intermediate destinations — two nights each in two of them, or one as a base for a region you haven’t seen before. If you were interested in more cycling, Narbonne is a good base for the Canal du Midi, while Avignon (or perhaps better Tarascon/Beaucaire) offers you the ViaRhona. In both cases, you can do a dead-flat stretch and come home by train.

hmm, I think maybe advantage Nîmes: by bus or train, from there you can visit Aigues-Mortes, Arles, the Pont du Gard, Uzès. The city is compact and walkable, with good restaurants, gardens, a spanking new Romanité museum and of course its Roman sights.

When in the area, I consider Le Puy a must.

My preference would be to drive. So many possibilities, but I would be tempted to stay 2 nights in Orcival (Auvergne) and 2 night in Sarlat (Dordogne). You'd only get a taste of either region, but that would be comfortable.

That all looks gorgeous but we have decided not to hire a car sadly, but we enjoyed your post!

Thanks, we’ll keep that in mind😊

Thank you - we loved all those ideas. Keen to visit canal du midi and hire a bike and return by train as you suggest, so Narbonne jumps out, but think Avignon with a bike ride,, may have more points of interest for other day trips, but everything says it will be over crowded in July.. but I suppose everywhere will be …
many thanks again definitely open to any other thoughts. So appreciate everyone’s input. Warm regards

Looking back on posts would I adore to go from Lyon to Sarlat then on to Bordeaux but the long train trip is putting husband off? Doesn’t appear any way around it tho .. a difficult area to access it seems

The thing with Avignon is its July festival, which will still be in full swing during your time there, driving up hotel prices and making restaurant reservations difficult. So maybe look at Beaucaire or Nîmes… or Narbonne. But if you can find losging you like at a price you like, why not.

Sarlat has apparently upped its game with summer bus service to nearby tourist spots, though it is still a car-centric destination and as you’ve found, a long day’s travel by train from Lyon.

And while I was going to suggest Vallon Pont d’Arc, canoeing down the Gorge d’Ardèche, Chauvet cave with prehistoric drawings and Aven d’Orgnac as substitutes for Dordogne, they’re no picnic to reach without a car either. Train + bus + taxis would do it.

Just realized you intend to travel on Bastille Day. Maybe stay another night in Lyon to enjoy the fireworks there? Or arrive early enough in the day to another city to settle in and enjoy their festivities?