France by rail or car?
 

We are travelling in France for 16 days in August (2 adults and 2 kids (ages 13 and 7). We are wondering if we should rent a car or take the train to see France. Hoping to leave Paris visit Normandy, then Nantes, La Rochelle, Bordeaux , Carcassonne. Pont Gard and end up in Marseille. What is best bet for using time efficiently and cost? thanks for any tips

Oooh, so hard to choose, I love both!

But I think with the number of people and the places you want to see, you might want to do both, since you are doing the north, then the south. Rent a car following Paris for the northern part, then train to the southern part.

You've got way too much on your plate for a 16-day trip. Narrow it down to about three destinations instead of seven and you'll be fine. Not sure how you even settled on this combination of destinations, as it's kind of an odd one, but you're all over the map and far from efficient or cost-effective.

I think you don't have enough time this trip to drive any significant distances. Get the train for your journeys between places (although I agree with StCirq that you may have too many) and then rent a car to get round the periphery of a specific place if you must.

Yes we do need to do some cutting down on the destinations. Four people with different interests leads to an eclectic journey. thanks

Train schedules and routes here [see intermediate stops]:

http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en?

You will definitely find that Nantes, La Rochelle and Bordeaux have good train connections starting from Paris.

Driving:

http://www.viamichelin.com/

You need to decide how many hours of driving you can tolerate per day. Driving times will be much more accurate for autoroutes than secondary roads, where they can be way off depending on road conditions and traffic, and the percentage of each can be taken from the site.

It's Vers-Pont-du-Gard, by the way.

We use the toll free number of Auroeurope for our rentals, not the web site.

thanks for links

Vers-Pont-du-Gard is the commune; Pont du Gard is the aqueduct. You don't want to follow signs to the commune to see the Pont.