Itinerary Advice... Please Comment
 

We (2 adults, 2 teens (15/13) will be travelling to France in the month of August. This is a first attempt at an itinerary. Any ideas/comments are welcome. Thank you in advance!

July 26 - arrive in Paris from Canada - 5 nights in Paris
July 26/27 - recover from jetlag and walk/enjoy Paris
July 28/29 - Museum Pass - choosing a handful of must see museums
July 30 - Day trip to Versailles and last night in Paris
July 31 - train to Rouen where we plan to rent a car

July 31, Aug. 1, 2, - 3 nights in 1 place in the Normandy area - D Day Beaches, Caen Museum, Mont. St. Michel and St. Malo

Aug. 3, 4 - 2 nights in 1 location in the Loire Valley - tour 2/3 chateaus and enjoy area by car

Aug. 5 - drive to Biarritz area and spend August 5, 6, 7 nights in 1 place here touring area by car - and beach time

Aug 8 am drive to Burgundy for Aug 8, 9, - 2 nights to see Chateau de Guedelon (castle being built)

Aug. 10/11 - flexible - extra day here (to add in somewhere else?) to drop car somewhere outside in Paris - and then take train in to Paris to fly out to Glasgow (Aug. 12th) for 5 days before we head back to Canada.

Are these drives, i.e. from Loire Valley/Biarritz and Biarritz/Burgundy at all reasonable? We are used to Canadian driving (days to get anywhere and our kids are excellent at handling distances in a car) - but have no idea about French roads, and do realize this is holiday time for France. We are hoping in these longer drives that we can do a sightseeing route - not necessarily get out of the car but enjoy the drive and make the occasional stop.

Thanks again for any ideas!

For me, those would be long drives and not particularly pleasant ones, particularly from the Loire to Biarritz. Is there a reason you are trying to cover so much distance? I would probably use train transportation for those long legs, or change my itinerary so as not to be trying to cross the entire country twice.

If you went to the La Rochelle area or the Dordogne instead of Biarritz, it would make more sense - and be less stressful, IMO.

Biarritz does not get the predictably good weather that the Riveria gets, do that would be a lot of driving and maybe no reward if the weather is not nice.

Your only full day in Burgundy is Sunday, when all the stores are closed in the larger cities. Some in Beaune will be open. I would spend a few more days there.

Here is a site for Chateaux to visit in Burgundy - keep your ticket from the first Chateau you visit for a discount on the 2nd chateau (and the 3rd, 4th, etc)
http://www.routedesducs.com/
Spend the last night in Dijon & take the TGV to CDG airport in the early morning, or to Paris.

That's more driving than I would want to do - and the Loire to Biarritz leg is not that scenic via the freeway. The drive from Biarritz to Burgundy will likely take all day - what a waste of a vacation day!!. This route is not scenic either.

Consider this:

After visiting the Loire, head out early to Le Mans, dump the car, and pick up the 10:30 TGV to Provence & get to Avignon at 2:45. No train changes and you can probably get PREMS for real cheap.

Spend your "relaxatioin" time by a pool in Provence instead of in Biarritz and in a car for 15 hours.

Then up to Burgundy.

Stu Dudley

Actually it is closer to go to Guédelon from the Loire. So if you go to the seaside, you might want to do it by train from Burgundy, and return to Paris by train. On the other hand, I am not sure that I would want to be on any seaside in France in the month of August.

Have a backup plan in case it's raining a lot and you can't see Guédelon. I was going to go there last June but it rained most of the time I was there - and before I was there and after I was there(including the day I was going to go there) - and it would have been a muddy mess.

Auxerre and Vézelay are about an hour away from Guédelon (in different directions) so could be good substitutes (or additions) to visiting Guédelon.

Biarritz to Beaune is a 9½ drive non-stop. Biarritz does not really easily fit into your overall itinerary. You'd be better off finding a beach along the Golf de Lyon (there are a number from which to choose) which would make driving to Burgundy much easier. Any beach along the French coast during the month of August will be absolutely packed and finding nearby accommodations will be challenging.

I agree that taking a train back to CDG is always a good idea. It can save needless driving and the requirement to preposition yourself close to Paris. A train from where depends entirely upon your CDG departure time. Dijon has early trains that arrive CDG sufficiently early for most departure times. This detail should be arranged quickly as choices may be limited and you'll want to buy train tickets cheaply - possible when properly planned in advance. Without knowing when your flight to Glasgow departs, it would be difficult to plan the last third of your France trip.

You may want to keep your car for the duration of your time outside of Paris as multiple rentals can greatly increase your overall costs on a per day basis. Multiple rentals may also disqualify you in the event you find an attractive lease possibility. Overall the strategy I find most workable is:

1. Arrive in France, spend time in Paris

2. Rent/lease a car and explore the countryside

3. Return to Paris by train.