Itinerary help--Loire Valley and Brittany
 

Driving for 3 weeks after week in Paris to places we have not visited.

Current plan is to visit Chartres on day 1 and then spend first 6 nights exploring along the Loire valley.
Never been. Wondering about either (a) spending all 6 nights in a central area like Amboise and doing day trips to castles, churches, vineyards, etc or (b) first 3 nights somewhere on eastern end around Orleans and then 3 nights further west like Samur.

After that want to drive around the coastline of Brittany toward Normandy/Mont St Michel for about 10 days probably spending nights in 3 different villages on the coast along the way. Never been there.

Then to Normandy where we have been.

Looking for ideas about where to stay, small towns, etc as we progress and any specific b and bs or small inns/hotels you have enjoyed.

Thanks in advance.

Skip:

Would reach out to StuDudley for a copy of his itinerary of Normandy/Brittany. He emailed a copy to me and used this as a base for our visit. We based ourselves in a weekly rental near St. Brieuc in a wonderful cottage remodeled from an old mill.

Have you been to the Perche area of Normandy, around Mortagne au Perche and Belleme? The Perche is where the Percheron breed of horse originated. This is a scenic area with some great restaurants, lots of 15 century manor houses, a natural regional park (HQ near Noce), and lively markets on Saturday at Mortagne and Nogent le Rotrou. From spring to fall there's usually something of interest going on on weekends.

It's a good area for walking and biking. There's a voie verte along the old train line from Dorceau to Alencon and there are a lot of signposted walks in the hills. There's a well-known chocolatier at Belleme, Charles Bataille. There are excellent boulangeries at Belleme, Mortagne, Remalard, and especially Bretoncelles where we get our favorite bread. The best ice cream I've tasted in France is available near Mortagne. If you go during the Rendezvous aux Jardins weekend in June or the Journees du Patrimoine weekend in September, there are interesting private and public homes and gardens to visit. In you're into mushrooms, there's an international festival at Belleme each October.

We like the peace and quiet here. If we go to the Loire or Burgundy or north of the Seine for a few days, the crowds get to us and we're glad to get back to the Perche and slow down. It’s like a vacation from our vacation.

The area is west of Chartres, so you could fit it in between Chartres and the Loire, but I realize you have a lot of places already on your list, so keep the Perche in mind for a future trip.

My choice in the Loire Valley would be to spend 3 nights at Amboise and 3 nights at Saumur. Orléans does no do it for me.

If you are travelling in peak season, accommodation might be difficult in the coastal resorts of Brittany. When are you travelling?

I always split my time in the Loire between west and east. I like Bléré in the east (Amboise has become too commercial for me) and Angers or Saumur in the West.

In Brittany, on the coast, I am partial to Vannes and thereabouts.

Normandy has lots of treasures people miss because they are making a beeline to the DDay beaches. I love the Vallée de la Misère, Alençon, Fougères, and Vitré, just to name a few places people don't often get to.

Sounds like a great trip!

In Brittany, good spots to explore the regions are Vannes, Pont Aven, Treguier, and Dinan.

Agree with the others about the Loire. Near Saumur & Amboise/Blois. Not Orleans.

If you would like my Brittany & Normandy itinerary - e-mail me at [email protected] & I'll attach it to the reply e-mail. Specify that you would like the Brittany & Normandy itinerary. I have others & I receive 4-8 requests for my various itineraries every day.

Stu Dudley

Thanks for the advice. We are going from about Sept 20 to Oct 15.
Stu, I will email you. Really appreciated your itinerary on Provence and your email help to plan that trip last October. Ardeche road trip day was a great suggestion.

>>Ardeche road trip day was a great suggestion.<<

My wife just finished her Shutterfly book on our trip to the Ardeche & Alps last year.

https://stududley.shutterfly.com/53

Click Full Screen & be patient.
Because of Shutterfly software problems, many titles and captions are missing or truncated.

Stu Dudley

Although I wouldn't recommend my itinerary in the area because it was so highly personalized as to be of little general value (it surely did work well for me, though!), I received some extraordinarily useful information as I planned it, so you might find some ideas here:
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-itinerary.cfm

We based in an apartment in the Old City in Tours, which we found to be very convenient for the 6 chateaux we chose for that week. Details here: http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...ire-valley.cfm