Monaco to Paris by car
 

My boyfriend and I are going to Monaco and Paris. We'd like to drive to Paris from Monaco and stop along the countryside for a night or two on the way, like in Burgundy and maybe another city for wine tasting and anything else. Do folks have suggestions on where to stop and the best way to do this? Also, I am not very familiar with car rental options in France, can we do a one-way rental, or is that excessively expensive? Any thoughts/suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you!

One way rental with no drop-off charge within the country is possible. Check www.autoeurope.com which is the best broker for the main rental companies.

For the rest, you absolutely need to look at a map (and guidebook) and see what is along the way -- and not just the motorway. Just about all of France is between the Mediterranean cost and Paris and the outstanding things that you might choose to see are countless. Your own interests do not necessarily correspond to those of the rest of us, and there is no point in everybody tossing suggestions around pointlessly.

Not sure how much time you are planning on spending in Monaco - but you should know there is little to do and see - unless you are into spending massive amounts of money shopping, or being invited to private parties on the incredible yachts in the harbor or gambling in the casino. And be aware that this is not a Las Vegas casino. Opens in late afternoon and you must be decently dressed to get into even the outer rooms - slots - formally dressed to get to the inside rooms where the table games are.

We have spend an evening several times when visiting the Riviera and it is a hoot - but an expensively and very nicely dressed hoot.

Welcome to Fodors

I strongly suggest that you limit your driving/sightseeing to the Cote d'Azur only. There is some beautiful scenery in the Nice hinterland if you want to get away from the coast and want to see prettty countryside. Then drive to Aix en Provence, visit Aix if you desire, and take the 3 1/4 hr TGV to Paris. Or you could fly there from Nice. I sense that you're a first timer - and you don't want to be driving into Paris, IMO.

If you drive straight to Paris from Monaco along the Autoroute/freeway, it is a 9 1/2 hr drive. If you stop for the bare minimums (pottie, food, gas, the inevitable road "deviations") I would budget 11 hours "on the road". That's with no sightseeing. I've driven every section of that route many many times (but never all at once) and it is a non-scenic drive for about 70% of the time - especially between Provence & Burgundy and Burgundy & Paris.

We spend 2 months in France most years - for a total of about 3 1/2 years exploring most areas there. I would never recommend a 1 or 2 night trip between Monaco & Paris when there so much neat stuff to explore at a leisurely pace in the area where you'll be starting your trip. We've spent 16 weeks on the Cote d'Azur, 18 weeks in Provence, 4 weeks in Burgundy/Beaujolais, 5 weeks in the Alps, 3 weeks in Franche Comte, and 2 weeks in the Ardeche - all areas along the Autoroute between Monaco & Paris. I have a 27 page itinerary I've developed for exploring the Cote d'Azur & Provence. I've sent it to over 3,000 people on Fodors (really). If you would like a copy, e-mail me at [email protected] & I'll attach a copy to the reply e-mail.

Stu Dudley

I wouldn't do this. Well, I wouldn't go to Monaco to begin with - wildly expensive concrete jungle - but it's your trip. Further, though, given France's amazing train system, I wouldn't make that drive unless I had a week to do it on N and D roads and really wander around in the country. I'd take the train from Provence to Lyon for a day or so, then, for the Burgundy fix, go to Dijon for a day, then on to Paris.

Most car rental outfits won't charge you a one-way drop-off fee as long as you stay in the same country, though.

Thank you all. We were invited by a friend to the Grand Prix, which is the only reason we are going to Monaco -- as I have heard the same as everyone is saying here. I was trying to think of a way to make the best of our trip back toward Paris so thought driving through the countryside would make sense. We are big wine people, so that seemed to make sense. Timing wise we can allot about 2-3 days for the trip back to Paris, so do not necessarily need to stay on a strict motorway.

I still wouldn't drive. You don't have enough time to really get "into" the countryside. You'd be much better served by taking the train to a couple of cool cities/towns and wandering around them and enjoying the ambiance. You'd really need a full week, or more, to plan a leisurely, lovely countryside trip between Monaco and Paris.

There's wine everywhere in France. It's not like you're going to miss out on it by not being in some "wine village" in Burgundy. Dijon will fill the bill nicely.