I strongly believe that for any country or for any region and for a given number of days - there is ONE optimal tourist route.

What, in your opinion, will be the optimal, most interesting, leaving the most and best impressions route for travelling in France for 2 weeks? (excluding Paris). If this is too difficult - perhaps, two or three different routes in different regions?

Please, do not reply with "depending on one's interests". Let's take a couple of average tourists, who are going to France for the first time and want to see the best of it, a little of everything - some museums, some wineries, some castles, some rustic scenery, some ... whatever. If your friends called you with such question, what route would you recommend to them?

Two weeks. Excluding Paris. To experience as much as possible. The best?

I strongly believe that for any country or for any region and for a given number of days - there is ONE optimal tourist route.

Really? I strongly believe otherwise. And if my friends called me, I'd most likely know what would appeal most to them.

Spend the whole two weeks at Euro Disney.

Seriously, this:
"I strongly believe that for any country or for any region and for a given number of days - there is ONE optimal tourist route."
is the Fodor's equivalent of throwing yourself naked into a den of starving bengal tigers. They are going to tear you to pieces.

I think I agree with StCirq on this, but I'll play anyway.

If I had to offer a 2 week (14 days) itinerary to someone and wanted to impress them with what I like (after all, isn't that what this would be?)I would start off with this...

A few days in the Loire. I presume we get there via Paris so rent a car and drive west and south. 3 days in the Amboise/Blois area and cram in all the chateaux and scenery one can get. From there I would move south to the Dordogne area - maybe 5 nights near Beynac or Sarlat and spend my days on day trips along the river and in the bastides or into the Lot area. After that I would drive south to Toulouse and Carcassone and the Catalan coast (is that a good phrase? Not sure but I mean Narbonne, etc.). Lets make that 2 more nights.

Then drive east and north into Provence. Spend maybe 3 nights in that area and then finally finish off in say Dijon for my last night.

Overall a loop around the massif central. No where near enough time to do any area justice and as you can see the Dordogne area is my personal favorite (so far). Frankly though, I might be more inclined it it were me to spend the entire 2 weeks in say...Provence or the Dordogne. Over time as I have gone to France I find I like staying put in one place and getting to know the area more so than just windshield time in a car or on a train. If I had to do it over again, I would trade some of my earlier marathons for slower stays in the county or small cities. Regardless, time spent in France (fast, slow or medium) for any traveler is time well spent.

Enjoy!

I would rent a car in Paris and head to Brittany. Dinard, Dinan, Cancale, Brest and Quimper... Two weeks would not be enough for me but I will take it.

If I were asked to take a busload of 20 people to France and "impress them" with France (and not wear them out), it would look something like this.

- June 25. Fly to Toulouse and stay overnight there.
- June 26. Leave Toulouse & head to Albi in the morning & visit Albi. In the afternoon, backtrack a bit & drive through/visit Castelnau de Montmiral, Cordes, Bruniquel, St Antonin Noble Val, and St Cirq Lapopie & stay overnight there (but don't tell St Cirq - the poster above).
- June 27 visit Pech Merle caves first thing in the morning. Drive along the Cele River & visit Figeac. Make your way over to Rocamadour & stay overnight near there. Visit Rocamadour in the evening or early next morning.
- June 28 - visit Gouffre de Padirac, then drive west on the Dordogne visiting Carennac, Martel, and then continue along the Dordogne to Roque Gageac. Stay in Roque Gageac for the next 4 nights.
- June 29 - explore the many sites in the Dordogne
- June 30 - explore the many sites in the Dordogne - don't miss the market in St Cyprien on Sunday morning - or any of the other markets in the Dordogne if you will not be there Sunday
- July 1 explore the Dordogne
- July 2 head east to Provence - stopping in Carcassone for a 3 hr visit. Stay somewhere in Provence - St Remy, Luberon, etc. Spend the next 4 nights in Provence.
- July 3 - explore the many wonders of Provence. Lavender fields, sunflower fields, markets, Abbeys, cute villages, Roman ruins, Provence cities (Aix, Avignon, Uzes)
- July 4 more Provence
- July 5 more Provence
- July 6 After Provence, head through the Alps - Stay in Briancon
- July 7 Route des Grande Alps, Visit Mt Blanc if the weather is nice. Stay in Chamonix (not an exciting town)
- July 8 More Alps - stay in Annecy or Talloires.
- July 9 Drive to Grenoble, return the car (French side), & fly home.

That's about 2 weeks.

Provence & the Dordogne are my 2 favorite regions in France. Brittany is my third favorite, but that is tough to work into a 2 weeks schedule that includes Provence & Dordogne

Stu Dudley

I agree that this is an unhelpful premise - anybody who asks me this kind of question, I get some information about them before I provide an answer that reflects their interests, budget, energy level and travel sophistication (as in, have they visited Europe or France before, are they comfortable driving a rental car, do they want to be where there are few foreigners, or not). And I totally disagree that there's ONE optimal tourist route.

But ok, if the conditions to the question are (i) excluding Paris; (ii) average people (yawn); (iii) to experience as much as possible, and the unspoken assumption that this route is for people who are visiting France for the first time. Then the answer would be the Loire Valley, Provence and the Normandy/D-Day beaches area. A bunch of chateaux that most people like, easy to get to (from Paris). Provence has Roman antiquities, beautiful scenery and good food. And a lot of people seem to want to visit that area of Normandy and the beaches. I have been there, found the beaches and cemeteries interesting and enjoyed the experience (including Mont-St.-Michel), but would put other parts of France much higher on my own list.

If I were recommending an itinerary for non-average people who were more interested in great food and certain periods of history (like me), I would drop northern France and the Loire Valley, and suggest Provence and the Dordogne. Dordogne is gorgeous, has fabulous food, prehistoric marvels and castles that I find to be much more interesting than in the Loire Valley. The Loire Valley chateaux are pretty, but I think that part of France is less beautiful than Provence or the Dordogne. I'm not sure why the Dordogne doesn't seem to appeal so much to first-time visitors to France. You pretty much have to rent a car, so that probably dissuades some people, and it's a less familiar area to Americans, so it's not an obvious choice (though plenty of people here on Fodors know and love the area).

I thought about this for a while and decided not to play the game. Why? First of all, I don't agree for a minute that there is one optimal route; second, there is no such thing as an "average tourist". It is very important to consider the travelers' interests; and, last but not least, there is no "optimal" route that doesn't include Paris.

I completely disagree. there is NOT one optimal route through France.

Many people do have specific interests 00 even if your don;t.

It also depends on time of year/weather, what type of transit you prefer (we do road trips - if you stick with trains a different route may male more sense) and your budget (some places ARE more expensive - esp at certain times of year.

If you refuse to provide info - you probably won;t get a lot in return.

Why do people have to be so nasty? Does it make them feel important? and why do people have to go to Provence? Because books have been written by expatriates? I'd skip ... I find it touristy and snobbish in most places, no one local can afford to buy the famous "mas" bought at fabulous prices by Parisians or foreigners. So, I would not bother.
I would instead pick two places carefully and stay there for one week, one in Normandy or Brittany or Loire, well-located to provide me with interesting day-trips: one to a chateau de la Loire and a winery, one to the Normandy beaches, one to Chartres or Monet's house etc. and the rest to enjoy the local markets, the food, the people and some of the local monuments and sites that are not internationally famous but are often more interesting than fighting your way with hordes of tourists to visit the Mont St Michel.
The second week I'd spend in the Massif Central, because it is different, beautiful and still preserved; but there, I leave it to a local to suggest a few ideas.
I think after those two weeks, you would know more about France than most yawning "experts"!
Last tip : Make sure that you will be able to talk to the owner of the place you plan to rent (exchange some e-mails before making a reservation and see whether this is someone who will provide helpful suggestiosn).
Good luck and have a good time!

GiteduMoulin : At last someone speaks up against Provence, at least the Provence of guide books ! I could not agree more with you. I call it the Peter Mayle's legacy and he has done more harm than good to the area !

UNESCO just added France's food to its cultural heritage list. There's a whole two weeks right there. But if you want some scenery and history to go with your meals, France has 35 sites on UNESCO's world patrimony list.

There are about 42 "poles touristiques" per fr.wikipedia. Some of these are categories, so maybe we should estimate the top spots at about 100 places. The same wikipedia entry lists the most visited places in France from 2006. There's some overlap between the two lists.

On your behalf (and now mine), I followed a link to Grand Sites de France, which features places with a unique or special landscape. A map shows the 35 members (8 of which actually qualify for the label).

Even with teleportation, you'd have trouble fitting all this into two weeks. But part of France's special appeal for us is that you can hardly go wrong, wherever you go.

Ideally? Whichever route this so-called "average" couple DECIDES on and even more ideally, NOBODY telling them they went to the wrong place, they didn't get enough understanding, they didn't get this or they didn't get that.

I think it depends on the season. Lets assume it is May, I'd go to Alsace for the wine, walking in the Jura, then down to Auxerre (a few monestries to fill the day), droping south to Lyon, i'd then go to Avignon, Carcassone, Cahors, Bordeaux (St Emilion for me), Angers, Le Mans (for the walls) and finally Bayeux/ Honfluer.

Trouble is I'd have done miles in the car and missed to talking to loads of people

OP-- I strongly believe you are absolutely wrong in that there is ONE optimal route....but I believe you suspect that when asking "don't dispute this"....so I'll go around it by telling you that I have no idea who you are and what you like and therefore could not possibly recommend an optimal route for you.

Get a guidebook and save yourself some dissapointment.

I'll hop on Stu's bus!

Hi An,

>I strongly believe that for any country or for any region and for a given number of days - there is ONE optimal tourist route.<

Well, I certainly wouldn't want to contradict your religious beliefs, so I won't bother answering.

There is no optimal.
I did a 2 week tour of the Loire, adding in Chartres, Giverny and a bit of time in Paris. I thought it was one of my favorite trips ever. Yet, I only saw part of one region. I have also see Stu's itineraries for the Dordonge and Provence, which could be a couple of weeks each. Then there is Normandy..then Britanny. Each could be a couple of weeks
Lyons, could be a week there too. Paris, I've been 10/11 times and have not seen it all.

So, there may be an 'optimal' two week plan for a region, but not for the whole country.

If seeing a bit of many place is your goal, a coach tour might be best.