Our family will be driving from Vouvray in the Loire valley to Chamonix in the latter part of August. According to route maps and mapquest, the drive is about 6 hours.

Can anyone recommend an interesting town/village to stop for lunch and a brief exploration?

Thanks all!

ANY ideas? Michael...you are a font of information!

Choose a town where you think you might want to stop for lunch and then ask for a list of the restaurants in that area on www.viamichelin.com.

Not sure what route you will be taking, but you will probably be going through the Burgundy region. I'd suggest Beaune if you have time. Beautiful place with wonderful restaurants.

Viamichelin.com gives the drive time between Vouvray and Chamonix at 6-1/2 hours. That doesn't include any stops nor does it consider bad weather or bad traffic. With stops for food/fuel/bathrooms I would put that time closer to 8 hours. That doesn't leave a lot of time for stopping along the way if you leave later than 8AM in the morning. If you find you have time then someplace in Burgundy would be your best bet. Beaune is good as would be Vézelay, Semur-en-Auxois, Châteauneuf-en-Auxois or Noyers-sur-Serein.

http://www.vezelaytourisme.com/

http://www.ville-semur-en-auxois.fr/...xois_a258.html

http://www.linternaute.com/sortir/es...evaux/11.shtml

http://www.noyers-et-tourisme.com/

http://www.ot-beaune.fr/

I think Noyers or Semur make the best stops as they are both at about 3 hours distance from Vouvray, just about midway on your trip and right about the time you'd probably be ready for lunch. I ate in a nice place in Semur called Les Minimes which is right at the base of the ramparts. A walk around the ramparts by the river in Semur is lovely and actually more scenic than walking around the old medieval town itself. There's another restaurant in town called Au Douze which is supposed to be very good as well.

http://www.linternaute.com/restauran...mur-en-auxois/

Thanks everyone....the viamichelin tip was extremely helpful. However, the route they suggest is south of Semur and Beaune.

The towns i noted were Dompierre sur Besbre , Sancoins and Charolles.

Any input on these places? We'd prefer a small, charming village to a bigger bustling town for our lunch/rest stop.

Thank you!

I don't know what you might have entered but I just double-checked the viamichelin route between Vouvray and Chamonix and it puts you on the A6 autoroute and Semur is just 8km north of the autoroute at exit 23.

Thanks FMT...I'll look again.

Took anothe look at viamichelin. Looks like it puts us on the A85 out of Tours, which is very close to Vouvray(6km).

I came up with the same southern route headed toward Charolles.

Lori

I see what's happening now. Beneath where you enter your route are clickable options for "Michelin recommended" and "Quickest". The "Michelin recommended" route takes you south, starting on autoroutes but then putting you on departmental and national roads for some distance. You won't be driving as fast but the distance is shorter. The "Quickest" option is longer in distance but driving is faster as it's mostly autoroute.