Where to in France, please help.
 

Hello all

Next year we will again be visiting my happy place France.
We will fly out of Dubrovnik on the 30th June to somewhere in France. I've looked at flights out of Dubrovnik to France and all destinations, other than Paris - (we will end our trip there 3 weeks later), requires at least 1 stop (no direct flights).
So the choice is ours.

We love France and have visited the following areas:
Provence, stayed 2 weeks in the Luberon
Alsace area stayed twice
Loire Valley
Normandy and some Brittany
Sarlat as a base for 1 week
Paris 4 times

After 3 weeks we will end up in Paris for a few days and the only other place on our list is visiting some French friends for a few days, they live near Nimes. I would also like to see Avignon and maybe a possible TGV trip back to Paris from there will work in.

We had thought maybe Dijon Burgundy area. But not sure now.
We will rent a car for all or some of the time. Whatever works in.

Now I know many people have visited and stayed at some amazing places so I am looking for help to make my decision.
Thank you

Unfortunately, I can't help with your main question, as the places I've visited in France are among those that you have also seen.

As a separate issue, I hope you will give Croatia and surrounds at least 3 weeks, if not 4, or that you are prepared to skip a lot of what it offers.

Have you been to Antibes, or other small coastal towns? We just spent a day there, and it's very pretty. Not for more than 3 nights, maybe.

We stayed in Nice, and liked it enough as a home base.

How about the Languedoc - around the Gorges du Tarn? Near Roquefort - if you like cheese. Fly into Montpellier or take the TGV to Montpellier from CDG.

Or the Alps near Annecy. TGV to/from Paris or fly into Geneva.

We've spent 10 weeks in various regions in the Languedoc & I developed a 35 page itinerary that outlines our favorite areas. I also have one for Annecy and the Alps plus Burgundy. I've sent my various itineraries to over 5,000 people on Fodors. If you would like a copy, e-mail me at [email protected] & I'll attach a copy to the reply e-mail. Specify which itineraries you would like.

Stu Dudley

Hi kja, we will be spending some time in Slovenia beforehand, making our way down via Plitvice Lakes to Split. In Split we pick up a sailing boat with 14 others to sail the islands for a week. We then move on to Dubrovnik.

Tabernash we visited Nice 30 years ago, when much younger. We didn't go to Antibes, so maybe a thought to visit that area again.

Hi Stu

I did not see your reply, I must have been typing.
I love cheese! Hmmm Languedoc is ticking some boxes and it would tie in as we wanted to go to Montpellier.

I have a friend who loved Annecy and flying in to Geneva was also an option from Dubrovnik. That tied in with our original thoughts of Burgundy as well.

I have been very fortunate to follow a couple of your itineraries whist visiting France previously, a wealth of information. I will email you again, thank you.

Should be a great trip!

For Slovenia, the Plitvice Lakes, and Split / Trogir, you might consider allocating a bare minimum of 1 week. If you want to add Istria, Zagreb or other parts of northern Croatia, or any of the Croatian coast north of Split, you will, I think, need more time -- perhaps on the order of another week or two.

Given the scarcity of non-stop flights from France to Dubrovnik, perhaps you can reverse your circuit. Is it possible to begin by flying into Marseille, with easy train transport to Avignon. Then work your way towards Paris, and finish by taking that one non-stop a day to Dubrovnik.

There is never enough time to fit in all we want to do when travelling, so it takes lots of reading, advice and suggestions. Thank you everyone and I welcome many more.

Southam, I cannot reverse the trip order as flights are booked. We fly from Australia into Milan and depart from Paris.

Dubrovnik seems to be a very small airport with limited departure options. I am happy to do 1 stop but don't want to do more if I can help it. There seems to be a Croatian Airlines flight that flys to Paris daily. So that may be an option and then to decide where to visit first in France for the 3 weeks.

We have spent a few weeks in Burgundy and love it! Great food, lovely villages and of course delicious wine. I think it is one of my favourite areas of France.

Another vote for Burgundy, especially at that time of the year when most of the French rush to the South and Cote d'Azur.
Beaune is very busy with wine lovers whereas Dijon is never over crowded and has plenty to offer as a home base. http://www.destinationdijon.com/en/dijon_video.htm
Dijon is 3h from Avignon and 1h40 from Paris.

Burgundy, for sure. Or Alsace.

I'd look at Auxerre over to Bescancon and down to the Swiss border. That includes Chablis and the Jura (which is beautiful hiking country) plus of course the Irancy/Chablis/Jura wine. Think of it as the land that links Burgundy and Alsace and was a real discovery for me 20 years back.

Thanks for your votes and suggestions.
Its quite interesting that Burgundy was always going to be part of this trip because it is a region that we always had on our list and we do love wine and food. But then we had had a few negative comments from people saying the region was too expensive and not as cute as other areas. We do like small villages.
So given our likely flights from Dubrovnik to Paris the Burgundy area would fit nicely in and then we could move further south.

You should be just ahead of the school holidays, they start 8 July 2017. Traffic on autoroutes on Saturdays and Sundays will be brutal. If you want to see friends in Nîmes and maybe the area between there and Avignon, best to do that first.

After that, Burgundy gets my vote. I like whites so loved the white burgundys (ies?), and Chablis. Countryside is beautiful, loads of small vineyards, Vélzaley is a special visit.

Don't wait too long to book a base or two in Burgundy. I would love have a week or two in that area, just poking around and taking it easy. Many options to drop a rental car and head into Paris by train.

Thanks Cathinjoetown,
Didn't realise the school holidays started that early. Thanks for the tip.
Hmmm will have to get my plans and routing sorted soon.
Any suggestions for a good base? We prefer smaller towns and staying at a cottage or similar.

You have nonstop flights from Dubrovnik to these:
Bordeaux,
Geneva,
Lyon,
Marseille,
Nantes,
Nice,
Paris (CDG and ORY)
Toulouse

That covers so much of France that your question doesn't rely on flying so much as on personal preference, and on the fact that some of these flights are not daily, so check your itinerary against the calendar.

I don't see the area of the southwest on your list of areas visited - from Perpignan up to Andorra or Carcassonne (!!!) to Toulouse and Albi and over to Bordeaux etc. Plenty to discover!

Or even the Basque country straddling the France-Spain border - maybe fly into Bordeaux and head south.

I stayed here years ago, based on what I could find, it may no longer be opened, no recent reviews:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Re..._Burgundy.html

This was very near Chablis village. Further south, Macon is just lovely. Many people like the countryside nearer Dijon. If I were going, I would narrow in on an area of Burgundy and look for a gîte. Hope others chime in with favorites.

The Domaine was a working vineyard, very interesting to stay in one if you can find something similar.

The Languedoc is an option, or the Pyrenees, or la Rochelle. The French Jura (essentially between Basel and Geneva), so either airport would do to get there.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca...7624529919999/ and subsequent pictures.

<<But then we had had a few negative comments from people saying the region was too expensive and not as cute as other areas. We do like small villages>>

That seems quite ridiculous.

Michelhuebeli, our flight date from Dubrovnik is Friday 30.
As you mentioned there are quite a few flights to France but not that many direct on our date.
StCirq I know what you are saying. Its just that we had hear unfavourable comments and they stick in your head for a while, thats why we started to look elsewhere.
We love France, in fact we have visited France more times than any other country. People have been very kind to suggest many of their favourite places and I am spending much time investigating them all and looking at maps and photos, thanks Michael.

It is still too early to know what flights will be leaving on June 30th, 2017.

If you keep an eye on

http://www.airport-dubrovnik.hr/inde...-6/departures#

you'll see, at some point this winter, the Summer 2017 timetable appear. Mark your calendar for a reminder to check often. Look at the currently displayed timetables to see how there are airlines you might not have thought to consult.

And if you go to the websites of those airlines that had service this past June, you might get early announcements before the airport composes their file.

Your patience may yet get rewarded.

Same answer as StCirq. You'll always find people who don't like something.

About the last part of france not mentioned is Brittany. A region absolutely superb not too tourist infected and a lot to see.

Mvg.

Burgundy is one of our favourite regions in France and we have spent seven weeks in various parts since 2006. We have enjoyed them all. We do like the area around Macon. There is really good wine, lovely villages such as Brancion, Chapaize, ( wonderful church ), St Gengoux le National, Cluny. You can walk up the Roche de Solutre for great views over the vineyards. There is a good wine cave at Lugny. It is also close to the Beaujolais wine region. In 2014, we spent a week near Cormatin ( have been there before in 2010)and two weeks in the very north of Burgundy at Villeneuve sur Yonne. If you click on my name, you can read my report - last three weeks at the very end. We are in France at the moment, and will be ending our trip with a week in Burgundy.

Further north you can visit Vezelay, Semur en Auxois, Noyers, Auxerre, Abbaye de Fontenay, Flavigny. We have stayed in these areas on previous trips. Dijon and Beaune are also lovely, but are bigger than we like to stay. We like small places.
As already mentioned , Brittany is lovely. We stayed a week just a little south of Dinan in 2012 and visited Mont St Michel from there. My first trip report here is for that trip.
Happy planning.

A recent review about Dijon and Burgundy in the Telegraph :)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/de...rovincial-tag/

Auxerre is a lot larger than Beaune (about twice its size), so I don't understand saying Beaune is too large but not Auxerre.

I don't know about cute villages, but prices can just be checked to compare as to whether saying Burgundy is "too expensive" makes any sense or not. I don't think it does and can't comprehend what that means. I stayed in Dijon and hotel rates there are obviuosly a lot more reasonable than, say, Paris, but that's true of almost any place in France. Except maybe some resort areas in peak season, actually (or even Provence in peak season).

As for flights, I prefer Easyjet within Europe and they have nonstop flights to Geneva, and it's very easy to get a train from there to the NE of France. I'd do that rather than a flight with connections as even a train with connections doesn't usually take up as much time (or hassle). You can get to Lyon from Geneva by train direct.

I don't see any nonstop flights from Dubrovnik to either LYS or MRS or NCE or Bordeaux or Nantes, either, using skyscanner so not sure what airlines Michel is referring to above, as that website includes budget airlines.

We always stay in Beaune, it is the perfect size for us. Lots of cafes and good restaurant options, but easy to drive out of.

We spent a week over New Years a couple years ago. The pics are in the winter but you can see the lovely villages

https://www.flickr.com/photos/pug_gi...57647659760923

I fell in love with the Côte d'Or the first time I saw it because to me it was quintessential France, with its lovely villages, rolling hills of vines!

We stayed at the apartment here in Place Monte and it was perfect. We parked in the parking a short walk away and loved it's central location.

http://www.couleursdebeaune.com/beau...ment-for-rent/

Happy planning!

St-Jean de Luz and the small, pretty Pays Basque towns in the foothills of the Pyrenees are a favorite of ours.

St-Jean-de-Luz, which we have just come back from, is one of the most special places on earth. Just freaking gorgeous.

We did not stay in Auxerre. We stayed in the village of Varzy and did a day trip into Auxerre. We always self cater and as our trips are usually up to ten weeks long, we do not eat out every day. Budget will not stretch to that.

rhon, thankyou for your suggestions. I just spent ages reading your trip reports. I have managed to write only one and since then we have been back to France 4 times and enjoyed travelling through The Netherlands, Belgium, Italy Switzerland & Germany. We have been very fortunate to have wonderful travel experiences. But our heart still belongs to France. Love your style of travel.
Thank you for your suggestions for Burgundy.

Christina, we have flown Easyjet before. I looked in to their flights into Geneva but I can't see any dates from Dubrovnik past October. I have done lots of investigating today and it seems that flying in to Paris is our best option at this stage as it will easily link to the regions we think we want to visit by train. But I will keep checking various airlines and websites. It looks like our departure date from Dubrovnik will be Saturday 1st July.

Cocofromdijon I have read many of your wealth of comments on Dijon and surrounds, they are always helpful.

Jamikins I have read and enjoyed many of your wonderful trip reports and have always gathered a wealth of information from them and I always love your beautiful photos. We love all things food and wine, vines and rolling hills, so Burgundy is definitely back on the agenda. Your apartment looked amazing.

Thank you everyone else for your suggestions of wonderful regions of France to visit. Such a beautiful and contrasting country. One of our dreams is do a house sit in France, so that we could spend even more time soaking up the atmosphere.

It looks like our 3 weeks will be spent in Burgundy (not sure exactly where yet). combined with visiting friends near Nimes and the area around Avignon.

I think that sounds like a heavenly trip!!