Help pick our 3 week France Itinerary

My wife, my 27 month old (when we go), and I will be heading to France in late September/early October. We’ve been to Paris, but not anywhere else in France. The purpose of the trip is general travel - though we always really enjoy wine regions. We’ll likely have grandparents with us for a good portion of the trip, so we won’t have to bring our son with us to every single place we go (i.e there will be a couple mom and dad only dinners, activities, or winery visits).

A little more about us/our preferences…We’re pretty experienced and easy going travelers. We’ve had a great time in cities but have really started enjoying getting out into smaller towns/countryside lately - especially now that we’re travelling with a 3rd. For example, we went to Italy for 2 weeks in September 2015 - a couple of our favorite stops were Montalcino (Sant Angelo in Colle) and Barolo (Castiglione Falletto).

The only thing we’re locked into for this trip is a full week in Paris. That was the only way I could convince my wife to up the trip to 3 weeks, but you definitely won’t hear me complaining about a week in Paris anyway. I’m also pretty set on the Burgundy region, but I suppose I could potentially be talked out of it.

Originally, my plan for the rest of the trip was to go to Northern Rhone after Burgundy (probably Tain-l’Hermitage or Condrieu), then Provence, and finish up in Nice. I’m a habitual researcher, so as I was digging into the details I kept seeing the Dordogne area come up. After researching some more, I think it is an area we’d really enjoy. I’d also really like to visit Bordeaux, but that is only an option if we head to Southwestern France. Also, we could just catch a train to Paris after Bordeaux (as opposed to a flight) which is a definite plus. My last consideration was San Sebastian because that is also a place we really want to go, and it would be nice to spend a little time on the coast. Plus, our 2017 trip (if there is one before kid number 2 is on the way) will most likely be in Spain. If we can fit San Sebastian in on this trip, it could free us up to concentrate more on the Southern areas and Mediterranean Coast of Spain on that trip.

Anyway, all that to say these are the itineraries I’m considering at the moment. They are all a decent bit of moving around, but we know we are comfortable with the pace. Plus we’ll finish up with a full week in Paris. I’ve read through a couple guide books and have searched this forum (along with others) and read tons of threads. Everyplace sounds great, so it is hard to eliminate some and finalize an itinerary. Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated. Number of nights at each stop is flexible, and I could potentially be persuaded to eliminate a stop altogether, but I probably would prefer not to.

Itinerary 1
-Burgundy (4 nights)
-Northern Rhone (3)
-Dordogne (4)
-Bordeaux (3)
-Paris (7)

Itinerary 2
-Burgundy (4)
-Dordogne (4)
-Bordeaux (2)
-San Sebastian (4)
-Paris (7)

Itinerary 3
-Burgundy (4)
-Northern Rhone (3)
-Provence (3 or 4)
-Nice (3 or 4)
-Paris (7)

I know that’s a whole lot. I figure more information is better than not enough for helping out.

Dordogne is beautiful with great food. Nice art too

Dirdogne is great but itinerary 3 wins for variety, great towns and easy travel (take the TGV to Dijon to start; fly back from Nuce to Paris)

I might reverse direction if you want to finish in Paris; that way you can fly into Nice and make your way back, finishing with TGV (or drive) to Paris

I would steer you away from N. Rhone. Outside of wine, there really isn’t that much of interest. Towns are not particularly old or quaint (with a few exceptions, as always), there isn’t much in the way of beautiful scenery. Tain is fine, but not exciting, no real town center, or night time activity.

Burgundy, OTOH, is lovely, with quaint, interesting towns, Beaune is a pretty vibrant place with a fabulous old center. Even without any wine activities, I would happily spend time in Burgundy. So keep that on your schedule for sure.

I haven’t been to Nice in a long time, but it’s not a real draw for me. I would instead focus on Provence, with maybe a day trip into Nice. There are several Provence threads around here you can look through for great info on places to go/eat.

I’d second the idea of Beaune appealing to all the family, but also being a very handy base for winetasting. It seemed to be somewhat touristy when we visited, but not unbearably so. If you were to stay in the town, then personally I’d be looking for the addition of somewhere where you can get a proper rural retreat, so you have balance of:
massive historic city,
pleasant moderate sized historic town and
rural escapism
with perhaps extending a fourth location to take in the coast

as ever I’d encourage you to minimise transfer time, to maximise holiday time - hence why the recommendation for 3 bases, or perhaps 4, but 5 may be too much for the grandparents / grandchild

I would really lobby for some time in Alsace. Incredibly beautiful small ancient towns along the Rhine.

We used to rent a villa in Mougins, which gave us quick access to Cannes and Antibes and, through the nearby A8, fairly easy access to Nice, Monaco and the nearby hill towns, while give us the ability to chill where we stayed, with outdoor space, plenty of bed and living rooms and access to a private pool and kitchen. Unfortunately, the villa we rented is off the market, but there are a lot of great places that should be priced pretty well (comparatively) for the period you are looking at

I agree with itinerary 3 and that Burgundy is great for wine tourism and N Rhone is not. Also stop in Beaujolais on the way down. Those people are very happy to see you. In Tain go to the top or Hermitage for the picturesque view but after that I don’t know. Instead of Nice go to Cassis less people and nice little town where Nice is a big town. Also trying to do all of France in one trip even in 2 weeks is too much. Do SW France next time. It’s a big country to drive you want to be more living in the country then driving the autoroute.

#3 for me. Your time frame works given most will be done with their holiday and the weather should cool down a bit.

I think that’s a great time of the year to visit the Dordogne (or anywhere for that matter). Still nice for outdoorsy stuff, but the french vacationers will be back to work.

I like #2. With that much time living out of a suitcase, take a vacation from your vacation by enjoying San Sebastian.

Number 2 for me. Gotta include San Sebastian, one of the best places on the planet to eat.

Thanks to everyone for the fantastic feedback. This is exactly what I was hoping for.

Northern Rhone is probably out. I hadn’t found too much on that in researching, but we had generally had good success with wine areas previously. Plus, it provided a natural stopping point on the road (if we were heading to Provence). If there is not too much to see there, we’ll skip it or stop for lunch when passing through.

Alsace/Colmar was an area I thought we’d definitely like, but it seemed a little out of the way to get to. I’ll recheck the travel logistics to see if it would be possible.

One concern that I had with Nice/Provence at this time of the year was that I had heard it was the rainy season (and the little I could find on the weather seemed to confirm that). Is that overblown/not something to worry about?

With the help, I’d say I’m down to two options…Either itinerary 2 or itinerary 3 with Northern Rhone eliminated and the extra time split between Provence and Burgundy (or perhaps adding in Alsace). And I’m definitely open to reversing the order. Once I’ve got the itinerary finalized, I’ll see what works best from a logistical standpoint.

Colmar seemed very touristic to me. If you like a bit more “off the beaten path”, it might not resonate with you.

Alsace and the South are pretty far apart, especially if you are driving. Another alternative is Champagne, which has a lot to offer, and isn’t that far from Paris.

Fall is the rainier season in the South. I’m not sure I’d call in the rainy season though (usually passing downpours in my experience). Be prepared for the mistrals, though. That can get pretty cold, and many accommodations in the hinterlands may not have adequate heat (based on US standards). They use heavy sweaters to compensate.

We did a bicycling trip in Dordogne. Great little villages, story book castles, warm people, cave paintings, Cro-magnon man, great food… Hard not to like and very different than Paris, which to us was a plus. We used Bordeaux as the beginning and end point and took the TGV back to Paris. Overall it seemed less touristy.

It is indeed less touristy than many other places for the reason that there is no TGV and it takes more effort to get there. Either drive to/from Toulouse through the Lot valley or to/from Bordeaux. The Lot and Dordogne valleys are my favorite areas to drive and explore in France. I’m not sure I’d do it with a toddler, though. Provence is easier to get to and around. I’d go inland in the fall, though, rather than coastal Provence.

I found Lyons which is the start of the northern Rhine to be very enjoyable, I wouldntvjust do a one day drive all the way from burgundy to Provence. I bet the kids will like the Vahlrona chocolate factory in Tain l’Hermitage, and in the Southern Rhone, Vaison la Romaine has great Roma and has a lot to see. ruins (as does Orange). Arles is not much further out if the way.

Itinerary 3 seems to make the most logistical sense. We love the Dordogne, but to get there from Burgundy it is quite a drive or a long train ride. I’d agree with doing the southwest on another trip.

The Dordogne is worth a visit and just about our favorite part of France, but a bit of a chore to get to from Burgundy. I would consider Alsace as an alternative. I would also think about adding Lyon- great food and beautiful, easy to navigate city.