Having been to all areas I would drop Bordeaux. If you are looking for lovely vineyards there are nicer, more scenic areas around Provence. Bordeaux itself is a nice city, but its far from your other locations and doesnt really have the wow factor - perhaps you are adding it because it is a wine region you have heard of? Unless you are a huge wine buff and want to spend your time visiting large estates by appt (and plan to buy $$$$ of wine) then I think your time would be better spent focusing on the 3 areas you have identified in 2 weeks.

I have to agree with jamikins. Drop Bordeaux. If you are going to be driving, I would suggest travelling via Burgundy as opposed to Bordeaux. Another wonderful wine area, and a good place to break the trip between the Loire and Provence. Look Beaune as a stopover. We love Burgundy. Lots to see in each different part. Our last time in Burgundy was spent in the Maconnais region. Great wine, lovely countryside, great food. Have a look at Burgundy.

rhon - totally agree - Burgundy is one of our favourite areas. To me it looks exactly like I pictured rural France!

Beaune makes a great stop along the way to Provence.

Yes jamikins, we have spent four weeks in different parts of Burgundy on our trips to France. We are Australian. Did not go there last trip because we were touring more western France. Definitely next time. It is such a lovely area to visit, and we love rural France. For us Burgundy ticks all the boxes - lovely countryside and villages, lots of history, great food and wine. Yes, I know that sounds like most of France, but Burgundy is special for us.

sweng - here's another vote for dropping Bordeaux.

I'm not so against it as the others [we spent some lovely days there a very long time ago] but for your plans, it's way off your route, and either the eastern Dordogne or Burgundy make more sense.

I am not really against Bordeaux as such. I just think with the time the OP has and what he wants to do, Burgundy is a better fit. Hope he has a great trip.

all.thanks for the suggestions..we really like bordeaux wine which was why we wanted to go through there..so the current plan is paris (1), loire valley (4), burgundy (2), provence (4) and paris (2)..numbers in brackets represents nights..

any particular cities or towns in each area aside from beaume? saumur in loire?

Dijon is a great place to visit and there are loads of charming villages around to stop in for wine tasting. I highly recommend a visit to the marches aux vins in Beaune for a tasting In their cellars
http://www.marcheauxvins.com/vin-beaune-tourisme/en/visit-wine-tasting.html

skweng - we really like Saumur. WE stayed there for 3 nights a few years ago, and on a more recent visit to the area, although we weren't staying there, we found ourselves gravitating to it. Saumur reds are very nice and there are lots of "caves" in the area [literarily - they are cut into the hillside]

another nice place which we have visited but not stayed in is Chinon. both would make good Loire bases.

You don't need to go to Bordeaux to drink Bordeaux wines. You can find pretty much any kind of wine all over France. And regarding the mention of visiting estates, it's not really even possible without a connection in the business. I would drop Bordeaux too.

The Loire is 1000km long and has wine grown over about half of it. If we ignore Muscadet at the mouth of the river the rest is made up of Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Franc, Pinot Noir (various), Merlot and a great many of little varietals such as Fer. Wine types range across from Fizzy, dry, sweet and very sweet. But of course, the varietal is probably less important than the terroir. The most interesting terroir is in Sancerre (just look at a bird's eye view of the place), Vouvray, Saumur and Savennieres

thanks..think will likely to use Saumur / Chinon as base in Loire, before heading over to Sancerre and Dijon..on the way to Provence.looking to drive between 2-3 hours a day on route...what's a good base for Provence? Aix-en-Provence? Avignon? We will probably take the TGV back from Provence to Paris.

Avignon

skweng - it's about 40kms between Saumur and Chinon, and takes roughly 40 mins to drive between them.

so you'll really have to pick one or the other.

annhig.Yup.Got it..am going to angers-noizay-romorantin in Loire..does this route make sense..

thanks all for your help!

skweng - am going to angers-noizay-romorantin in Loire..does this route make sense..>>

are you planning to stay in each of these places? or just to visit? how long in each?

Personally I will not drop Bordeaux for anything else.
Great wineries(the famous 1855 classified wine), the town itself is beautifull and you can visit the Atlantic coast as well!
I am not so huge fan of Burgundy, Beaune, Dijon etc. - but that is just my opinion.

Carla

http://southweststory.com

I would consolidate your Paris days a bit more. Just go on to the Loire from your arrival and don't waste time transferring to and from a hotel. You'll gain a full day that way probably. And maybe cut a day from the Loire, and have extra day at the end for Paris.

annhig. plan is to stay one night each in angers and noizay and two nights in romorantin..then from romorantin go on to saulieu and then chagny..might either stay one night each at saulieu and chagny or two nights in chagny. before heading off to avignon.

gretchen..ya..that could work as well..but it is a 13hr flight from hk..just wanted break the trip up abit.

skeng - I think that i would stay two nights in Noizay [though i would prefer 3] and day trip to Angers from there, unless you have a particular reason for wanting to stay in Angers - i have a prejudice against "one-night stands" as I think that they provide very poor value in hotels and make a trip too "bitty".

it's about 90 mins to Angers from Noizay, according to google maps; you could go there first and then work your way back to Noizay via Saumur, Chinon and Villandry - the latter is a definite "must" in the area and would make a lovely afternoon's visit.

Chenonceau is my "must see" on the way to Romantin; if you had missed Villandry the day before, you could go there in the morning and see Chenonceau in the afternoon.

I would think on a 13 hour flight you would probably get some pretty good rest/sleep, unlike the 6-7 from the east coast of the US. Of course, it is your trip, but we often just like to keep going if possible to maximize time--and get where we want to be and stay our first night, if travelling outside of Paris.

Thanks all for your recommendations. All set for a fun drive around France in the summer!

hi all,

just one last question. what's the best place to pick up the car when driving out of Paris? We're staying at the Honore area..we want to avoid Paris traffic if possible..