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.