My husband and I are going to France in May, specifically driving from Provence to Dordogne to Burgundy. This is the first time in Europe we are renting a car. I am extremely nervous about this and I have been looking at several different sites - Bing, Yahoo, via Michelin, Mapquest for route suggestions. Going from Cenac-et-St. Julien to Beaune, I am getting driving times anywhere from 5 hours to 6.5 hours and distance differences of more that 45K. That just seems like a huge difference to me. Does anyone have any experience as to which of these sites (or some other site) is better or more reliable/accurate? Or am I just worrying about this too much like the first time you walk into a train station in Rome & it turns out to be no big deal at all?
Thanks for your help. JeanR
Posts: 42 | Location: Michigan & Key West | Registered: 03 July 2004
Going from Cenac-et-St. Julien to Beaune, I am getting driving times anywhere from 5 hours to 6.5 hours and distance differences of more that 45K. That just seems like a huge difference to me.
I went to viamichelin and saw that the fastest route took 5.5 hours while the straightest route - which means most of it non-freeway - took 6.6 hours.
Jean, why do you think a 20% difference is huge, between a route that uses freeway and a route that doesn't?
Many 1st time visitors look at the map of France and probably think that the distance between Burgundy and Dordogne is similar to the distance between Burgundy and Provence. Well yes in terms of geographic distance, but no, not in terms of driving distance. One must factor in the Massif Central mountain range that cuts off central France on a north-south axis. In terms of driving east-west, there are less freeways going east-west, and one has to use windy mountain roads for a good part of the time.
Lastly France - like the rest of Europe - is not the kind of place where only one road - a freeway - goes from A to B. There are always alternative routes, depending on whether one wants to drive only, or whether one wants to make stops and sightsee. In fact many travellers stop somewhere for the night between Dordogne and Provence/Burgundy. There, besides 5.5 hours or 6.5 hours, one can also take 18 hours to go from Cénac to Beaune, and have a great visit.
Jean, don't be nervous... driving in France is honestly not that hard. I have found Michelin maps to be the most accurate in the past. You could always rent a GPS with your rental car if it would make you feel better about the drive.
I agree with AinP - no sense sweating this one. For driving times, viamichelin is as good a reference as any. You might want to consider renting a car with a GPS system. They are more and more common and will certainly put your mind at ease.
And remember, France gets about 70 million tourists a year and we haven't lost any of them yet !!
Half the fun of driving France the first time (and second, and third) is getting lost. In fact if you do not get lost than you haven't really seen France.
Get a driving map of at least 1 to 250,000. 1 to 500,000 is a guarantee to get lost and confused often. Rental GPS is better - English language version is better than French.
You seem to be concerned with driving time. Don't be. You will miss the joy of the drive if time is your only consideration. As the other poster says - stop off for the night in between. The missus and I in our RV there never know where we will spend the night when we arise in the morning.
"Plus I have a husband that will not let me forget if we get lost too many times!!!" Okay - you drive ans he can navigate.
Honestly, we have found GPS to be most helpful. And we are not in a hurry.
Jean, we have been lost in France many times, due usually to my navigational skills. We even enjoy being lost, at least if we're in the country. There are so many scenic back roads. When we can, we follow the green roads (green is how Michelin marks scenic routes) and we look on the map for panoramas.
If you're spending time in one area, it's worth buying a Michelin yellow (departmental) map to help plan your day's drive.
For when you need to cover a lot of territory, viamichelin's website will help you pick your route, but I always prefer paper maps for the car. Occasionally a navigator needs something to hide behind.
I'm debating whether it would be worth it to rent a European (French) GPS for one week in the Dordogne. I've read the previous discussions and what's posted here, but still have questions.
We just rented a car via Kemwel (from Europcar) for pick-up in Brive. We're returning it at the Toulouse airport. I called back re renting a GPS. The problem is that they said none was available in Brive, and that we had to pick it up and return it to the same location anyway. The only alternative was to send us one which we'd then have to ship back upon return. That adds considerably to the cost and would be complicated because we don't need one in Paris where we're going first. I can rent from a place online, but we'd still fact some of the same issues.
I don't even trust the GPS we have here; it gives weird directions, especially for the area right around our house. (Mountains are challening to the satellite!)
Get some good departmental level Michelin maps and you will be fine... not worth the extra cost unless marital bliss is really at risk (like it is in my family)...
Thanks, Kevin. I've just been Googling around. Would you suggest both a "Regional" and a "Departmental" Michelin map? The latter, as for Dordogne, may be too restrictive, but detailed. Should I get the Aquitaine Regional map as well? I guess it wouldn't hurt to get both. The website recommended by Pauline on SlowEurope - TrekTools,com - has them.
I find the "local" Michelin maps to be very detailed and helpful, more so than the regional maps. I hate to come upon roads that are not even marked on my map. The scale of the "local" maps is 1/150,000. A friend looked at my "local" map of Normandy and told me we could use it to do another invasion !
I suppose it depends on where you are going to be spending most of your time. If it's the Dordogne, then go for the Dordogne departemental map - it's going to be easier on your eyes. Then either bring along Aquitaine for drives "off-map", or just buy anything etra you might need once you are here. The Michelin maps are widely available, especially in a touristy area such as the Dordogne...
Jean, My wife, Lilly, and I always use viamichelin to plan our travel in France but carry local maps in the car. We have been travelling there each year for over 30 years and have been lost more than a few times. That is usually when we find the most delightful places. Just relax and enjoy it. If in doubt turn the map upside down. It works for Lilly,.
We oldies took quite a while to discover the joys of GPS in France. In Australia there are not many choices of alternative routes anyhow (and GPS is therefore mainly used within cities instead of a street directory). So we only got round to a system 2 years ago, so what a joy to take the 'shortest' route that ends up in some track that seems to go right into and past someone's garden. We never would have found these joyful little corners otherwise. So for us, a GPS plus a highly detailed yellow departmental Michelin map (now some are "indechirable" too - great!!) is the only way to go.
Unless I was going to stay within a single department/region I'd get a Michelin Atlas rather than fold-out maps. The atlases use the same 1:200,000 or 1:150,000 mapping. I find an atlas much more convenient to use, if I'm travelling any distance it can work out cheaper, and it makes a great souvenir!
I echo what everyone has said about how the joy of travelling - taking time to visit a few places along the way if at all possible, picking out a restaurant or stopping at a market and buying things for a picnic - is one of the greatest things about France.
Posts: 962 | Location: West Sussex, England | Registered: 08 February 2007
When the two of us are together, my husband is the driver and I enjoy working with the maps, watching the roadsigns and being the navigator. We borrowed a friend's GPS one year and I didn't like it. Maybe I felt like I was being displaced, but mostly I missed having my own sense of the bigger picture. I like looking at a map and understanding where I'm going and the towns, villages, lakes, mountains and roads that make up the area.
For France we use the Michelin maps of various types depending on where we're going and I typically ride in the front seat with this on my lap. (I have a big Atlas, but it's too heavy to carry with us most trips and I'm reluctant to rip out pages.) I like to look at www.viamichelin.com before departure to see which way they would route us and a sense of how long it would take. Sometimes I'll print out these directions, but they can be confusing to navigate by. So mostly I work with the map on my lap and really watch the road signs.
Via Michelin's preferred, fastest, scenic routes provide interesting variations to consider. If we have time, I like to take roads marked as "scenic" on the map.
I think the roads in France (and many other parts of Europe) are very well signed once you understand how the signs work. It's very important to have a good sense of the bigger town that's in the direction you're headed. The road numbers don't matter so much when you're on the departmental roads and smaller roads, but the destination does. I think you can find your way almost anywhere without getting lost if you have a good sense of which direction (toward which major town) you need to be headed. The roundabouts help you backtrack if needed, and don't hesitate to go around another time (or two) if needed. The driver and navigator need to be a good team, have fun, and not get too stressed.
I know many people swear by the GPS, but for me the old fashioned way is best. I don't like having that other person in the car with me giving all the instructions, and I like understanding where I am-- not just how to get to where I'm going. I've learned a lot about France that way. If we wander a little off our originally-planned route, we usually have a great experience.
The best thing for me about a GPS is not that it replaces a good map (it doesn't; you should always have a map as well), but if you do get lost, or are forced to change your route because of road closings, etc., the GPS makes it a lot easier to find out where you are.
For me the best thing about a GPS is when we drive into a city or large or small town in France and face a maze of one-way streets.
The second best thing about a GPS for my hubby poo and his friends is the running argument that they maintain with machine, which always but always entertain them. Go figure.
I often choose to ignore the GPS. It's a source of some amusement in my family seeing whether I really do know better then "Tomasina". I love maps - I'd choose maps as my book choice for Desert Island Discs - but if I'm in an unfamiliar place I always choose to have GPS as well as the road atlas. That way I have the best of both worlds - all the sense of spatial awareness and freedom that a map gives you plus the knowledgeable (but not infallible!) guide at your elbow.
Posts: 962 | Location: West Sussex, England | Registered: 08 February 2007
The second best thing about a GPS for my hubby poo and his friends is the running argument that they maintain with machine, which always but always entertain them.
So, I'm not the only one! I drive my husband crazy arguing with the lady on our GPS. She can be really stupid at times.
in the car with me giving all the instructions, and I like understanding where I am-- not just how to get to where I'm going. I've learned a lot about France that way. If we wander a little off our originally-planned route, we usually have a great experience.
