Carcassonne Travel Forum

I am planning to drive from Calais to Carcasonne in the summer with my wife 3 children and 2 Grandparents. I will need to do the journey in 2 days. Do you have any good ideas for hotels or B&B's to stop at on the way? ideally on a budget but I would rather something with quality.

I would be looking to stop somewhere near Tours. Lots of things to see around there. I couldn't recommend any specific hotels, but I would probably look for something through Logis de France or for maximum convenience, one of the bigger chains like Accor (Novotel, Mercure etc).

nice ride, the best way to travel CAR ::) I have done those trips many times with wife,kids even as young as 6 mos old when we started, and parents renting minivans Renault Espace all over France; those wre the days. Well I live here now !

the best stop is normally to give as much you can the first day, then rest and start the second day rested so that you end up early at destination and time for ease off from the trip. To stop a bit inland at Vierzon south of Orleans along the A71 to A20 that goes into Toulouse, then branch off to Carcassonne on the A61.

Along the way you can use the accorhotels chain which i use for my trips here business and pleasure, many hotels to choose from in all category. For a one night stop you can use the Ibis,Etap ones.see the site here
http://www.accorhotels.com/gb/home/index.shtml
other popular chain is the campaniles hotels site is here
http://www.campanile.com/en/hotels/directory.aspx
you wont go wrong with neither choice, Happy motoring in France ::)

Most maps would give you a route via Limoges using the main motorways. That is good and Toll fees will be about €60.
You can also look at going down the centre of France through the Massif Central region. On a map you see Clermont Ferrand and to the south Montpellier. Linking these cities is the Autoroute A75 also called "la Méridienne" that is scenic and last time I used it was free. There is also on this route the modern bridge called Viaduc de la Violette near Millau which is quite an engineering achievement. I think that going over the new bridge is the only Tolled section.

Off the A75 will be a suitable stop I am certain. It is for you to decide the best road route and then decide on the distances covered and then decide on an area to search for accommodation.

Sometimes the Logis de France chain can give cheaper end accommodation in the more rural areas and would be worth looking at once you decide on the route.
http://www.logis-de-france.fr/uk/index.htm
I have used Logis and normally spend more on the food and wine than the modest accommodation - so be warned !

Spot on with the Tours region!

Googlemaps gives you the shortest way via Paris but I would avoid it. Better you drive down west via Rouen and Le Mans. You could stay at a Logis de France in one of the nice villages on the Loire or Cher river. I would always prefer a Logis de France because those normally have more character whereas the Accor chain, for example, guarantees a good standard but the hotels look alike wherever you go and are bland.

The Tours region is the departement Indre-et-Loire

http://www.logis-de-france.fr/fr/recherch/index-ca.htm

If you click on the sites the logis shows up, and with a further click you get price information. You can get rooms for 40 to 60 Euro. Also look at the deals for half pension.

Hi Thanks very much for this, have you been to Orleans? any ideas what the area is like?

ORLEANS, the city liberated by Jeanne d'Arc, is a nice town, I have some info on my Orleans page here at VT. If you like history is nice. It depends on your personal tastes,but its close to Vierzon, so was figuring give you a more smaller French feel town to be in.Vierzon has a nice chateau,castle right in the town.

Good suggestions from Pedro. Loches is another option about 80 km from Vierzon. There is a medieval royal palace, also with connections to Jeanne d'Arc.