Hello, We are not frequent travelers. Domestic or International. Myself, spouse, adult daughter and her boyfriend traveling. This is my first trip to France. We are on our way to our other daughters wedding near Naples and air travel routing took us through Paris, so we thought we would see what we could. Plan to rent car and drive to Normandy next day. Thinking we can see some of Paris in half a day before? Flight arrives CDG from London at 8:30 pm. Original thought is to stay night near airport that evening, rent car in the morning and view what we can. I was thinking car is best option for luggage keeping. Now reading so many posts, is it better option upon arrival to take public transportation closer to Paris center, stay there, sightsee and then public transit to rent car out of city center? Or will transportation cost be half of the car rental? We will have large checked bags needed for our wedding stay. Best budget would be about USD150.00 for hotel. We are already set for our Normandy stay and travel (with car rented from Paris). Car rental return will need to be at Orly airport as flight to Naples is early morning. We have already booked stay there as well. Thank you in advance for any advice.
Posted by
Wyckoff, NJ, USA
7267 posts
I'm sorry but It's too late to give advice. You are committed to two superficial visits with too much transport and foggy jet lag.
The only practical choice is to cut either Paris or Normandy. Your choice. And the sleepy drive to Normandy will be dangerous. As long as you had to change in London, you should have gone on to Naples and made the most of Campagnia.
Posted by
stevens point, wi, usa
1189 posts
Hi from Wisconsin,
You will be tired upon arriving in Paris. Normandy is a long drive away from Paris (CDG) more than 3 hours if you know where you are going. As a tourist...it will likely be more than 3 hours. And then what? Turn around and come back. The roads along the beaches are almost single lane, with traffic going both ways. So you drive slowly while you are there.
Here is one more depressing thing for me to say. It will take half a day to get through airport security/passport and into Paris. I exaggerate, but all these things take time and especially for tourists unfamiliar with Paris.
Car pick-up and return takes time too.
I say, find a place to sleep in Paris or near CDG. Sleep for 4-5 hours and then see what you want to do. But skip Normandy, you don't have time to do it safely. Getting to Orly will challenge enough. Paris is a great city enjoy the few hours yo have walking the Marias district NE of Notre Dame.
wayne iNWI
Posted by
Queens, NYC
548 posts
I am a little confused by the timing -- how many days do you have between your arrival from London and your departure for Naples? I see you're arriving in Paris at 8:30 pm but it's not clear to me how many subsequent days you have until you leave for Italy.
(Based on the title, is it one day? i.e. arrive Paris 8:30 pm Wednesday, have Thursday in France, leave Friday morning for Italy? If so it absolutely doesn't make sense to leave Paris, but it's not clear to me.)
Posted by
OP
Denver, CO
3 posts
Thank you for the input. To be clearer, Arrive CDG 8:30 pm Wednesday. Stay the night Paris somewhere. Drive to Normandy area Thursday. Stay the night. Drive the sights in Normandy Friday and also drive back to Paris Orly. Flight to Naples departs 7am Saturday. Just not sure if we can see any of Paris before we drive to Normandy on Thursday and if so, what is best way.
Posted by
Paris
6883 posts
With only one night in Normandy, there's no time for Paris at all. I would stay in Paris, frankly. Even if the hotel room in Normandy isn't refundable, I guess the car rental is?
Edit: I understand the trip is imminent? Normandy in February is... A choice, let's say 😉.
But don't despair: even if you find that changing your plans is too expensive, you can enjoy a brief visit to Normandy. Not the end of the world either.
Posted by
OP
Denver, CO
3 posts
Thank you balso. This will be in May. Can you recommend Paris hotel?
Posted by
Windsor, Ontario, Canada
4037 posts
It will much easier, and possibly cheaper, to skip France entirely. You do not have to go through Paris. There are plenty of routes to fly from Denver to Naples, almost certainly with one change of airplanes. That transfer can happen in a number of international gateways, on either side of the Atlantic. Breaking your eastern journey anywhere for a day or two will require more complicated bookings. It can be done using a multi-destination search function, adding to the cost. If Paris is a must, use a multi-destination search to fly there and home from Naples. There's lots to see around Naples.
By the way, four adults with lots of bags will be squeezed in a small European car. Look around for an agency that can provide something more accommodating.