country versus city - questioning how many days in Paris

I am a countryside kind of gal. The place of my heart is Yellowstone. Having said that, I LOVE Paris! Altho it is a big city it does not give me that frantic feeling that Rome gives me. I think playing your last day by ear and maybe making a day-trip out of Paris is a good plan. I loved the gardens at Giverny even though there were lots of people but you might prefer your winery visit unless you have done a few in your other ramblings. To me 4 full days just scratches the surface of things to see and do in Paris.

Everybody has their own opinions about Paris, some love it and can't get enough, some hate it and don't plan to return, so I'm sure you'll get responses going either way. For myself, a couple of years ago I spent a month in Paris and only did 3 day trips outside the city. But for me Paris doesn't seem like a big city, not like London or New York for example. Its neighborhoods are more like a collection of smaller towns and there's so many little parks and gardens and hideaways that make it seem smaller. Normally, like you, I'm more partial to small towns and villages and countryside but I do love Paris and can't imagine spending only 4 days there.

I would agree with Nancy.

Also, Paris can really be what you make it. There is so much to see that if you try to 'see it all' you will get "city-fatigued" for sure...but if you slow down, see what is important (especially since you anticipate a return) then Paris really can feel small. Spend much of your time in your arrondissement of choice and only venture out to see the things you really want---while discovering the off the path treasures of your area (and there are always plenty of them.

With that said, you really can't go wrong with another day in the country either. Either choice will be a rewarded one. Also remember that if you do stretch your self a bit in Paris, you have the country portion of your journey to slow down and relax a bit more.

I would not second-guess your plan, as you have already identified 4 full days of sightseeing that interests you. It's not all commercial streets like the Champs-Elysees (which you might want to skip), it's not tall buildings (unless you get out of the historic center), and it's not all museums, either. Neighborhood exploring, farmer's markets, and many parks add to your variety of options. Some flexibility should be easy enough to maintain during your stay but if you give up that reserved hotel night, you probably can't get it back.

I've spent about 3 months of time in Paris in my life and feel like I've barely scratched the surface. I think the shorter your stay the more rushed and unenjoyable it can be for travelers. I recommend sticking with what you have. You could even spend one of your days at Versailles. Although it is a crowded attraction, the gardens are beautiful!

I also like the countryside and try spend as much time in the mountains and National Parks as I can while on vacation. That said, I have fallen in love with Paris. Our last trip was in 2008 when the dollar was at an all time low against the Euro. Prices were very high, but that didn't stop me from enjoying Paris. I hope you will enjoy the city as much as us. I strongly recommend spending the five days in Paris. Research Paris well and get familiar with the Metro System. I strongly recommend getting a museum pass. It will save you a lot of time waiting in lines and when you are need of a restroom all you need to do is find a nearby museum and you can use the facilities for free inside.

Paris is definitely a big bustling city but it's easy to get away from the crowds...just take a wander down a side street or through one of the beautiful parks and you feel miles away from it all!

Julie, it is your trip to France. You should do what you want.

I have been to Paris more times than I can easily count and it is a wonderful city. That said, when on our 4 week trip to France last summer with my family, I chose to only spend 3 nights in Paris at the end of our trip. We spent the rest of the time in smaller places and our evenings in little villages were my favorite.

We enjoyed the smaller places that we could only reach by car. When we are older and don't want to drive any more, we will still be able to go to Paris. You can't see everything so you have to choose something -- less Paris means more countryside. I don't see anything wrong with that!

Follow your heart. It 's your trip.

My husband and I took our first trip to France last year with the plan of splitting our week between Paris and countryside. I really felt as though we saw the highlights on our list while in Paris for 4 nights and spent our other 4 nights in the country (mainly Bourgogne region). I'm of the mind frame of not trying to do everything in whirlwind but to enjoy what you do and not try to do too much. As I think back on our trip, we loved every minute in Paris but equally loved every minute in the countryside--wine country, beautiful little towns, incredible scenery. You can't go wrong really and will have a wonderful time I'm sure.

We often combine city and country using our feet on the ground city time to adjust to the Euro time zone before traveling to the bush for active travel. Our short week (5 days) in Paris served as adjustment time for two weeks of biking in the Germany countryside.

Check out the Rick Steve's Paris guide to work out how many days you want in Paris. Steve's suggest between one and seven days:
https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/read/articles/paris-itinerary
Then its get out of town time.

It always remains hard to say the moment you will get city-fatigued (or even not) and how many days you need to plan, especially for a place you never visited before.

Knowing you will come back again will ease the pain if you like to stay longer in Paris as planned. So to my opinion staying one day too less is better as staying one day too long and see this time the visit as an introduction. For me three full days will be enough for this, to enjoy the city (or not) and so will give me an impression if I will come back or not. If hooked you can plan your next trip more accurate based on your own experience, way better then everybody tells you what to do, besides good tips ofcourse.

If nevertheless planned too long you can always make daytrips outside Paris. Don´t have to be the uasually overcrowded places like Giverny and Versailles. Excellent alternatives are often debated on the forum.

The countryside means for me slowing down and take your time. I like the atmosphere and just being there is actually for me a big part of the pleasure. Things of interest are more widely spread so you need time to move around, but following scenic routes there is always something extra to discover besides the planned highlights. As said before you can't go really wrong.

I think five nights is a good amount for a first time visitor, especially if you plan on getting to Versailles. There are so many occasions you will want to pause and take it all in. If you are interested in seeing a lot of art then it is by no means "too much".

So many great responses...wow...how much love there is here for Paris! As you all say, we will have a great time no matter what we do. I try not to cave into my personality flaw of second-guessing myself, but this one is a struggle since we have never spent that much time in a city before. As Wil said, it's so hard to anticipate knowing what you will and won't like. Our travel time (per trip) is so constrained by my husband's work that I feel a lot of pressure to get everything "just-right".

We are not huge art people and it seems like so much of the "big" things to do in Paris revolve around museums. We do want to visit the Louvre, the Rodin, and the Cluny. I absolutely love Rodin and am very excited to visit the museum, even if it is still under work.

I read all of your great responses to my husband last night and we talked it all over. We think the wisest strategy is to keep all of our nights in Paris (Paris is at the end of our trip). We will adjust our itinerary so that all of our "must-see" items are on our first three full-days in the city. And then, keep our fourth day (Saturday) open so we can take a day-trip to somewhere else if we feel like that's what we want to do. If we end up loving the city and wanting more time there, we can stay and explore and visit more things.

If we do end up taking a day-trip, I'd really like to either visit chateaus in the Loire, or possibly wineries (either Loire or out of Dijon?). Would you recommend us training to a given point and trying to do it ourselves or hopping on a tour? There seem to be a lot of tour options that are well-rated.

Again, thank you all again for taking the time to give me your thoughts. I really appreciate it!

...it seems like so much of the "big" things to do in Paris revolve around museums....

While "country things" require travel time as Wil notes, city things like museums require a lot of standing in line time. Steves suggest advance passes to save time as much if not more than saving money. We, not having passes, had to stand in two lines - one to get the ticket and another to get in. Nice thing about the rural activities is the absence of lines and freedom from crowds and pickpocket paranoia.

Edgar, we've been planning to purchase the Museum Pass which will help with some of lines. Yes, if we were to move locations from Normandy to the Loire Valley as we had considered, we would lose at least a half day in travel by the time it was said and done. We're currently considering either Dinan or Honfleur for our last night in Normandy, so I had also thought about adding an extra night to Dinan and exploring Brittany for a day since it wouldn't be as far out of the way as traveling to a whole other region.

It is so hard to decide! :)

We will have spent 4 nights in Normandy before we go to Paris, so about 3.5 days in the countryside if you count a few hours of activity the day we arrive and the day we depart for Paris.

We were in France last month and also had the five nights, wondering beforehand if we would "regret" it because we liked the countryside so much more in Italy (our only other European trip). In the end, we had no regrets with five nights/four full days, as we easily filled up our time with things we wanted to see and didn't even have as much time to wander and get lost as much as we would've liked. We enjoyed the city far more than we expected to, and decided that we would come back sometime, but even then, we were ready for the break from the hustle/bustle of the city.

We had three weeks in France and moved five different times with some places being too short, too long and just right -- unfortunately you'll never know what the right amount of time will be until you're there b/c it's different for everyone. If it's too much time, relax with a nice book in a park and if it's not enough time, know you can always go back!

We just got back from Paris. A couple fun things that are not museums or artsy. Go to Montmarte and see one of the small cabarets. Also we did the Deux Chevaux with www.4roues-sous-1parapluie.com We took the 45 minutes ride at night in Paris in the little 2cv cars. Our driver Vladimir took us to sights down small streets and gave us history on different things. Plus you can stand up in the car while driving through Paris. Wonderful. The catacombs are worth seeing as well. Be there between 9am - 9:30 am to get in line.
The Louve is exhausting. But the D Orsay is wonderful. Go to Marais district. We also loved sitting on the Opera Stairs and listening to street musicians. Our goal was to find the best gelato. That was a lot of fun.