End of tour - Should I stay in Nice or go to Paris?

If you don’t visit Paris pre tour, then I would visit Paris post tour, in other words, fly to Paris for those last few days. It’s one of the world’s greatest cities; it would be a shame to go to France and not see it even for a few days!

Do you fly from NY to CDG? Can you spare a few days pre tour to see Paris? I understand the limited vacation days working Americans have.
I have my eye on this tour and hope to do it in the future.

You've never been to France? Going to Paris is France 101. I would go, for 3-4 days. Nice is fine, but it's a small town with a pretty steep price tag on a lot of stuff since it's a resort. Paris is also not cheap, but there's a lot of fun stuff to do there. 3 days in Paris is a great beginning.

Love them both but Paris wins! Or Paris before your tour and Nice after it??

Hi Dan, I’ve been to Paris several times and spent 5 nights in Nice during my last trip to France. Nice is a great area, but there’s no comparison - definitely go to Paris. Also, looking at your itinerary for the tour, you will be in smaller cities during the entire tour, so Paris will be a good contrast.

When I went to Nice, I took the train from Paris. Looking at the overall time hotel-to-hotel, it was pretty much the same flying as taking the train. But, looking at options for you, I see a train leaving at 6:30am and arriving in Paris at 1:00pm. It has a transfer at Marseille. The non-transfer option leaves at noon and you arrive in Paris at 5:30pm. That’s taking too much of your Paris time. It looks like you could take the 7:30 flight and land at Paris Orly at 9am. (Or 6:30 and arrive at 8am). By the way, the last “tour day” is just breakfast, and usually there are people catching flights or trains, leaving early, etc. so you are not missing out by taking one of these early options to get to Paris. The big finale is the last dinner together the night before. Have a great time!

Don’t worry about having your suitcase arriving at Paris before your hotel check-in time. The hotel will hold your suitcase if you arrive early, and you can begin exploring Paris. (But, if you use an AirBnB type, you usually cannot leave your suitcase early.)

We did this tour in 2019 and loved it. I'm excited for you. You can't go wrong with either choice, however my wife and I were 55 at the time and fit, but by the end of the tour we were ready for a break. We spent 3 extra days in Nice and moved at a more leisurely pace. It's a beautiful area with plenty to see. In fact, it's now on our list for a month long stay after we're retired.

As a bonus, we had made friends with a few people on the tour who also hung around for a few days and we all met up in the evening for dinner.

I am taking the Loire to the south of France tour this year. Since the tour starts in Chartres which is near Paris, I would suggest that you spend a few days in Paris before the tour rather than returning to Paris after the tour. As others have said, Paris should not be missed while you are in France. I guarantee you will want to return in the future as I am doing this year after visiting Paris several years ago.

We took this amazing tour in 2013. It was one of our favorite tours! I agree with others not to miss a few days in Paris. We felt our 5 nights in Paris was a wonderful introduction to France. If you can allow 3-4 nights pre tour you won’t regret it. We took the train to Chartres the morning of the tour.

As far as Nice we chose to stay an extra night at the end of the tour. We enjoyed the downtime post tour. We visited Chagall & Matisse Museums. We also joined 4 other tour members & took the convenient bus to Monaco. We enjoyed seeing the changing of the guard, visiting the Cathedral and having a celebratory lunch along the water. Lots of mixed reviews about Monaco. That said, we all enjoyed the beauty of the area.

I'd suggest the other choice.

You can, and likely will, go in and through Paris many times, but how often will you get to the Cote d'Azur? There's an awful lot between the Italian border in one direction and St Paul de Vence and Grasse in the other direction. Food's pretty good too...

I discovered I wasn't crazy about French food on this tour, but the Nice area with its Italian slant was the exception. Best lasagna I've ever had was at https://lu-francalin.fr/ in Nice's old town.

If you can spend one more night at your hotel in Nice on Fri, take a taxi to Villefranche-sur-Mer. That night, take a direct overnight train from the Nice Ville station to Paris Austerlitz (13h 30m) and rent a sleeper car. This way when you wake up, you’ll be in Paris. You can then drop off your bags where you are sleeping and begin sightseeing. Most likely you’ll be able to check into your hotel/Airbnb by noon.

I would stay in Nice. It is a beautiful area with much to do if you want to be busy. Otherwise it is a lovely area to relax and wander. I agree with Nigel; Paris is more accessible with future trips or as a trip in itself. You might never get down to Nice without making an effort. Besides, Rick goes so fast, it might feel good to get to know Nice from a different perspective than a tour. Travel does not always mean seeing sites constantly. (I loved my RS tour…just so you don’t misunderstand me.) This sounds like a great trip!

Can you visit Paris pre-tour? Those four days you mention will give you a base to get over jetlag and see the highlights. After the tour, spend a few extra days in the Nice area. Did I miss how long your total trip is? Are you retired so you can extend your stay?
I'm going on the same tour this September. I'm flying into London for five nights to see the sights, get over jetlag and visit a friend. Then I'm going to Paris for four nights. It's an hour train ride from Paris to Chartres where the tour begins. I'm going to Chartres a day prior to relax. At tour end in Nice, I am taking the train to Venice for four nights after an overnight in Milan. Venice is more important to me than extending time in Nice.

Thank you all for your invaluable advice. RS forums never disappoints!
Well I thought it was a slam dunk for Paris until the Nice gang showed up! If we do decide on Paris it makes sense to do it pre-tour, so thanks for pointing that out. But I may never go to the South of France again. I have to be honest and say I may be more perplexed than before. I do thank you though and I see I will have to do some reading on the Cote d'Azur.
To answer horsewoofie, we're still toiling in the pits so we do need to get back home before we they realize they can do the work without us!

With time limits imposed by employment considerations, I would suggest doing the Paris days pre-tour to minimize travel days.

Flying home from Nice should limit unnecessary intermediate travel.days.

My $0.02

I’m in the Paris camp. It’s a world class city and the most beautiful city in the world. There are no guarantees in life and I wouldn’t pass up this opportunity. As Jean said, you’ll have all small towns and country-side on the tour, Paris is a must-experience in my humble opinion and you’ll be so close since your tour starts in Chartres.

Nice and environs. Given your days and time.

You don't have enough time to do Paris justice: half-day Friday, Sunday afternoon is slowed down in Paris with shops closed, Monday a lot of museums are closed. All the Sunday, Monday closures and limited time Friday, eats into your visit.

The Côte d'Azur is gorgeous and there is plenty to do by bus and train.

I spend a lot of time in both places and know them well.

I'd have to agree that if you are not visiting Paris pre-tour I'd say Paris .... now saying that I love the Cote d Azur and plan to spend ANOTHER week there in June. But Paris is Paris after all - I think a must for all travelers to France for the first time.

O, we're doing almost the same RS trip in late June--Eastern France, small towns, etc. and ending in Nice. Since we fly in to Paris and since we've been there several times before (once on a great RS Paris [only] trip) we'll stay in Paris a couple of nights (get over jet lag) and head out for the first tour town from there. However, we decided to stay extra days in Nice so I'm glad to see many recommended it too. For us (OK, for me) a few non-scheduled days sound great. Any suggestions for Paris hotels? I'll check another forum in a minute, but while I'm here. I'm looking at the Marais, maybe Hotel St. Louis Marais--it's got very mixed reviews, but a great (I think) location--anyone stay there?

Even if you're able to fit in Paris pre-tour, I would suggest going back to Paris post-tour. You said it exactly..."the lure of Paris beckons." That suffices for a return to Paris.

Well..... it's settled! My wife said she is not going all the way to France and not spend time in Paris. So Paris pre-tour seems to work best. Tour starts on Sunday at 5pm in Chartres, so we can leave Sunday morning and arrive in Paris the preceding Wednesday.

Thank all for your opinions and insights,
Dan

lkennely, my favorite hotel in all of Paris is Hotel St Louis en l’Isle… same owners, same hotel as St Louis Marais. I love the Marais as well as Ile St Louis, and would very happily stay at St Louis Marais. It’s very well located. The same hotel on ISL, where we’ve stayed, is being renovated and I wonder if St Louis Marais will be renovated soon after.