France

Vicki, is this your first trip to Europe? You don't appear to be accounting for how wiped out you'll probably be after the overnight flight (which means you'll likely have only two really useful sightseeing days in Paris) and the hassle of changing hotels so many times. In the amount of time you have, I'd shoot for Paris and just one other area.

Nice is a nice city, but most people who go down to the Riviera want to see some of the small towns as well. By the time you get there and get settled in, you'd only have about 2-1/2 days. Although that's doable, you'll miss a lot more than you see, and you'll spend a lot of time in transit.

There's a lot more to see in Normandy than just Bayeux, and Lyon is a large city with a lot of sights of its own.

With the caveat that I think your target list is too long, the only sane order for tackling it is north to south. With this extraordinarily packed destination list, I'd want to get to Bayeux on my arrival day (making some use of that jetlagged period when you probably won't accomplish much in Paris, anyway). So I'd go Bayeux-Paris-Lyon-Nice. The difficulty is in knowing what to do about the train ticket to Bayeux. You may be able to snag a very reasonable fare if you buy far in advance, but saving a lot of money means buying a non-changeable/non-refundable train ticket. It's impossible to know when you'll clear the airport upon arrival and be able to start your train journey--even if your flight is on time. The usual recommendation is to wait to buy arrival-day train tickets until you are on the ground at your destination, but that will make the trip to Bayeux rather expensive.

It is not recommended to drive on your arrival day due to the probable sleep-deprivation and jetlag. For your itinerary, trains will be much faster than driving.

What time of year is your trip?

Have you decided what time of year the trip will be? That can made a difference on where and how to go.

I agree with acraven, ten nights is more like nine useful days. Every time you travel to a new location you lose at least half a day. If I were you I'd look at several guidebooks and watch the RS videos to see what I'm most interested in and then settle on two locations.

Personally if the train ride is less than five hours I will always choose a train over an airplane. You leave and arrive in the center of town, have a much shorter time clearing security at the departure city, and can watch the countryside and easily stroll the aisles during the trip. Search this forum for advice on train tickets.

If you're traveling to small towns or villages or traveling with children you might find it more convenient to rent a car.

Hope this helps!

Traveling the first week of June! I appreciate the responses as I'd hate to ruin the trip by trying to do too much. Thank You

I would be tempted to spend 6 or 7 nights in Paris if you haven’t been before, then pick one other base. If you opted for Normandy, then you could get return tickets to/from Paris.

Although your arrival day will be exhausting, the last thing I would want after a long flight would be to then head out to Normandy the same day. What if your flight is delayed?

We went to France this past June. When I was first planning the trip, I had thought we would spend something like 4 nights in Paris, 2 in Lyon, and 2 someplace in the mountains. As I researched more, I decided that I was planning too much and we ended up spending all 8 nights in Paris. We did do a one day train ride to Lyon and back and that was mainly to visit a friend who had moved there. Made for a nice day trip and since we were there for long summer daylight, we enjoyed watching the scenery there and back. But I was so glad that we stayed in Paris all those nights. There is so much to see and do there.

Prior to Paris we did go to the Normandy during a stop that we had while on a cruise. It definitely was a place I will not forget

Barbra,

I think part of this is some of the functions of our computers and phones.

So...my advice would be to advise everyone to check before they click or don't.

My one daughter types so fast that we'll always turns out as well. Drives me 🥜 !!

gerri, good advise .... I mean advice.

Sorry Vicki, didn't mean to hijack your thread.

Of your destinations, Normandy requires the most connections in both directions, is a short stay on your plan, and therefore easiest to cut. The train ticket is not very expensive at full fare - only about $45 each way in 2nd class -- but you have to go into Paris first, from the airport to Gare St. Lazare. This is not difficult but does add more complication than some travelers seem comfortable with. You'd also and would usually double back through Paris (and change stations) before heading south. The longer trips offer the greater savings for advance reservation, usually about 4 months ahead.

Laura gives good advise -- I mean advice! I'd skip Normandy on this trip, you don't have time and it's in the "wrong" direction from your other choices. Plus, early in June Bayeux and environs will be packed with people observing the 75th anniversary of D-Day. I'd be surprised if you could get a room anywhere around there even now. If you forego Normandy this time you can add those days to Paris (what I'd do, anyway).

What Dick said is true about Normandy next year. It is the 75th anniversary of D-day, and every place to stay has already been booked for at least a year. I highly recommend you go some day... but IMHO it is too late for anytime in the first week of June next year. btw, the only real form of transportation within Normandy is by car or guided tour. Getting to Bayeux could involve either driving, or taking a train. Trains are frequent to Bayeux, but more frequent and direct to Caen—which also offers more convenient options for rental cars.

You are getting good ADVICE here, Vicki. (Did I get that right?) :-)

With your very limited time in France my suggestion would be to limit your exploration to two areas. I would suggest Paris and Nice to get experiences in two very different parts of France. You might consider booking an open jaw flight into Paris and back home from Nice to avoid wasting time in backtracking.

It is, however, possible to do a quickie visit to Nice from Paris by air. We did so a few years ago because my wife had never seen the South of France, and I had not been to Nice for something like 40 years. We were in Paris for a bit over two weeks, so we took a cheapo flight to nice from Orly airport very early one morning (Easyjet, 1 hour 25 minutes nonstop, €70) so we got most of that day in Nice, spent two nights in a very nice Airbnb, spent the next two full day exploring, and then caught a late flight back to Paris that last evening. It was a bit rushed, but we were able to see a lot in those few days. She got to experience the town that I had loved, and I got to be astounded at what had happened to the place in my absence --- not all bad, BTW.

10 nights = 9 days.

Since one of your destinations is Paris, I'd at least consider what your trip could be like if you limit yourselves to 2 main destinations. If you are very nimble, you could do 3.

You can have an extraordinary 9 days if you don't cram too much in.

Vicki: One important thing you left out - how old are you and your friend. If you are young and in great shape, you can probably go more places, have more hotel changes, etc. But as you get older it is harder to do as much of that. At my age (74) I would never attempt what you are suggesting. However even when I was younger and traveling to Europe I preferred to spend more time in fewer places. But this is a personal preference - I like to rent an apartment in a city or town and try to get a feeling for what it is like to be a local there.
The other consideration is whether you think, realistically, that you will return to France in the future. If this is your "one shot", you might want to risk exhausting yourself in order to see as much as possible. But if you think you will return, you might want to take it easier, see fewer places, and perhaps savor the experience more. Peter