France in 13 days - Logistical help

What time of year is this trip?

It would be too many stops for me but you may travel differently. Is this your first trip to France?

Remember when you are planning that 2 nights = 1 full day of sightseeing. For instance, your 2 nights in Colmar gives you 1 full day. Your arrival day will be filled with travel and you may feel travel fatigue and jet lag so may not get anything much seen in Colmar this day. Then you are planning a day trip to Strasbourg and the surrounding area for your full day? No time for Colmar.

Your 3 nights in Arles gives you 2 full days. I loved Arles when I visited this fall and feel it would deserve a full day to see the Roman ruins, the Roman museum and the Van Gogh related sites. That leaves you 1 full day to "see" Provence. I'd say that is a trip to one location - Camargue, Les Baux, St Remy or Avignon perhaps.

When are you planning to travel?

A couple of questions: Is this your first time in France? First time in Paris?

It’s doable but very rushed. For Colmar, I’d skip Strasbourg or I would stay overnight there, instead. In other words, pick one or the other.

What are you planning to do at Beaune? It’s the one stop from your list that I would drop, but that depends on what your priorities are for each location. When you reply, it would be helpful to others responding if you shared what you enjoy on vacations do get better ideas from us

Thank you for such quick replies!
This isn’t our first trip but it’s the first trip exploring more than Paris. We went to Italy last year and did Venice - 3, Pienza - 2, and Rome - 3 and it was fine. We felt that Pienza needed at least 3 or 4 nights because we love the small villages and hill towns.

We’re hoping to spend time in smaller towns and get that village-life feel.

I agree that 2 nights is not much especially when traveling long distances. We’re having a hard time narrowing down where to see.
We love wine and want to see wine country.

Thank you!

France has so many wonderful destinations, it's very tempting to try to include too many on one trip. You have accounted for 12 nights; for me, that means you have just 11 full days. That arrival day requires a lot of transportation and may find you fog-bound. As already noted, 2 nights in Colmar is really not going to allow you to see much of Alsace, and there are lots of picturesque wine towns in the area as well as the beautiful (though touristy) Colmar. And there's tons to see in Provence; it's a shame to have not much more than 2 full days there. To me, Alsace and Provence are your most interesting destinations. I'd delete at least one of the other stops in order to allow more exploration on Alsace and Provence.

I do like both Beaune and Annecy, but 11 days is not a lot to cover the huge swath of France between Alsace and Provence, plus Paris.

Ahh, your response was helpful!

This is my opinion- others may think differently. I really loved Pienza, too, but from your response, I think you would be frustrated with Colmar. When we were in Colmar last September, it felt like a tourist version of a small town. It was the least favorite of the nine locations on that trip. But, nearby Eguisheim was charming. Consider staying in one of the smaller villages.

We loved Annecy on a previous trip because we were ready for an outdoor, beautiful location to relax in the middle of a full trip. We splurged and stayed at the Imperial Palace for the two nights - the perfect setting on the lake! Breakfast is expensive, so we walked a couple of blocks to a wonderful, memorable bakery!

We stayed in Avignon to see the Luberon villages, Pont du Gard and Nimes instead of Arles. Avignon is an easy TGV train trip from Paris.

Thank you very much. We’ve Changes our plans a bit so thank you for your help.

hey hey deluttmer
just came back from 6 nights in annecy. loved the town, took a private tour out into the countryside around the lake, absolutely gorgeous, cows wearing cowbells ringing in pastures, open air with hang gliders soaring above you, lush and green amongst the mountain and hills. stay in the old village, lots of shops, cafes, restaurants, (tuesday friday sunday are market days), had a fondue lunch at la rotisserie du thiou outside table near canal, sat outside at al vesuvio restaurant for wine and a calzone, people watched, met italian and german travelers, bought a small portrait at an artist shop, watched the kids chasing bubbles from an entertainer, dog friendly. have a great time there.
Hauoli Makahiki Hou
aloha