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France Itinerary Advice (15 days)

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Me and my girlfriend are visiting France in late September from Canada for 15 days. My gf has visited Paris a couple of times previously (and this is my first time in France) so we'd like to spend more time in the countryside (seeing sights, hiking, and hopefully a wine-tasting or two). We're purposely not planning to visit Normandy and the French Riviera for this trip as we'd like to save those for another visit in the future.

Another limiting factor is that neither of us drive, so we were hoping to get some advice on our rough itinerary below. We haven't booked any hotel/flights yet so feel free to recommend changes and be critical. I'm aware that the itinerary below is ambitious and we'd like to know ways to optimize/shave it down so that we're not feeling too rushed. Our main concern is the commute between Alsace (Colmar) and Annecy/Chamonix as the route seems to be the longest with some transfers. If there's any alternatives to Annecy/Chamonix that would be appreciated as well.

Below is our rough itinerary:

Day 1 Saturday Paris: Land in Paris (~10-11AM) and mainly relax and sight-see

Day 2 Sunday Paris: More sight-seeing, museums

Day 3 Monday Paris: Day trip to Versailles

Day 4 Tuesday Paris: TBD

Day 5 Wednesday Alsace (Colmar): 2.5 hour train in morning from Paris to Colmar, explore city, museums etc.

Day 6 Thursday Alsace (Colmar): Visit either Riquewihr, Hunawihr or Ribeauville (will feel this day out)

Day 7 Friday Alsace (Colmar): Take train to Munster spend day hiking at Vosges Mount "Le Hohneck"

Day 8 Saturday Alsace (Colmar): Feel this day out, possibly visit Haut Koenigsbourg Castle (Bus 500, 40 mins).

Day 9 Sunday Alsace (Colmar) to Annecy: Most the day is spent on the train to Annecy. When we arrive this day will be spent relaxing

Day 10 Monday Annecy: Sight-see and Eat and relax before continuing to Chamonix the next day

Day 11 Tuesday Chamonix: Train to Chamonix, sight-see around the town

Day 12 Wednesday Chamonix: Hiking

Day 13 Thursday Chamonix: Possibly another hike depending on how we're feeling.

Day 14 Friday Geneva: 1.5 Hour Bus from Chamonix to Geneva. Mainly visiting Geneva as this is the closest airport to Chamonix.

Day 15 Saturday Geneva: Fly back around noon

Instead of going to Annecy/Chamonix i was also playing with the idea of spending the last 5-6 days in Burgundy but was wondering what areas/regions we should be visiting/staying.

Posted by
15556 posts

I stayed in Colmar for 3 nights a few years ago. I found it absolutely charming - so interesting, in fact, that I scrapped a day trip to Strasbourg and just saw more of Colmar. I stayed at the Hotel Saint-Martin which is right in the pedestrian area. No idea if this is in your price range or not but walking the whole old center was very easy.

Do stop by the TI across from the Unterlinden Museum and get a map of their DIY walking tour. Each site has a QR code for more information. That was when I realized I needed data when I was out and about and could not just be dependent on hotel WIFI.

There are some direct TGV trains to Colmar so make sure you look for them so you don't have to change.

No advice for the rest of your trip!

Posted by
181 posts

Need more time in Paris. I would subtract it from Colmar and the day trip to Versailles. If Versailles is a must see then subtract another day from Colmar and add to Paris.

If traveling to France for two weeks Paris should take up one entire week especially if it's your first time.

Posted by
1989 posts

Bobby,
What Garvin said! More time in Paris, less time in Colmar.

Posted by
1989 posts

Oops...autocorrect gparvin, NOT Garvin.

Posted by
700 posts

Looks like a fun trip. I would cut and repurpose day 8 as that castle won’t be worth the hassle without a car. My choice for repurposing would be 1 night in Beaune.

On your alps vs burgundy question I would stick with the alps. You could also repurpose day 8 and day 14 into 2 nights in Beaune (burgundy). Honestly, that’s what I would do. In this scenario you arrive late evening to Geneva (or Annecy) the night before your flight. Alternatively you could do chamomix first then Annecy 2nd to facilitate getting to the airport.

Have fun!

Matt
I assume you know what you’re doing in the Vosges. We drove what you are proposing. It was nice but I enjoyed having a car.

Posted by
2 posts

Thanks everyone for the suggestions.

It sounds like we may want to repurpose one of the days from Colmar to Paris - i.e. either day 8 (castle) or just add 1 more day to the trip (fly back on Sunday instead of Sat).

@Matt i'm curious though if you found that you were lacking things to do in Alsace which is why you're suggeting spending a night or two in Beaune? I got the general sense from other itineraries that people would limit their trip to 3 regions (for a 14-15 day trip) in order to not bounce around and feel rushed.

Posted by
700 posts

My general take is to spend more time in a place if you have a car and less time if you are going by train. Because with a car you can dig deeper. When we were in Alsace in July 2022 with a car this is what we did (please forgive my spelling of places).

Day 1 arrive to Eguishiem (our home base) from Beaune at 4pm via 3 hour stop in Staufen Germany, see Eguishiem

Day 2. All day in Colmar

Day 3. Touring the other cute wine towns and the castle you had on day 8

Day 4. All day at Europa Park in Germany

Day 5. Drove to the. Vosges via Munster. Hiking, luge, time at lakeside park

Day 6. Drop off car at strasbourg, quick tour of city, train to Paris.

When we left Alsace I was not feeling like we needed more time. Without a car we would have replaced europapark and Vosges day with a day in strasbourg. I enjoyed the day in Colmar the most, followed by the day at EuropaPark.

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