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Guidance for April 2016 Trip to France

Posted by (Dallas, TX) on

Greetings,

My husband and I will be travelling to France in April 2016. We will have (17) nights in France. We are flying open jaw into Nice, arriving on April 4 and flying out of Paris on April 21. This will be my first trip to France and while my husband has been a couple times on business, his time taking in the sights was limited.

Now that the flight arrangements are handled, we are trying to flesh out our itinerary so I can book accommodations. These are my thoughts:

Start with 6 nights to be split between Riviera and Provence regions [April 4 - April 9]. We will wrap up our trip with 7 nights in Paris [April 14 - departing CDG April 21].

I would like some guidance regarding the 4 nights between Provence and Paris [April 10 - April 13]. We want to visit the Loire Valley and see some chateaux. We would also like to work in a visit to Normandy.

Should we travel by train from Avignon to Amboise and do 2 nights in this area and then travel by train to Normandy and do 2 nights there and then travel to Paris for the remaining 7 nights. Will 2 nights each in Loire and Normandy provide enough time?

Another option would be to do 3 nights in Loire and add 1 night to Paris and do a day trip to Normandy.

I value any insight you may have.

Thank you for your time!

Posted by
8057 posts

These places all take time. 3 nights in the Loire with two days to explore chateaux works but a day trip to Normandy is IMHO a waste of time. Normandy is enormous -- it just takes a few days for even the highlights. And these places are at the far corners of the country. I'd choose priority areas and then spend a little time exploring the regions you choose. for the countryside and small towns of France it really helps to have a car.

Our favorite stop between Provence and Paris is Semur en Auxois in Burgundy and Burgundy is full of wonderful things -- but so is the Loire and you could certainly do that instead. Normandy just doesn't fit. Here are some places near Semur we traveled to -- don't have snapshots of the Loire chateaux but they are also lovely for a couple of days.
https://janettravels.wordpress.com/category/burgundy/ And here is a little of Normandy: https://janettravels.wordpress.com/category/normandy/

France is full of wonderful regions -- the key to a happy trip for us is to focus and spend a little time wherever we choose.

Posted by
7175 posts

4 Apr - Arrive Nice, Cote d'Azur (3 nts)
5+6 Apr - Nice, Cannes, Monte Carlo
7 Apr - Train to Provence (3 nts)
8+9 - Avignon, Arles, Nimes, Pont du Gard
10 Apr - Train (via Paris) to Rouen (1 nt)
11 Apr - Pick up hire car in Rouen, tour Normandy beaches, drive to Bayeux (1 nt)
12 Apr - Drive to Loire Valley (3 nts)
13+14 Apr - Chateaux visits
15 Apr - Return hire car in Tours, train to Paris (6 nts)
21 Apr - Depart Paris

Posted by
671 posts

While you could spend days in the Loire Valley, we spent 2 nights in Amboise and felt satisfied with what we saw, but then we had a car. We also spent 2 nights in Normandy and with a car did our own sightseeing. Again, we could have spent much more time, but we were able to see much of what we wanted. I think a day trip from Paris to Normandy would really be rushing. The question is if you want to be constantly going, or prefer a little down time as well. Review books and websites to identify what is most important to YOU, and then finalize your itinerary -- that's the fun part.

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