Hello!
My husband and I went to Paris last May for 14 nights and loved it. We stayed one week in 9th arr. /S. Pigalle area and one week in the 15th arr. Montparnasse. We really enjoyed staying in just two locations and explored quite a bit in the surrounding areas.
We love to walk and explore everywhere, go to a few museums, eat good food, eat outside, and avoid crowded places or any long lines, visit outside markets food and flea markets. We did uber to some distant arrondissement to then walk around.
For this coming May we are arriving Zurich airport and leave from Paris airport. I have changed our locations so many times because I keep thinking we are staying too long in the places I chose. I am maybe comparing this trip to our Paris trip and it might be the wrong thing to do as Paris to me is an endless place of exploration and these towns/cities in France might not compare and we don't need to spend so many nights.
Should we be visiting more places for two nights each or add one more place and do three nights in each?
We are 70 years old and will want to probably visit other countries next May 2024 so this might be it for France.
All the hotels I booked have full cancellation policies so I can change them if need be.
Things to keep in mind is direct train rides and no longer than 3 hours (prefer less)
Itinerary to date:
Zurich one night
Train to Dijon four nights ( thought a day trip to Beaune or Besancon on Saturday for their market day)
Train to Lyon four nights
Train to Aix en Provence three nights
Train to Paris four nights back in S. Pigalle as we loved the area as our base.
I played around with changing directions, skipping Dijon, and tried going to Zurich to Geneva to Aix to Lyon to maybe Colmar (might be too crowded) or Lille (seems interesting) and then Paris for maybe three nights instead of four.
Forum contributors seem to like Dijon and Lyon but when I look at you tube videos of Dijon I am not sure about it.
We are not interested in going to any wineries or countryside, and will not be renting a car. I was shying away from Aix as it seemed just meh for things to look at but we have relatives who can't stop talking about how beautiful it is so we are going. But maybe only two nights?
Our favorite past trips: Amsterdam, Siena, and Venice.
I am hoping you can help me with your travel expertise!
Many thanks.
Jill