Help with Trip planning - first time in France

Starting at the end . . . May is a great time to visit.
From Nice there are much better options for day trips, like St. Paul de Vence and Eze, just to name a couple. Cannes is famous for its film festival, not much else. Come to think of it, that may happen in May. Check it out. If so, you should pin down lodging reservations asap. Everything in the area gets booked up.
Finally, look into how May 1 events may impact your arrival in Paris; e,g., holiday transportation schedules.

I think your allocation of time is just fine, and commend you for not trying to cram in too many places in those 2 weeks. 10 days in Paris should allow for a day or 2 (or more) for some day trips out of the city. Or not, depending on how quickly you progress through the main tourist sites in the city.

Those day trips from Nice are easily done by train. You can find other lovely day trips, too. I'd suggest the villa Ephrussi in St Jean Cap Ferrat.

Pay attention to the numerous holidays in May in France. May 1, 8, 18, and 29 are all holidays and certain services may be sharply limited. See the explanation of them all on the Join Us In France website. Weather.com offers average temperatures for May and also the actual daily weather for May 2022. You should beat the heat.

You need a minimum of five nights in Paris, so you’ll be able to slow down and sit in the parks and watch the men play boules, explore Montorgueil. Paris’s main drag for boulangeries located on the right bank and a great neighborhood to sleep in.
I spent six nights in Nice and there’s plenty to do but I don’t think you’re going to be dipping in the water. You have a fantastic trip planned.

Thank you all for the advice. As mentioned by some of you that there are quite a few holidays in May, we are now thinking of flying on April 14th and reaching April 15th. I have been reading that April is a shoulder season and weather is also not too bad with less crowds. Is it recommended to come in Mid April or Mid May as we are flexible with the dates.

From Nice we plan to go to either Zurich or Geneva, any recommendations if we should take train or fly. To me flying seems like a better option.

Thanks again.

Romy.

I was in Paris in late Apr, and it rained but I wore a lined raincoat and carried an umbrella and was fine. When you can’t take the rain anymore cozy up in a café and order the Parisian dish French onion soup, it’s good no matter where you go.
You can fly nonstop from Nice to Geneva and work your way by train to the Lauterbrunnen Valley for four nights and fly home from Zurich.
I forgot to mention in my post above don't miss the Orsay Museum, it picks up where the Louvre left off. It's one of the greatest French impressionist museums you'll step foot in.

10 days in Paris seems a bit too long.

I would add 2 days to the Nice area instead. so much to do - Go to the calanques national park. etc

You cannot reach as far as the Calanques National Park as a day trip from Nice, but I agree that you could perhaps take a night from Paris and spend it in Nice, because there are many day trip possibilities from Nice + enough things in Nice itself for about 2 days of sightseeing.

Agree, St. Paul de Vence and Eze are better than Nice. Be sure to visit St. Paul de Vence.

From a weather standpoint I'd choose May rather than April, but I do not like chilly, wet weather. Rain's always possible in the spring (indeed, I spent 2 weeks in Nice during May 2017, and it was often overcast and sometimes rainy), but your odds of warmer weather are better in May.

What do you plan to do in Switzerland? Most folks don't go there to see Geneva or Zurich--nice cities both, but Switzerland is more about the mountains. A later start to the trip would be likely to give you warmer weather in Switzerland, too. (But I'm no expert on Swiss weather.)

10 days in Paris is absolutely not too long.
It’s a very good amount of time for a first time visitor. I, and many friends, typically spend 1 month or more in Paris on a regular basis and still run out of time to see and do everything on our list. I commend you for giving Paris 10 days, smart you are.

Paris is a very walkable city and the best way to experience Paris is by walking as much as possible and slowly savoring it and taking it all in. People miss a lot by not giving Paris enough time to do it slowly. Walk, explore, visit parks (don’t miss the Luxembourg Gardens), sit in cafès, relax and enjoy.

Then of course there are great day trips: Vaux-le-Vicomte, Malmaison, Giverny, Versailles, and more.

Get Rick Steves Paris guidebook which is full of very helpful info to help make your visit even better.

Parisbytrain.com will explain all your transportation options

Op is spending 5 days inNice. add 2 more days. So 7 days in total.

Easy to do Calanques + Nice, IF one were interested in that type of terrain/activity

Clanques is 3-4 hrs by car/train and actually is on the way from Paris to Nice.

7 days in paris and 7 days in Nice/eze/Menton or Calanques seems like a good plan to me!

Getting to Cassis isn't a direct shot as the above poster thinks. You need to change trains in either Marseille or Toulon to stop off in Cassis and walk several kilomètres down into town from the station. I spent six months in Cassis and appreciated the Calanques, and the amazing Cap Canaille, but it's not worth breaking up your trip, (already a 6-hour haul by train from Paris or a quick flight on Easy Jet from Orly) or backtracking to get to Cassis on your first trip. But do build in a stop on your second trip. For now, there is so much to do with Nice as a base and it's so beautiful on the Riviera, too.

I really disagree with Steve that 10 days in Paris is too long, but then I am just arrived and will be here 6 weeks (time limited by my husband's eye treatments at home every 6 weeks). We spent 6 weeks last fall here and another 6 weeks in the spring. For a first trip, 10 days is perfect. Not only is Paris rich with things to do, but it is a great base for day trips. There are a couple dozen fabulous day trips to towns, chateaux etc easily reached on public transport. Here are a few and only a few we have taken:

April in Paris is lovely and if lucky you will also have good weather. This is when the chestnut trees all over Paris are in bloom with their pink and white cones and the wisteria is at its peak -- lovely time to be here.

5 nights in Nice is also great and Nice is a good base for visiting other towns along the riviera. Easy to visit Monaco etc from there. I personally would rather spend that time in the Dordogne. We have done a week there twice in small towns with a car to visit chateaux, towns, prehistoric caves. Our favorite part of France outside Paris. But Nice is also nice; 5 days is IMHO plenty.

I would add a few nights in Lyon or add the Dordogne or another French area and cut Switzerland down, but I am not a big fan of Switzerland which is very expensive and IMHO not very pleasant. But if you are doing mountain hiking then it might be a great choice. Everyone gets to do the trip of their dreams and our experiences with Switzerland may be the result of our own bad planning.

By spending large hunks of time in few places you cut down the loss of time and the aggravation of logistics of frequent moves and have a chance to really enjoy where you are.

Nice day trips- we spent two weeks there last time. Favorite day trips are Antibes and Cap Ferrat. We do not care for Cannes or Monaco.