Please sign in to post.

Home Base suggestions for French Alps area-April 26th-May 15?

Posted by on

Hi Everyone,

I could use a little advice for a home base in France. We will arrive and depart from Paris CDG airport, and about 20 days to spend on vacation. We have been to Paris before.

Our first 4 nights will be in Lyon and then rent a car to visit Chamonix, Annecy and ? for the rest of our visit. Do you think 3 nights in Lyon will be sufficient, instead of 4? That would add another day for other locations.

Once in the French Alps (and after visiting Chamonix) we thought of renting an apartment somewhere and taking day trips either to Annecy (or stay in Annecy a few nights?). We like to eat out but also like to cook some meals at home once in a while. Any ideas for a good location to do this?

Or we wondered if it would be worth paying the tolls to drive into Italy and visit Genoa the last 5 days of the trip-return the car to Lyon and train back to Paris a day or 2 before we fly out.

Sorry if this post is all over the place-which is why I would appreciate any suggestions.

Thanks so Much! :)

Posted by
160 posts

Well, I suppose it all depends on your tastes. I'll share with you a portion of what we enjoyed last September. After visiting Arles and Avignon half-way through our 30-day journey around France, we spent three nights in Annecy, which made an excellent base for our day trips to Chamonix/Mont Blanc and a couple of wonderful villages. Instead of dropping down to Genoa, have you considered the Burgundy region? Beaune is quite lovely and if you are a fan of wonderful food and fine wines, as we are, I think this region is worth your consideration. There are three separate wine routes from Beaune, one of which is a delight by bicycle, plus the region that surrounds the Burgundy Canal between Beaune and Paris. Geographically, Burgundy makes more sense than Genoa, plus on your way back into Paris you can visit Fontainebleau and Vaux-le-Vicomte, if you haven't done so already. Whichever you choose, have fun!

Posted by
10185 posts

I can't comment on going to the Alps at that time of year because I don't know what would be open there or what the weather and hiking would be like.

However, why would you go to Genoa, a fairly industrial city? If you go south, go to the Riviera--any place from Menton to Cannes. It would be much nicer to visit.

Posted by
703 posts

we also used annecy as a base to visit chamonix ( in chamonix the ice caves and cog train were good) and the surrounding area, it is a beautiful town and a good size to look around and use a base ( the traffic can be a little thick?) the small towns on and around the lake are very nice to visit. we even visited the paccard bell foundry , just for something different.
the road tolls in france can add up, but the roads are very good.

we drove to annecy from briancon, over the col du galibier. WOW !!! it had just reopened ( we were there in late May for memory) the road had 3m of snow on the sides, the scenery was spectacular.
something to remember for ever.

have you considered the area around menton etc, rather than genoa?

hope this helps.

Posted by
19 posts

Ed, Bets and Glen,

Thank You for the great input!! We were going to Genoa just to get a taste of Italy since we love the country. However, we decided to change plans and stay in France and research your suggestions and even considering provence area. Can't thank you enough for the great insight! :D

Posted by
703 posts

while we loved Italy, we also spent an equal amount of time in france. there is so much to see in provence and we enjoyed menton /monaco area for a day or so to see how the rich live.
hope you have great trip

This topic has been automatically closed due to a period of inactivity.