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One week - a French region or Prague/Vienna

Posted by (Boise, ID, US) on

My husband has a business trip in Paris which ends on Dec 5. I plan on joining him that day. he will meet me at CDG in the morning. I am having a hard time making a decision of what to do with our short week (leave CDG on 12/12). We first thought split time between Vienna and Prague, but then I worried about trying to do too much and just being overwhelmed. We have been to Paris several times, so not spending time there.

Something about Alsace region speaks to me as well as SW France (Bordeaux/Toulouse). If we choose Alsace, we would not have to deal with airports during that week. So go to an interesting region and stay one place with day trips OR see the big, beautiful Christmas cities of Vienna and Prague. Neither of us has been to any of these destinations (except for a brief stay in Vienna many years ago).

Interests: food, wine, some museums, city-walking, moderate hiking, local culture.

Posted by
27104 posts

I haven't been to Europe in December (and wouldn't go then due to dislike of chilly, wet weather), but I don't think there would be a great deal of difference between Alsace and Vienna/Prague, weather-wise, though I don't know how festive the wine villages will be at that time of year.

I'd focus on the logistics. If you choose Vienna/Prague, it will probably be late on Dec 5 when you get to Vienna. You'll have six days in front of you, during which you'll need to see Vienna, travel to Prague (4 hours in train time alone, so realistically more than half the day lost), see Prague and get back to Paris. You need to be back in Paris on Dec 11, so much of that day is lost in terms of sightseeing. That comes out to just five full days plus some random hours for sightseeing (including Christmas markets) in two of Europe's great destinations. That would massively frustrate me. How about going to Vienna OR Prague instead, and planning a couple of possible day-trips in case you exhaust the city's sights earlier than expected?

If you decide on Alsace, I want to put in a plug for at day in Colmar, which is drop-dead gorgeous and has a really fine museum, the Unterlinden.

Posted by
7 posts

Thanks acraven. We did think might be too much doing both big cities. Usually when we travel, we spend at least a week in an area or city, but time is limited this trip.

Posted by
3122 posts

I think you could have a great time in either the Alsace region or Bordeaux -- or Toulouse. I don't think I would try to do both Bordeaux & Toulouse with so few days, and with the days being short at that time of year, and given that you have to return to Paris to fly home (did I get that right?).

If you're really keen on Christmas markets, the viewpoints shared here might help you choose a city to experience one that you'll enjoy.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g187275-i116-k11288091-2018_Christmas_Markets_Germany-Germany.html

Posted by
5697 posts

Strasbourg and Colmar are Christmas-market hubs -- and SO easy to get from/to Paris by TGV train. I believe there's even a train Strasbourg to CDG.

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