I want to visit France next Spring. It will be my daughter's senior year and I would like to visit during her spring break. I don't want to spend a whole week in Paris. Is there a countryside we could easily visit if we rent a car? I am open to any suggestions.
Thanks in advance!
The Loire valley would be my first inclination. Not too far from Paris and lots to see to keep you busy for a couple/few days. You could rent a car and drive from Paris or take 1 hr train to Tours and then rent a car to get around. You could stay in Tours (larger city) or Amboise is commonly recommended as a base to explore the chateaux, but also the smaller places like Azay-le-Rideau or Chenonceau are nice to stay in. I stayed in Azay and loved it.
Depends a lot on what you like to see and do.
You can knock out two things at once. The town of Giverny & Monet's Garden & you can get there by train if you do not wish to drive. http://giverny-impression.com/visitor-information/
Enjoy your trip
Giverny and Monets garden are lovely for a day. Not sure about longer than that . And if her spring break is early, there may not be much if interest in the garden. If it's a little later (April) then you could combine it with a couple of days on the Normandy coast.
I went to Burgundy/Alsace/Champagne last May and felt it was really too early in the year to be there, still quite cold and vines were barely growing. I think it would be quite rainy in Normandy/Brittany that time of year too.
I'd go South. I think your daughter would enjoy the Riviera best. I loved Antibes, it has a great marina, beaches, art gallery and a medieval center. The water will still be cold but the weather should be decent. You can take the local train up and down the coast to see other places. Fly Paris to Nice (just over an hour). I stayed in Juan les Pins last September (next town to Antibes) and was able to get an Airbnb studio apartment at a great price. Out of season prices are really affordable.
You aren’t clear. Do you mean you are going to Paris and want a day or two away, or do you want to travel elsewhere exclusively.
If the first, stay in Paris. You’ll barely scratch the surface in one week. Or,
Another vote for the southern coast. US spring breaks are usually in March. Weather in the north can be gray and rainy then. The Languedoc area in the south can have bad weather until May. You have one week and want to be in the countryside, so to ensure better weather, you need to be along the Riviera anywhere from Marseille to the Italian border. There are plenty of towns and villages closer to Marseille and on the hillsides. Down near the water it’s more crowded, one town up against the next from Cannes to the border.
For the more well known places that are already mentioned you have to overnight to make it worthwhile. But just around Paris is surprisingly enough lovely countryside to enjoy if you just want to visit it for a day.
South-west there is the Parc of the Chevreuse Valley. Follow the D91 from Versailles to Rambouillet. Nice is Dampierre-en-Yveline and certainly the abbey of Les Vaux de Cernay. Further Château de Breteuil is worth a detour. Rambouillet is a nice place to visit for it’s château and the park. If you like you can drive further to Château de Maintenon, the one I would place on top of the list as it is not too big but gorgeous. Adding Chartres will (likely?) be too much, but think it can be the place for dropping the car and taking the train back to Paris, so avoiding rush hour.
Also the Vexin region north of Giverny is really lovely, but you have to know the best places. I have followed a scenic route with my car there last month and can give you details if it interests you.
A bit further south of Compiègne (including Senlis and Chantilly) offers enough for a drive through the countryside. Explored the region last month too and the same as the Vexin region there is enough to enjoy. If of interest I can give you more details.
To avoid rush hour around Paris, best is taking the train for renting the car somewhere outside and bring it back to a place for taking the train “home”.
Took my daughter to Paris for her spring break (freshman year in college) and we ONLY were in Paris. Cold weather (don't be misled by the song "April in Paris") but walking around the city, seeing museums, eating in little bistros was fun. Never out of things to do in Paris!
