Paris and then more of France by train?

I have not traveled in France, but what I always do when planning such a trip is google "County train map" to see the train lines. I think there is no maximum and many Paris fans would love to spend ten days there, but since it is your first time, I think taking one side trip would be nice (you could put it in the middle of your week and perhaps stay in two areas of the city at either end). I personally have Lyon on my list but of course pick what appeals to you the most!
Do share what month you intend to travel, as that may affect the suggestions, good luck!

Have you considered RS 7 day Paris tour? or
Paris & Heart of France and add a few days at the end.
We have done both and enjoyed them.
We are currently working on our plans for 5 nights in Paris and then the "My Way France 13 days" in Sept 2025.
So much to do/see in Paris.

Wow, a couple of quick replies. Neglected to mention I am looking at Sept or Oct. I have looked at the RS Paris tour, but it is booked solid for the fall, and is actually only five whole days on the ground. I think I need more time. I did put myself on the wait list, but then decided to begin planning my own adventure as it may not work out, or may take too long for a spot to open. As for the other tours, most are wait list only, or the available dates/itinerary don’t quite match what I want. I have done 3 RS tours, now, and enjoyed all of them, but often wish I had more time in some museums. At this point, some other places that interest me are Chartres, Carcassonne, Mont St. Michelle, and I’m sure my list will grow.

My 15 yr old daughter and I just spent 11 nights in Paris (including RS Paris tour) and it was not too long. There's so much to see, especially if you like museums and art. We spent a half day in Monet's gardens and house in Giverny, and a full day at Versailles. Otherwise we were in the city. I'd go back in a heartbeat. I'm not familiar enough with airports to use that aren't Paris, for France, but I'm sure others will contribute.

Only you can answer whether 10 days or 7 days in Paris would be too long. I suggest planning a daily itinerary for either period and seeing what you think of the result. One thing that may help is to look at the public walks offered by Paris Walks and putting them into your plans; maybe a guided walk each day, spend some time lingering in a museum, have a leisurely lunch, etc. Since you've been on RS tours you know how efficient multi-city tours can be but unless you don't care about the expense of signing up for the RS Paris tour you can do pretty much the same guided walks as the RS tour (even more, actually) using public tours and even have enough savings left over to spring for a private guide one day.

Well, for myself, even not being a "city-gal", 7-10 days in Paris is not too long! You can easily do some day trips. Chartres is a good one as are Chantilly, Versailles or Giverny. You probably know I am a solo traveler.

To me, Mont-Saint-Michel is NOT a good day trip - just too far and you get there just as the crowds are swelling. Carcassonne is just too far to consider at all.

If you have 10 nights, you could consider doing 4 nights in Paris, traveling out to another city for 2 or 3 nights, then back to Paris for the last 3-4 nights. Places I would consider for a 2-3 night stay - Colmar (a touch over 2 hours on the fast train), Bordeaux (2 hours by high speed train), Tour or Amboise for visiting chateaux if they are of interest to you. That suggestion does repeat back to Paris but I have better connections leaving from CDG than other cities so that is what works for me. You might have different needs or travel style.

Honestly, this is a fun dilemma!

So, I should add some details to clarify what I’m thinking. I’m thinking of spending 7-10 days in Paris, then going elsewhere by train. I have not figured out where yet, or for how long because I am unsure how to do this. Should I just pick two or three other locations that I could do some day trips from? Should I fly into Paris, and out of some other city? I also haven’t ruled out starting in London for a few days. I have not got a specific length of time in mind, yet, but it’s looking like accommodation in Paris is more expensive than I thought so that will play a role. I may be looking at a VRBO instead of hotels.
I like the idea of doing some guided walking tours in Paris, and I think going to Versailles or Giverny are both things I would like to do.
I’ve looked at the map of train routes, and they seem to go everywhere, but I am sure there are some routes and stops that make more sense than others. I did a train trip in Ireland many years ago that was a lot of fun, but I had to do a fair bit of backtracking to get to where I wanted. I’m trying to avoid that.
History, art, and photography are my goals. I know wine is big in France, but it’s not at the top of my list. I would go to an old castle much quicker than a vineyard.

Anita, it looks like your a bit overwhelmed.

Maybe take a look at the Trip Reports forum here and read some that include Paris, focussing on the ones that use public transportation, not self drive.

Like Pam, I can't get enough Paris. After not visiting for many years I planned a trip in 2022 starting with 4 nights in Paris, followed by a week in Colmar. Before I even booked my flights, I knew I wanted more time in Paris, so I added another week in Paris after Colmar.

Earlier this year a did a week in London, followed by a week in Paris.

What is the total amount of time you have available? How much time do you want to spend traveling between locations. Paris can be a great base for many day trips. Add on a few days at another location and you'd have a great introduction to France. Pam gave you a few ideas.

If you give us an idea of your hotel budget in Euros, we could probably give you some affordable suggestions. My hotel for my last 2 Paris trips was under €200 a night for a single room, great location and service.

Anita,
Just so you know, September is just about the most expensive time to stay in Paris because there are numerous conventions there in September, plus it is fashion month, so lodgings are very hard to come by and the hotels are full. If you go In October prices for lodging should be cheaper. If you can do it, give Paris 10 days. Ten days is far from being too long in Paris. There are 10 weeks worth of things to do and see. And you can do a Versailles day trip (one day), and Giverny (half day), Chartres (half day). Reims (champagne country) is a good day trip also. Please don't shortchange Paris

For other locations, Strasbourg/Colmar are a short TGV ride away and have lots to do and options for bus rides to smaller towns, plus day trips in the area and wine tastings. You could even visit some nearby towns in Germany. Strasbourg has a beautiful cathedral. Both towns are charming, with a different type of cuisine and lots of neat shopping opportunities. You can do very well without a car.
The Loire Valley is also a good choice, with the beautiful chateaux and a great wine history. We always have a car there, but lots of people on this forum have visited there without a car and will have good ideas for seeing the chateaux.

IMO, you can do this trip independently more cheaply than almost any tour group trip. We have traveled with tour groups in China, Kenya, Egypt and Turkey because of the language difficulty and wider cultural gap. In France it isn't necessary (in most cases). I hope you find some good answers and suggestions on this forum. The people here are great and good in sharing their knowledge.

Bonne chance!

I’ve looked at the map of train routes, and they seem to go everywhere

Well, they do ;-) So one strategy would be to pick a region you want to visit and start selecting stops on TGV lines. One image is at https://www.myconsoo.fr/upload/activity/image_les-lignes-de-tgv-en-france.png

For example you could go to St. Malo, Rennes, Vannes, Quimper, and have a nice Brittany visit. Or Nancy, Strasbourg, Colmar, and Dijon for a mostly Alsatian-area visit. There are other towns reachable in any region by local trains so my suggestion boils down to

1. pick a region after reading thru a higher-level France guide book
2. select TGV stops and now you've got a base plan that can be revised
3. do additional planning using a more focused book such as the Michelin Green Guide for the region
4. add additional towns if desired using local trains & buses

Look up blogs on best spots to visit in France (you will probably get the same 10 places or so), look up train duration and then look them up on YouTube. It will give you some idea of what they look like and whether you like them.

2 popular destinations that are within 2-3 hours train rides from Paris are Strasbourg and Lyon for example.

If you are in Paris for a week, there is a week-long transit pass; I can't remember which days it runs. The 144 hour (6 day) Paris Museum Pass might save you money if you want to visit a variety of museums; but it's 144 hours straight - you can't pause it for a day for a side trip, so you might plan those after. Also, if you stay in one apartment, you only pay the cleaning fee once. We stayed 8 nights in Paris.

I just did a solo trip to Paris. I flew to Amsterdam and spent a few days there then took the Eurostar to Paris for 4 nights then went back to AMS for 2 nights before I flew home. I felt 4 nights in Paris was a good amount of time (for me).

The only day trip that I considered while I was in Paris was Chartres but it would have eaten up an hour each way on the train and I felt it wasn't time well used as I had only 3 full days in Paris. I didn't have any interest in Versailles except maybe the gardens but it was in March, nothing much was in bloom yet so I felt it would have been a waste to go there.

My method of traveling probably wouldn't appeal to everyone but I'm not a person who does all the "tourist" spots. I have very little interest in Giverny or Versailles, for example. To each his own. I'm a solo traveler and love to walk. I do hit some highlights but I love simply seeing all of the shops and restaurants and architecture. One of my best memories is having lunch at a brasserie directly across from the Moulin Rouge.

I've been to the French Riviera on a separate trip but it's probably too far for you to combine that with Paris. I flew to Nice and spent 5 nights in Villefranche-sur-mer. Went to Monaco and St. Jean Cap Ferrat and Beaulieu-sur-mer.

You could train down to Bayeaux (2-1/2 hrs) which is near the D-Day beaches. There is a hotel there (Hotel Churchill) that has shuttles to Mt. St. Michel, I believe. There are the Bayeaux tapestries in a museum there too.

I would never think 10 days is too long in Paris...assuming you stroll, enjoy the parks, museums, shops, people, history, etc. You need to figure out how many of those things you like. I've been to Paris at least 5 times and I have so much left to see and do. J'aime flaner. Personally, I think any major city is worth 10 days. My other suggestion would just be to go to Nice after Paris as it has a much different vibe in the area and it has much art throughout the area as well. For both of these cities, there are day trips galore.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions so far, I’m beginning to get a better idea of what interests me. I realize I can’t see everything that interests me in one trip, but I would like to get a variety. I have looked at several lists of top sights, and tried to pare down what interests me the most. Here is what I have at the moment: Normandy (D-day, Mont St Michel), Strasbourg and Colmar, Annecy, Carcassonne, Nice, Lyon, Marseille, Loire Valley. Chartres, Giverny. Of course, some of these are on opposite sides of the country so that is part of the challenge.
I like the idea of dividing it up by region, I think that makes the most sense. There are so many web sites about France that it is overwhelming. I do need a good guide book. Thanks Bill G for the Green Guide recommendation. I had forgotten about that one as the book store didn’t have it. In fact, they only had RS, and Lonely Planet.
I am a budget traveller when on my own, and prefer traditional B&Bs to hotels, but they seem to have gone the way of the dinosaur. In Venice I was able to find a VRBO for under $100Cad per night, but it looks like France is more expensive than that. I like to avoid one night stops if I can, and really want time to wander and take photos.
Since I am retired I have no time constraints. I tend to stay for three weeks whenever I get to a country.

Hi again Anita,
Well, since you have three weeks, I would definitely give Paris 10 days. Your selections so far for outside of Paris are still too many, given that travel days between locations are kind of lost, except for a part of a day and/or evening. Perhaps you should focus on just three general locations for the extra days. You will have some backtracking into Paris, but that isn't so bad when you consider you will be using the TGV and the train rides will be short. Another thought...save your Paris time for the end of your trip so you are on the ground near to CDG to return home. Here is a sample itinerary...just a suggestion for 21 days:
Day 1, arrive Paris and take TGV to Strasbourg (5 trains a day, about 2 hours). Sleep Strasbourg or Colmar (30 train from Strasbourg)

four nights (3 full days)
Day5, TGV back to Paris and take train to St Pierre de Corps (for Amboise) (about 2 hours) and stay three nights
Day8, This is a bit of a problem. 7+ hours with two train changes from St Pierre de Corps to Bayeux, or return to Paris and change to

a train to Bayeux (back and forth, ugh!) Either ay a full day on trains, a long day. Maybe do Normandy another time, or swap
out the Loire Valley for Normandy.

Or do one, then go someplace in another direction and go back to the other. Maybe just return to Paris and change to a train

to Lyon (2 hrs on TGV). Stay 4 nights in Lyon (3 full days), one day as a day trip to Annecy (2 1/2 hours each way by train and

early start is recommended). That gives you two days in Lyon proper as well.
Day 11, Back to Paris on TGV (2 hrs) You could stay in Paris for these next ten days or head to Bayeux for three nights (DDay sights
one day, MSM day trip another day.) Not my choice (I would leave DDay and MSM for another visit unless you had a car for this
segment. However, although this is kind of backtracking, it prevents a long train day.
Day 14, Return from Bayeux (if you went there), or continue living it up in Paris through night 20.

Day 21, Flight home.

This drops Marseille, Nice and Carcassonne, but there is only so much time. Each moving day uses up a good half day, but with TGV trains wherever possible, and with early starts, you have a half day in your arrival city to enjoy it, as well as the full days. As I mentioned above, there are no convenient ways to go by train from the Loire Valley to the Normandy DDay areas. That is why I spit those two destinations,even though they are fairly adjacent, just so you wouldn't have the hassle.
With three weeks, you would be seeing 3 or 4 areas of France, plus Paris.

Bonne chance et bon voyage, whatever you decide to do!

Thanks for all of that information Judy! You hit the nail on the head, my list is definitely too long, but I am trying to figure out what locations would be most straight forward. I was wondering if there was a way I could do a loop. First go east to Strasbourg, then south, then west, and up to Normandy and end back in Paris? I know travel days can be a partial or complete write off as far as getting to any sights, so for that reason I want to limit my travel days to as few as possible. It doesn’t matter to me where Paris fits in, beginning middle or end. I do want to try to avoid 7 hour travel days, though.

Just to make things interesting, I just got an email from RS saying they have added a date for the Paris tour on Oct 20th! Decisions, decisions!

A loop can be good, but some train routes aren't straightforward and take you back through Paris, or put you on slower trains with more changes. Your clockwise loop idea looks good and is more logical, except for getting from the Loire Valley to the DDay areas. As I said, since we always have a car I am not very knowledgeable about train routes. Maybe someone can hop into this thread with better ideas than mine. Time spent in the locations I mentioned shouldn't, IMO, be shortened. You want to enjoy your time in each place without feeling pressed. and with time to relax and enjoy your meals as well as see the sights.

I envy you the joy you will have on this trip to France. It will surely whet your appetite for more!

Hi Anita,
I’m doing a similar trip later this year.
I usually go to Italy each year, but am choosing France for a change.
I’ve been to Paris many times, so am expanding to E. France .
Starting in Paris to get over jet lag, then a few days each in Troyes, Mulhouse, Strasbourg, then back to Paris for 6 days.
A loop that has train connections that suit me and are not long trips.

I have come across a 14 day trip with Railbookers that starts in Paris then goes to Strasbourg, Lyon, Avignon, Nice, Marseille, Bordeaux, and back to Paris where I could then spend another week or so. Does anyone have any experience with this company? It seems like it would simplify the planning, but leaves me mostly on my own.

Anita,
I am not familiar with Railbookers, but I I'll say that there are seven cities in 14 days. That seems rushed to me. Given the time it takes to move from place to place, it appears you would have on average a day and a half in each one. I would look at the breakdown by day of the itinerary to decide if this is what you want to do.
Bonne chance!

I agree with Judy. It seems too rushed to be able to have a quality experience.

I would spend those 14 days in 2 or 3 areas plus your time in Paris.

Thanks so much for the quick feedback. I was wondering myself if the pace was too quick. All of the stops are two nights, except for Marseille, which is one. I don’t like one night stop. I’m going to see if it can be tweaked somehow, or maybe they have other, more region focussed, trips that I could make use of.

Anita,

Without lots of money and/or time, I think you know you can't do it all.

Looking at rail schedules with the least amount of changes and/or hours sitting on a train, I think this might hit most of your wants mentioned above.

Arrive Paris and take nonstop train from airport to Strasbourg 4 nights with day trips Colmar and wine villages.

Train nonstop to either Marseille , Avignon or Nimes for 3 or 4 nights. Nice could be a long day trip from Marseille, but there is plenty to do in the area.

Direct train to Carcassonne for 1 night.

Train to Tours with change in Bordeaux for Loire Valley for 3 nights.

Nonstop train to Paris for your 10 day stay with day trips to Versailles, Giverny and Chartres.

Annecy is an outlier. Although it is in a beautiful setting, the logistics make it tough to fit in.

I also didn't include Lyon. It's got great train connections, but then you'd lose out somewhere else.

If you eliminate Carcassonne, that would open up more possibilities. I have never been there, but all my research says it might not be worth the effort to get there.

And this itinerary is missing Normandy. To add it in, you would need to drop something else. Maybe save it for a future trip.

I hope this gives you some ideas of what's possible by train in France.

Anita,
Building on Jeanm' s recommendations, you would need to check out train connections between locations. When we last went from Marseille to Bordeaux, we didn't have a TGV option, so the train ride was comfortable, but about 5-6 hours. The train options might affect where and when you arrange your moves around the countryside.

Last year when I was looking for a logistically easy and budget-friendly solo trip to France, I settled on Bordeaux and Toulouse for six nights each with day trips to St. Emilion, Arcachon and Carcassonne. So my suggestion would be to fly to Paris for 10 nights, then take the train to Bordeaux and onward to Toulouse for 5 or 6 nights each. Air Canada flies Montreal to Toulouse four times a week so it would be convenient to end there and connect in YUL on the way home. This wouldn't work for those who like to hit the highlights and move on but if you want a slower paced itinerary, this would be one option with straightforward rail journeys for both inter-city travel and day trips.

Anita, please do a lot more research before booking with the Railbookers travel agency. I am on Trip Advisor a lot and used to read their Train Travel forum regularly. There were often threads with complaints about poor service from this travel agent when something goes south with a train journey or set of train trips.

I looked at their "tour" of France and agree it's pretty fast although Rick Steves tours are usually 2 nights per location too. At least on an RS tour you've got the bus driver to get you to the front door of the hotel, lol, then the tour guide to orient you. It does look like all the hotels they offer are OK whereas I've seen complaints from folks using them for trips in the US that the hotels are sometimes pretty awful.

LizM, thanks for that suggestion, I thought it might make sense to fly home from somewhere other than Paris, but hadn’t looked into it yet.
Pam you are right, I have looked at some reviews for Railbookers, now, and some are pretty bad. Their overall rating is just average.
I’ve looked once again at RS tours, and I see there is an opening in mid October on the Loire and south of France tour. When I initially looked at these tours I didn’t really like any of the itineraries, but now I’m realizing that getting the itinerary I want is going to be more difficult than I thought on my own. I wonder if this might be a good alternative after spending several days in Paris. I would miss out on some places I really want to see, though, such as Strasbourg and Lyon.

Oh whew! Glad you have now done some research on that travel agent.

I think there is no way you are going to get to all your choices in one trip! France is a huge country and ALL your locations are worthy!

I have not done the RS tour that goes to the South of France but everyone seems to enjoy it a lot along with the Eastern France tour. You might have to do both, lol. I have done the Paris and Heart of France tour and it was excellent. Well, really, you can't go wrong with any of the itineraries.

Gosh, I’m really going around in circles on this. I like the itinerary for the Loire and southern France tour, but the cost for me, as a solo traveller, in Canadian dollars, is over $7000. This means I would have to reduce my time in Paris. So, I wonder how much of the tour itinerary I could accomplish on my own if I picked three towns to spend 3-5 days each? Would Amboise (or Tours) Arles, and Nice be a good choice? The things that interest me are the prehistoric caves, hill towns, a chateau or two, castles or forts, walking medieval streets, art museums. I do like Roman ruins, but I think I will return to Italy at some point so I’m not worried about missing Pont du Gard. Ive realized that trying to get to Strasbourg will complicate things too much so I will leave it for another trip.

Anita,

First question that only you can answer is where do YOU want to go aside from Paris. With 7-10 days in Paris, that would leave about 11-14 days for other locations, minus travel days or travel-in-part days to a lesser degree. A train travel day could well eat up 2 to 6 hours, depending on type of train, route and distances. So, perhaps pick one or two areas, rather than the whole country to see.

What interests you? Wine? Small towns? Mountains? Beaches? History? WWI? WW2? The Hundreds Year War? Joan of Arc? Roman history? Chateaux? the Church? Cycling, perhaps? Art?

Work with some guide books. Michelin, RS, Moon, Lonely Planet, DK Eyewitness.

Slow down, don't move too fast. Consider the geography.

• A week in Paris, a week in the Loire and a week in Normandy and Brittany might be wonderful.
  
• Or, a week in Paris, a week in Lyon plus Annecy and Mt. Blanc, and a week in Provence?
• Or a week in Paris, then a week in Provence and a week split between Marseilles and the Riviera?
• Or a week to 10 days in Paris, three days to a week in the Loire, and a week split between the Dordogne & Bordeaux - a city that RS entirely ignores?

You could book an open jaw ticket ... in to Paris and then return from Bordeaux, Marseilles, Nice or Geneva. Or start with one of those and return from Paris.

Bon Voyage

Fred, you make some good suggestions. One of my problems is that I have too many interests, and the difficulty is in paring them down. I love ancient history, which is why the prehistoric caves interest me. I will never pass up the opportunity to visit an archaeology museum, and I love castles/fortresses. I’m not big into wine, and vineyards, though. Mont St. Michel, and DDay beaches interest me, but not beaches just for soaking up the sun. I don’t have to start in Paris, I suppose I could fly into Nice or Marseille. Without a car, I will need to be in towns that will have options for tours to get to sights that aren’t in town. I have a lot more research to do. Oddly, I have been unable to find a recent copy of a Michelin guide for France, the most recent edition appears to be from 2019. I did download the Lonely Planet guide, but I’m not impressed with it. It doesn’t even mention rail travel, and makes few accommodation suggestions. Fortunately, I got it free. I was hoping to find a guide that focused on train travel so I haven’t bought the RS guide, yet. Although, I do have his guide for Paris. There is a plethora of websites about travel in France, but I often feel I’m reading more advertising than anything. I think the advice I get here is better.

Anita,
Reading your latest post about preferences...prehistoric caves, archeology museums and castles... the Dordogne is perfect for that. However, IMO a car is a must there. There is no convenient public transportation around the area to get from sight to sight. If you decide to go there and rent a car, I would advise a minimum of three full days (four nights)...Lascaux II or IV, Peche Merle, Font de Gaume and loads of other caves/sites; Beynac and Castelnaud for castles, the National Museum of Prehistory in Les Eyzies. Also, MANY charming villages, loads of local markets delicious food, and stunning scenery. That being said, with your time frame I would plan on doing this on a different trip devoted more to the Southwest of France where you can fill two weeks easily. That trip could cover Carcassonne, Boedeaux, Toulouse, Albi, even the Atlantic coast, given enough time.
For this trip Fred's sample combinations are logical and give you a good taste of some of the wonderful areas to visit in France.
What a troublesome yet pleasant problem to have!

Thanks Judy, I think you are right. I have been playing around with possible routes on Rome2Rio, and the most direct route, with the fewest stops, that would allow me to see some of what I want to was Marseille-Avignon-Carcasonne-Toulouse-Tours, and ending in Paris. The problem is, I think this is still too many train rides, and the one from Toulouse to Tours is a long one. Then, I couldn’t find a day tour from anywhere other than Sarlat to see the prehistoric caves, and to get to Sarlat it is yet another train and bus ride. Maybe I should just go back to my original idea of spending a couple weeks in Paris, and do some day trips from there, and leave the south of France for another time.

Am writing this while on Paris-Lyon TGV. My wife and I are in our 70s and we've been in France for 15 days with 12 to go. Got off the Air France flight at CDG and hopped a TGV to Strasbourg, then a local to Colmar. Spent a few days there including a short bus trip to Turckheim. Then a TGV to Paris, with a cab trip over to Gare Saint Hazard for a local co section to Rouen. After few nights there,a local to Paris for 8 nights. Now train to Lyon for a few

Sorry, train swerved, hit the wrong button. Now on our way to Lyon for a few days then Nice and back to Paris to wind up the trip. My wife and I love train travel, regardless of the country. (Well maybe England is an exception.) And we like to relax instead of go go, go. And we never stay less than 3 nights in any one place. The culture in Alsace was an eye opener, Rouen's history was spellbinding and Paris is Paris. Can't wait to visit the Roman ruins in Lyon and the beach and small towns around Nice. Advice: Figure out what you most want to see and pare the list down to save time for just sitting and watching the world go by.

If you have found an itinerary that interests you but is too rushed, use that itinerary as an example and book your own travel and hotels at your pace. As with all travelers, you will need to prioritize. The first impulse is always to try to “see everything”, especially when you have so many interests. But in trying to cram so much in, you risk enjoying less.

djmrof: I have given some thought to going straight to Strasbourg upon landing. It is an area I would like to see. How many days were you there? Lyon also looks interesting, historically.

travel4fun: I have found some itinerary I like, and have been trying to figure out how to make them work without a car. That’s where I’m running into trouble spending too much time on trains.

I suppose I don’t have to spend my time in Paris all in one chunk. I could take the train straight to Strasbourg, spend a few nights, train back to Paris for a week, then train to Bayeux for a few days for DDay beaches and Mt St. Michel, then train back to Paris for a few more days.Then just leave the southern parts of France for another trip when I won’t need to go to Paris. Paris is the important spot for me this time.

Anita: unfortunately we didn't make a day trip to Strasbourg. Bad weather and we decided to stay close to home (Colmar). We originally booked a hotel in Strasbourg, but decided we wanted to stay in a smaller city. Glad we did. Colmar was very relaxing despite the cold wet weather. And the bus to Turkheim left every hour and the bus stop was right down the street. In addition to the charm of the very small town, we saw three storks, two on their nests right in the center of town. Lyon is charming although after 80 degree weather in Paris, mid 50s feels a bit chilly. Going to the Roman ruins and Nazi resistance museum. As well as moseying around Old Town. one note: this trip includes our third visit to Paris and we are staying 12 nights total this time and its still not enough. We love taking advantage of all the parks, the relaxed cafes. Even after three trips, we still haven't seen all the "must sees." We like soaking everything in instead of rushing from one heavily crowded sight to another..

Anita: Another note: depending on flight schedule, you can catch a TGV to Strasbourg right at CDG. We booked a train to Strasbourg leaving plenty of time between landing and train departure time. Then, we bought tickets to Colmar at the Strasbourg station since there is no advantage to booking in advance on local trains. Check out Man in Seat 61 website for all and I mean all, train info you will ever need. We've been using him for years.

I live in the south of France, Nimes. I definitely advise to take the train. It’s comfortable and fast. If you land at Paris Charles de Gaulle (Roissy) you have the train station right there and you can go southwards avoiding the capital city. If you’re downtown Paris, you have different train stations and choose to go nearly everywhere. But you need to know what other cities you want to visit.
Paris is a huge city with a lot to see. It all depends on your mood and tastes 😀

Hello Anita. I am a little late in replying to your post, and you have already received lots of good advice on places to visit in France. The choice of where to go is a difficult one, but ultimately it is up to you. However, after ten trips to France since retiring, I have one piece of generic advice to offer. I see that Air France flies direct from your local airport, YVR, to CDG, arriving around 8:00 am. With a TGV (high speed train) station right in the airport, you can start your trip in any of the areas on your wish list by early afternoon with just one flight plus a relaxing train ride. Regardless of where you choose to go, you can end with your week or more in Paris and fly directly home again. Nothing against AC (or in favour of Air France), but I have found being able to make the trip in one flight to be tremendously stress reducing. If you choose this option, book your train ticket on line, using the SNCF or Trainline site, but allow for a good two hours after arrival. On the SNCF site, you can add insurance for a few euros, allowing you to take a later train if you are delayed. Bon voyage.