Paris-Bruges-Loire Valley-Marseilles

You said start in Paris, but Paris is in the middle of your destinations, hence the problem. You don't say where you are flying from.
Is it possible to do an open-jaw, arriving in London and returnng from Marseille, or vice-versa?
London, Paris and Bruges are train destinations, a car is a liability when you get there. Loire valley needs a car, you can only get to the chateaux with one. Marseilles depends on whether you are using it as a base to see the countryside (car needed), or are staying in the city (no car).
The quickest way from Paris to Bruges is train, high speed train Paris-Brussels (1 train per hour, time < 2 hours), the Belgian intercity to Bruges (2 trains per hour, time 1 hour).

Therefore I think this should be:

• Fly into London.
• Train to Bruges (3 Hours).
• Train to Paris (3 hours).
• Pick up a hire car on the edge of Paris, tour Loire valley.
• Return car, high speed train to Marseille (this is the longest leg, high speed train saves many hours). Chill out with relatives.
• Fly back from Marseille, possibly via London.

Well Chris, I think we where prepairing our post a bit the same time, happens sometimes, but nevertheless this is what I think OP can do:

Inbound flight Paris, to Loire Valley + Marseille with train. Flight Marseille to Brussels, from there train to Bruges. Bruges to London via Brussels with Eurostar. Outbound flight home from London.

There are direct budget flights (1h45min.) Marseille-Brussels South Charleroi Airport (CRL, Charleroi and not the same as Brussels Airport / BRU near Brussels itself) for less then €100,- pp. Think about 3 hours from there to Bruges with public transport, shuttle bus + train. Budget flight Marseille-Lille is also possible, however you gain only time if the quickest train connects well or using an airport shuttle.

Train Bruges-London St Pancras takes about 3½ to 4 hours, first 1h leg to Brussels with IC train, from there with Eurostar. Not sure, but I think you can already check-in at Bruges railwaystation for the latter, but ask there. For highspeedtrains book well ahead as they use airline style ticket pricing.

No you can't check in at Brugge station for a Eurostar. Therefore you have to allow an extra 30 minutes at Brussels Midi above the time to get to the correct platform. It is not the check-in as such that takes 30 minutes, it is that after the check-in you have to go through X-ray and passport checks. I have never understood why the passport checks cannot be done on the train.

You seem set on flying into Paris for some reason and are implying that you're either flying out of London or Paris. You also seem to need Marseilles as the penultimate destination.

If that's the case, Marseilles -> London is a flight. Everything else is trains. You need to quit thinking about direction and concentrate on durations. There aren't that many permutations. It's probably going to be a sortie out of Paris to the Loire, the run from Paris to Bruges, then the Bruges to Marseille run. Bruges to Marseille doesn't pass through Paris -- other combinations and would involve a cross-town change of stations which is a pain in the tail.

If that's not the case, the previous two guys have the better idea.

To make for less arduous travel, would you consider a different "romantic medieval town"? They're a dime a dozen. Two that come to mind are Perouges (much more private and intimate than Bruges), and Perpignan.

Chris – I think too will be the case. Some trainconnections are via Lille in France and from there the Eurostar to London (some with a change in Kortrijk) instead of Brussels.

Ryanair offers budget flights (1h20min.) from Tours to Marseille, but only twice a week as I see.

Thank you everyone for your responses.

Chris-I agree with you that it would make sense to leave from Marseilles. However, Marseilles is really just a family stop so we prefer to end our honeymoon in London.

Wil- I never even thought of going from Marseilles to Bruges. I wasn't thinking about going back that way but it actually makes a lot of sense. Its definitely something I am going to look into.

My other option was to add those 2 extra night in the Loire Valley to Paris and instead of sleeping in the Loire Valley I would just take the train in and do a day tour. I thought it would be nice to stay in the Loire Valley, unless it became too complicated. I just want to be sure that I know the best way to get from place to place before my plans are finalized and definitely before I arrive.

Thank you again for all your responses and any other advice would be appreciated.

I think Chris has come up with the best itinerary based on the places you would like to visit. You don't have a lot of time once you spend 5 nights in Paris and 5 nights in London. Are you set on going to the Loire valley? Burgundy might work better. It's on the "right" side of Paris.

The Loire Valley and Bruges are definitely places I want to go...I have been waiting to see the Chateaux for years and Bruges has been on my mind for years as well. However, the other option was 7 nights in Paris with a day excursion to the Loire Valley and then Bruges-Marseilles-London. That would be 7 nights in Paris, 2 nights in Bruges, 3 nights in Marseilles and 5 nights in London. Would you guys suggest this as a better option? I would of course love to stay in the Loire Valley but if I at the very least get to see a couple Chateaux on a day trip I will be very happy. Let me know what you think or if you have any other suggestions.

Another option, I am thinking, can be similar to what Chris originally suggested. I could fly into London but instead of going to Paris from there I can go to Marseilles? I am thinking London-Marseilles (by plane)-Bruges-Paris (and then maybe do the day trip to the Loire Valley rather than stay). I definitely want to fly in and leave from either Paris or London....which one I fly into and which I leave from isn't that big of a deal. The airline I use, because of my miles and my rewards card is British Airways. British airways flights mostly have stop-overs in London so it may make sense to start in London? London-Marseilles-Bruges-Paris. The only thing is British Airways doesn't offer direct flights to Brussels in order to get to Bruges. I would need to figure out another airline carrier to use to get me from Marseilles to Brussels. Any suggestions? Thanks!

A day trip from Paris to Chenonceau will get you there right when all the tourist buses arrive. I was there early, and it was fabulous, but when the buses started to arrive, it was terrible. I was trapped in the kitchen area and it was very difficult to get out. I don't have claustrophobia, but my wife almost had a panic attack.

If you really want to see the Loire Valley the right way, then you need to stay overnight in Amboise or Tours and get to Chenonceau first thing in the morning.

Thanks everyone. All this information is very helpful for my planning. As of right now, it seems the flights to London the week I would leave are outrageous in price. They are actually double the cost than they are the week before, but I think this is just because they were only released this week. I am going to wait a couple weeks because right now a round trip ticket to London from New York the day I want to leave is about 4500 per person while the week before it is closer to 2200. I would think that late August is cheaper or at least the same in price as the rest of the summer. Once I determine whether I can get a flight to London from New York at a normal price, I can better determine the rest of the trip.

Does anyone know of airlines that go directly from Marseilles to Brussels, if there even are any. The carrier I use, British AIrways, goes through London for everything so they basically would fly me from Marseilles to London before going to Belgium, which makes little sense for me to do.

Thank You!
Danielle

Here is what I would do.......Forget Bruges. Nice city but a one day stop at best and really not worth the detour. Someday you will take a Baltic Cruise and most of them stop in Bruges. It will still be there.
Fly into Paris, stay in Paris 5 nights, rent a car when leaving, spend 2 nights in the Loire (Amboise)( you really need two days to see Chateaux), 2 nights in the Dordogne(romantic scenery, canoe river trip, see the caves, enjoy Foie Gras), then onto Marseilles, drop off car and fly to London. Driving from Paris to Marseilles takes you through some gorgeous countryside that you will enjoy. And the Dordogne is a prettier area than the Loire. Piece of cake and a great honeymoon.

Thank you for your advice. Bruges is actually at the top of my list so that is not something I really want to give up. Its a place I have wanted to go for many years and having not been to Europe in almost 14 years, I don't want to chance that I will get back there soon. I know the real difficulty is Marseilles because it is all the way in the south and kind of throws the vacation off. However, that is also not something I can give up since that is where my family is. It would be much simpler if my family was from somewhere closer to Paris. I know that Paris offers day trips to Bruges but that just seems like so much for just one day. I would prefer to at least stay the night. Do you think maybe I should stay only one night in Bruges? I just figured If I'm going to spend the time to get there I may as well spend a couple days there. The train from Paris would be about 2.5 hours total with connections correct?

As for the Loire Valley, do you guys suggest 1 or 2 nights? I am doing the following as of right now.

Paris-5 nights
Bruges-2 nights
Loire Valley-2 nights
Marseilles 3 nights
London 5 nights

I could technically rearrange these days however I would like but I would prefer to stick to these locations.

Thank You!
Danielle

Danielle,

I'm with you - we LOVED Bruges! I had always wanted to go and it exceeded my expectations. What a great place to spend part of your honeymoon. I would spend 2 nights - I think you'd really hate to leave after just one night. Make sure to take romantic strolls along the canal at night and see all the beautifully up-lit medieval buildings. Ah, I wish we were going back. Have a great time, and congrats on your wedding!!

If you are wiling to rearrange the order of things, then you should really take Chris's original suggestion to heart. Fly into London and go Brugge > Paris > Loire > Marseilles, all by train.

You could also consider Paris > Loire > Brugge > Marseilles, flying to Marseilles from Brugge.

Avoid flying home from Heathrow if possible! (OK to fly through it though.)

The only thing is I do not want to end my trip in Marseilles. Marseilles is really just a family stop-over and since it is my honeymoon I want to end it on a romantic note, with a romantic dinner and evening. Marseilles is out of the way but there is no way I can go to France and not visit them because I barely get to see them as it is.

I did some research and I can fly into London for 5 nights then fly to Brussels direct from London and take the train to Brugge. After 2 nights in Bruges I can take the train from Brussels down to Marseilles. It says that it is about 4 hours 45 minutes from Brussels so I'm looking at a total of 6 hours travel unless I take a plane form Brussels to Marseilles. The train may be easier than finding a direct flight but I can continue to look. From Marseilles I could take the train to Tours which is about 3.5 hours and then after 2 nights there I can go to Paris for the last part of the trip.

Any thoughts on this? The only real pain is from Brussels to Marseilles because it's a little long but considering all the places I'm going, thats not too bad. I remember when I went on a tour of Italy I was on a bus every other day, sometimes every day 4-5 hours so this is easy in comparison.

There is no way the trains from Brussells to Marseilles take less than 5 hours. In any case, you would be traveling from Brugge, and your best time would be a little under 7 hours with transfers.

I think a better way to not conclude the trip in Marseilles would be London > Marseilles by air, followed by a straight shot, Paris > Loire > Brugge by train, flying home from Brussels.

I didn't even think to conclude the trip in Bruges. That actually may work if I can get a plane from Brussels, which would probably stopover in London. Thanks! :) There is also the option to fly from Brussels to Marseilles. Ryanair goes direct from Brussels to Marseilles in 2 hours. Anyone here have experience with Ryanair. Brussels airline also goes direct from Brussels to Marseilles.

Is this a duplicate post? I'm sure I answered a question just like this yesterday yet don't see my contribution....

Be aware that the flight with Ryanair to Marseille is from Brussels South Charleroi Airport (IATA code: CRL) and with Brussels Airlines is from Brussels (National) Airport (IATA code: BRU), for return flights the same. So two different airports. The first -CRL- is a smaller airport mainly for budget flights near Charleroi, located some 60km south of Brussels. The latter -BRU- is Belgiums largest airport and is located near Zaventem, some 15km north-east of Brussels.

If you want to go from Bruges to CRL you have to take the train to Bruxelles-Midi/Brussel-Zuid railway station. From there to railwaystation Charleroi-Sud + the shuttle bus to CRL, the whole journey needs something between 2½ and 3 hours. There is also a direct regular shuttle bus from Bruxelles-Midi and is I think a bit quicker, depends how the connection is.

From Bruges to Bru with the train takes about 1½ hour, with a change in Brussels.

Ryanair is cheap, they cut costs wherever they can, service in any respect is not their strongest point. I have flewn a few times with them only for budget reasons, luggage over 10kg costs extra, €25,- to begin with. Brussels Airlines has a decent reputation, more convenient from Bruges, but also more expensive and likely no extra charges for luggage, so not necessarily a bad deal I guess.

It is a duplicate post. I didn't think the post went through on the other board so I posted it here. My apologies....This was my first post to the forum. But thanks for the response not the other board :)