Towns/sites near Paris

Bob,
We enjoy quaint towns with some history.
Kind of like Rothenburg o.d.T. or Cesky Krumlov.

Chartres, Reims, Giverny, Loire Valley.

"In France you want to be in Paris or far from it."

This needs to go in a quote file.

It is easy to day trip from Paris to dozens of towns of great charm; it is hard to day trip from small towns unless you have a car.

We enjoyed a week in Semur en Auxois day tripping to abbeys, country hikes and small towns in the region for example:
https://janettravels.wordpress.com/category/burgundy/

Andrew,

No Paris. Done it 3 time and we are Paris-out.

We could use Paris as a home base and side trip from there but I "guess" that lodging might be cheaper outside of Paris.

If you have a car then pick a charming town ill served by public transport in Brittany,Normandy, Burgundy, the Loire, the Dordogne and there you are.

If you won't have a car, a good town for public transport is St. Malo. It is a lovely town and you can easily go by boat or bus to Dinan, Dinard, the Channel Islands, Mont St. Michele and other towns in the regions. We spent 4 nights there and enjoying day trips on foot and on bus or boat.

You might consider Bayeux. It is a nice, quaint, fairly small town, with the Bayeux Tapestry and a nice church. And of course there is a lot of history, including the WWII beaches. You can reach it by train from Paris, or of course you can drive. Peter

Thanks again Andrew

Near Paris, certainly doable by train....Amiens, Soissons, Fontainebleau, Meaux, Laon, Compiegne, Chateau-Thierry, Beauvais,

Take a fast train to Strasbourg, rent a car and spend 3 nights in Alsace, 3 in Burgundy, drop the car in Dijon and fast train back to Paris.

I'll add Troyes to my above suggestions too, accessible by train from Gare de l'Est.

Just discovered book by Annabel Simms, One hour from Paris. I, too, am planning!

Senlis, but only if you have a car. Or Provins.