Traveling from Nice to Paris...best route

I guess you could start in Switzerland (not sure what you are interested to recommend cities) and work your way down and visit some cities in Northwest Italy Como, Milan for example on your way to Nice (stay and explore the Cote D'azur Monaco for example) and then from Nice to Paris.

Are you driving or taking public transportation? How much time do you have?

We are starting in Nice. We haven't decided yet what to do if we should take a train or rent a car. What would you suggest we do...rent a car or take the train. We have about 2 days to travel from Nice to Paris.

If you only have two days, then going via Italy and Switzerland would just be a drive-by (13+ hours on the road) or a ride-by with several train connections.

Trains along the main French rail line are fastest and easily allow an overnight stop at Marseille, Aix-en-Provence, or Lyon. Arles or Avignon are almost equally easy, with one connection to the town center. But I'd actually save Lyon for a longer visit.

If you were driving within Provence, you could reach smaller inland towns, but would probably still switch to a train for the last leg to Paris, which just adds more "logistics" in a short time.

Very very helpful!! Thanks so much for your response!!

With only 2 days to get from Nice to Paris, travel through Italy and Switzerland seems unlikely unless you want to spend a whole day on the train. The scenery is great, but the distances are not trivial. I'm not sure what you mean by "missing out."

Use Rome2rio to try some itineray options. It's not perfect, but it will give you a realistic look at distances, how long it takes to cover them and potential costs for a variety of methods of transportation.

I've traveled those areas both by train and car and with only 2 days l'd use the train. If it was me, I'd take the train from Nice to Lyon, switching to the fast TGV in Avignon. I'd eat something fabulous and spend the night in Lyon. Then take the TGV on into Paris Gare de Lyon the next day. That takes about 2 hours.

If the all day scenery option sounds good, you could probably coordinate a route from Nice to Turin and from Turin to Annecy. If you are going in the summer, you could have daylight the whole time. The trip from Annecy to Paris is about 4 hours. If the schedule worked out you might be able to take an hour-long boat ride around the lake.

We stayed at the Hotel du Palais de l'Isle right downtown. Our room was small but had a very modern bathroom. It had a great view over the pedestrian street and the wonderful Glacier des Alpes.

Can you tell I love Annecy? I'm not a fan of Switzerland, especially for such a short time, largely because of having to deal with Swiss Francs instead of Euros. Lazy, I know.

I would suggest if you are taking a car to stop in the Auxerre area. There is also the Chateau of Guedelon which is being built according to medieval conditions.

One thing to remember is Switzerland charges a motorway tax, France has motorway tolls. Both will add up.

I'm loving all of these suggestions. I am just starting to plan so it is so fun to check out these places that are being suggested and things to consider! Thanks so much!!