travelling solo from 1-25 Dec to France

Is this 3-1/2 weeks in France a segment of a longer trip? Are you flying to France from the US or Canada? Where are you heading after France? It appears you're not going to North America, based on your 9 PM flight-departure time.

Is this your first trip to France?

Although I've been to all your proposed destinations except Chamonix, I have never been to Europe in the winter, so I do not speak from personal experience with December conditions, but do keep the possibility of wet or snowy weather in mind, as well as the certainty of short days, as you consider the pace of your trip. You simply will not have as many daytime sightseeing hours available as a summer traveler would.

In terms of transportation time, Annecy is closer to Chamonix than to Lyon, so if you're staying in both Lyon and Chamonix and want to see Annecy, it seems it would be better to day-trip there from Chamonix. However, it your lodging costs are much higher in Chamonix, that could change the calculation.

If by "drop by Nice" you are suggesting a day-trip from Marseille, I'd definitely discourage it. There's no TGV line from Marseille to Nice, so the trip takes over 2-1/2 hours each way.

In terms of the overall picture, you have an unusual distribution of time: Only three full days in Paris (have you been there before?) yet two full days in Bordeaux and Marseille, neither of which has a fraction of the attractions available in Paris. I thought Lyon was more interesting that Bordeaux or Marseille, and I'd definitely add a day there if you decide to take a day-trip.

Bordeaux is especially problematic here. It will take nearly 6 hours to get there by train from Marseille. A major reason to go to Bordeaux is that it's near the Dordogne, but you don't have the Dordogne on your itinerary and December is probably not at all a good month to be there. I'd scratch Bordeaux entirely from this trip and limit your itinerary to eastern France. Western France has lots of points of interest, but you cannot cover the entire country in a reasonable fashion in 3-1/2 weeks.

Are you aware of the mistral? If you run into it, it will negatively affect enjoyment of outdoor time in Provence (the trip segment from Avignon/Aix to Marseille). The Riviera (coastal stretch on both sides of Nice) would be safer, weather-wise. There are some nice towns there. Lots of art museums, but you didn't mention art among your interests, and the Roman ruins are in Provence.

The time in Alsace feels rushed, though I don't know what the area will be like in December. The first change I'd make would be to take a train to Strasbourg or Colmar on your arrival day. To keep the rail fare reasonable, you'll probably need to buy the ticket well in advance, which will be a bit of a gamble if you are flying in. Leave lots of time between scheduled flight arrival time and train departure time.

We have some folks on the forum very experienced with traveling or living in France. I trust they will provide their very valuable input soon.

10-11 hotels changes will eat up a lot of time going through the check-out/ check-in process. And do not forget the time to get to/from the bus/train station at each end of every change of location.

A whittling knife might be a good investment to cut down the number of places ( changes) you have to make

Hi! Exciting trip you have planned here, but I agree that you should make it a bit less ambitious - although travelling solo allows you to move fast, in my experience.
- One base is enough in Alsace, choose either Colmar OR Strasbourg, you can't really go wrong
- I would remove Bordeaux from the list; there is nothing to fill three days in town, the coast will be dead, and the vineyards will look very, very forlorn in December. Instead, I would allocate those three nights to the Loire Valley, since you want to see castles.
- I would also spend less time in Dijon/Beaune because wine regions simply aren't that pretty in winter, in my opinion. 2 nights will be enough to visit the towns themselves and enjoy the food... spend an extra night in Paris instead. Dijon will be a bit more convenient than Beaune as a place to stay (direct trains from Alsace, which I think Beaune does not have).
- To see a bit of the Alps, I would go from Lyon to Chamonix as you plan, then go from Chamonix to Annecy and stop there for the night to break the 7-hour journey from Chamonix to Avignon. Much better than a day trip from Lyon.
- You would then have 4 nights in Avignon, which is OK to see the area (including Arles and Pont du Gard). Yes, it can be cold if you get the mistral wind, but you need warm clothing for Chamonix anyway.
- Marseille is not at its best in December; I would stick with Avignon as a base.
- You would then head from Avignon to the Loire Valley. I do not know which base is the best one without a car; I think Amboise works but perhaps Tours or Blois would be better. To reach all of these, from Avignon, you need to go through Paris but it is not that hard, just a bit long.

I agree with Balso about the Burgundy wine region in winter. Plus, I am not sure that it is a good idea to arrive in Dijon on a Sunday. I'd check to make sure the places I wanted to see are open on Sunday and Monday. Are you planning to change hotels between Dijon, Beaune and Lyon? If so, that is a lot of checking in and checking out. There is no rule that says that you have to see castles if they do not interest you and Normandy is cold IMO in the summer so I can only imagine that in December going to Mont St Michel would be a drag. You can't really drop by Nice from Marseille -- it's about a 2.5 train trip, but I guess it will be okay because you are going to be spending a lot of time on trains with this itinerary. Have you already plotted out the travel time between destinations? I agree with balso and acraven who both suggested that you eliminate Bordeaux from this trip. Daylight hours are short in December and with many days when you will have at least four hours of travel time between destinations, you may want to consider eliminating a destination or two.

A couple of things:

1. If you want to see a castle you can go to Château de la Rochepot while in Bourgogne. It's located SW of Beaune (one "n"). They have limited open hours in the winter but I found them to be very accommodating when entertaining visitors from the U.S. a few Decembers ago. You can connect with them via their website. Oh -- I've heard that it's for sale, along with 69 acres of surrounding countryside. Only 3.2 million euros. A veritable steal. It could be that accessibility could be affected if the owners are selling -- they may be more drastically cutting back on visiting hours. Contact them before making firm plans.

2. As far as Normandie goes, I think you'll find Bourgogne and the Rhône-Alpes area to be colder than Normandie in the winter.

Average Hi / Lo in December. according to Climate-Data.org:

Dijon: 3.8°C (38°F) / 0.9°C (34°F)

Lyon: 4°C (39°F) / 1.1°C (34°F)

Caen: 6.1°C (43°F) / 3.9°C (39°F)

The channel has considerable moderating effect on temperature extremes, especially Calvados and La Manche (western Normandie where many WWII sites are located as well as Mt. St. Michel). That's why winters there are warmer and summers are cooler than in many other parts of France.

Thank you everyone for the advice. i am from Singapore :) my arrival and departure time is France timing.
i see alsace and burgundy as a region so i am happy to stay in one town and do a day trip to another town.

it is my first time to France! i hope everything will be smooth during this COVID period.
thanks for helping me to cut down some places for a smoother pace.

1) i like cuisine and i am happy to skip the vineyard if i can still enjoy local wine in the city or town which is accessible to me. it seems to me all the vineyards require a car, if not, to follow a tour. am i right?

2) if i have adequate winter wear for chamonix, i assume i will be able to take the mistral in marseille, right? i dont mind arts but is Nice a better choice than Marseille in terms of cuisine and scenaries?

I like interesting food but am not a foodie. Marseille is a very multi-ethnic city. Nice is more influenced by Italian cuisine (and French, of course). I'm sure you can find really good food in either city.

Both cities have attractive parts of town. In Marseille I most liked the area around the Old Port and the walk along the coast to the old fishing port of Vallon des Auffes. In addition, the trip up to the Basilique Notre-Dame-de-la Garde takes you through a non-touristy part of the city.

I'd say Nice is more thoroughly spiffed-up for tourism--and has a lot more tourists. I think most visitors would prioritize Nice, but that's probably because of all the great, easy side-trips possible from that city. If you don't have time for those coastal towns and hill villages and aren't interested in Nice's six art museums, I really don't know which to recommend to you.

Hi All, I have revised my itinerary to give myself at least 3-4 full days in each area.

1) Is it possible to sleep in 2 towns for Alsace and Burgundy?

2) French Riveria - Is it convenient to explore nearby towns by staying at one base? Which base will that be?

3) Havent done research from 18-20 Dec. It is either one of these – Avignon, Loire Valley or Mont St. Michel. Which is more worth?

4) Any towns to cut or give more time?
Thanks.

1-Dec (Wed) Arrival to Paris

2-4 Dec (Thu-Sun) Strasbourg/Colmar

6-9 Dec (Mon-Thu) Dijon/Beaunne

10-13 Dec (Fri-Mon) Lyon - light festival 8-11dec

14-17 Dec (Tue-Fri) Marseille/Nice – haven’t decided where to explore French Riveria.

18-20 Dec (Sat-Mon) Avignon/loire valley/ mont st.michel – haven’t research this part.

21-24 Dec (Tue-Fri) Paris and back home

I would head directly to Strasbourg on 1 Dec, no need to spend the night in Paris. And I would choose Strasbourg as the base; there's more going on.
I would remove a day from Dijon, and add it to Paris at the end.
And Marseille is much more convenient than Nice in your timeframe; Nice is far away!
From Marseille, you should visit Aix. Cassis is also an option if the weather's nice.
Then, I would definitely pick Avignon, because Loire Valley or Mont Saint Michel take too much travel time. I originally recommended that you skip Marseille if you wanted to visit those places, but you can save them for a future visit outside of winter!

Accommodation in Lyon is very scarce during the light festival, so this is what you need to book first once your dates are firm!!

If it's specifically the Riviera you want to visit, rather than the southern coast in general, Marseille is not the best base because it is not on the Riviera, but to the west of it. The Riviera begins (depending upon whom you ask) at Toulon, St-Tropez or a point in between. Nice is the transportation center of the Riviera, but there's a regional-rail line running through most of the coastal towns of the Riviera (not St-Tropez), so if your interest is the coast rather than the hill towns, you have a lot of choices of towns to stay in. To reduce the amount of time on the train, I'd avoid places at the eastern and western extremes. Antibes is a lot smaller than Nice and is well located for day-tripping. Villefranche-sur-Mer is much smaller than Antibes and has been recommended by multiple people on this forum.

If hill towns like Eze and St-Paul-de-Vence appeal, Nice is the most practical base, because you'll need to travel by bus and a lot of buses fan out from that city.

For the best decision here, you need to decide what places you want to go and then choose a base from which you can conveniently reach them.