Visiting France!

How long is your trip? It would help to know, so that advice could be given on how long to stay in each city and how long it take to get to each city. Are you flying in and out of Paris? Need to know so you can get back to Paris in time for your flight. Lots of places to go to outside of the city and still stay in Paris to sleep. Day trip to Monet's house for one.

Your other post says you are going to Italy in mid July. Have you changed your plans?

hey there!

im heading to both italy and france in july :)

I guess i will be flying into paris and flying out from some other city in france into italy. I will be staying in france for about 7-8 days

Thanks guys!

Stay in Paris for only 7-8 days, there are several food daytrios you could mod out of city.

Or stay in Paris 4 days, fly or teoan to Nice 3 nights in Nice visiting Monaco and perhaps Cannes ( easy day trips from Nice) , then fly to Italy.

You could easily stay in Paris for a week. If you want to split your time I recommend Provence. Do some more research.

I would say 5 days as a minimum in Paris. You could easily fill a week though as others have mentioned.
If you really want a change of scene before Italy, then perhaps 2 nights in food focused Lyon.
From Lyon you have flight and train option to Italy.

After 4-5 days in Paris, that leaves only about 2 days somewhere else (you have to deduct time to get there and then time to leave). I think it depends more on where you can get a flight to Italy (or a fast train) and that depends on where in Italy you are going.

1. France is a large country, roughly the size of Texas. So you can't just hop from random city to random city, particularly if you only have a few days, and if you have to get from your last place in France to Italy.

2. There are indeed high speed trains as well as planes connecting many places in France. But these are only affordable if bought way in advance as non-refundable and non-exchangeable tickets. If these cheaper tickets are gone for the route you want, you'll pay much more.

3. The French train system is very Paris-centric. For instance, it's about 3 hours from Paris to Marseille, and 2.5 hours (on a different line) from Paris to Strasbourg. But Strasbourg to Marseille requires going back through Paris, changing train stations in the process.

4. From France to Italy isn't as easy as it looks. There are only a few high-speed train links; otherwise, you're looking at local trains with multiple changes.

5. For all these reasons, you may want to reconsider your plan. Or, you may want to plan your side trip in the middle of your Paris time, then head back to Paris to get to Italy by plane.

6. With all these caveats, I really like Lyon (famous for food, but it's just a very nice place to be in) and Nancy (an undervisited gem). While I didn't care for most of Strasbourg, I love the Museum of Alsatian Life, and Strasbourg and Nancy combine well as a two day trip (with an overnight in either one). If you really want to see French cities outside of Paris, these would be my top recommendations. I liked Marseille, but it's not for everyone, and I wasn't as taken with Nice and the Cote d'Azur as others are. Certainly, you should read about all the places mentioned on this thread, and see if any of them interest you enough to take the time and hassle to see them (vs just staying in Paris and taking daytrips).

Nice has the advantage of being a great hub to visit other seaside towns.. easily and very cheaply.. one euro for a bus ride to Monaco.. 3-4 euros for a train ride to Eze.. or Villefranche.. or a half dozen other smaller places.. or to the la di da Cannes..

Dear all

Thank you so much for the information and this really makes my planning so much easier in France! Greatly appreciate your help :)

Merlvin