Visiting small towns outside Paris

There are many options and it is difficult to narrow them down without further info on what you enjoy.
With "train-accessed quaint towns" as a brief, the first one that came to mind was Colmar, in Alsace. Well-located for visits to Strasbourg and to villages in the Alsace wine region, and lovely in September.

We like unique small towns for sightseeing. We enjoy bike rides, wine, cheese, and regional foods. Some of out favorite experiences have come from visiting small towns in Europe over the years. (Hallstadt and Miitenwald as examples)
We enjoy a bit of history and countryside living. As nice as Paris is it doesn’t offer what small towns do in its people or experiences.

Ok, so if you've seen German and Austrian small towns, then perhaps Alsace isn't the top choice.
Beaune, in Burgundy, is a reasonable option for a few days. Excellent food and wine, and some very pretty villages and historic towns accessible by train in the vicinity: Dijon, Tournus, Dole. Plus good availability of tours, and some good biking in the vineyards.

This is why we rent a car…..just too easy to see these delightful towns if you are in a car……to me impossible if you depend on a train. Go to THE MOST BEAUTIFUL VILLAGES IN FRANCE website, print the map, and see where most of these villages are….then you could plan your trip around that area.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3551269-an-hour-from-paris

You would be better off basing your trips to small towns out of Paris. A small town will not have the frequent trains you'd get in Paris.

I was going to recommend a book called “One Hour from Paris”, but I see that a previous poster posted the link. It’s a wonderful book that describes many towns that are well worth visiting. We especially liked Senlis and Sceaux on our last trip in Oct 2021.

if you do Beaune/Dijon, you can bike between wineries. No driving please.

Beaune is a good suggestion. As well as the places mentioned above, Nuits St George is a nice little place close by, walk or cycle. The same with the little villages west of Beaune, like Pommard. My week around there was spent at the bottom of the hill form Châteauneuf, easy cycling or walking by the canal. Check train times, but Besancon is well worth a visit - it has an attractive downtown area, a few museums, a river walk, the Citadel and zoo up the hill. Besancon and Dijon might be worth a couple of days each.

Colmar is also a good bet, and very nice that time of the year. All the more famous wine villages can be reached easily by bus, as well as a few others. Hiking is very good and fairly easy for the most part. Strasbourg, Basel and Freiburg are all easily reachable. If visiting museums appeals to you, two days can be spent visiting Strasbourg. I don't know the train travel times but Besancon. Nancy and Lucerne might also be within range.

Thank you for your suggestions this sounds perfect! I will look into train and bus schedules and will definitely be able to make this work.

Cycling Sites in and around Beaune.

Cycling in Bourgogne: https://en.francevelotourisme.com/cycling-destinations/bourgogne-franche-comte-by-bike

Bourgogne Randonnees: https://www.bourgogne-randonnees.fr/en

Freewheeling France (The Vineyard Way): https://www.freewheelingfrance.com/where-to-go/cycling-in-burgundy.html

Loire Valley:
https://en.francevelotourisme.com/cycle-route/eurovelo-6-cycle-route-of-the-rivers

https://www.loirebybike.co.uk

Enjoy your trip.

We slept in Ribeauville in Alsace, but we had a car (Strasbourg to Avignon portion), so I can't comment on train service. There are some "flower award" towns in Alsace, but Sept is not a peak flower month. I encourage you to select a town based on train service, and not on the hope it will look like "Band of Brothers."

It partly depends on what you want to do as excursion achievements. Some wineries require appointments. Another approach is smaller cities with a decent art museum.

I disagree with Tim. The flower boxes in Alsace will still be in bloom in early September. Most of the flowers are geraniums, which flower in to October.

another book that may be helpful is "Daytrips France" by Steinbicker

Op, my husband and I are doing a 5 week train journey through France this late spring, traveling exclusively by train and taxi. Our goal was to stay in small villages as much as possible, so that is the trip we have planned. I have trolled this site excessively to learn about which areas appeal to us, using the input of these forum contributors. The recommendations you have been given were some of the ones that we liked, so we will have a week in both Beaune and Amboise. Tours seems like a very good train base, and it is so close to Amboise. Beaune also appears train friendly with access to other areas. I would caution you to check train schedules in advance. I have found that there is a lot of variability in schedules for many of the smaller places on our route. Even if there is service everyday, some days have much better time options. We travelled through Italy for a month, the same way, and did not experience that so much. So do some checking. I would be interested to hear what you come up with!