What country would be a good addition to France trip?

If you go to Germany, fly into Berlin if you can and explore there before moving onto Paris. If you stay in FR, Provence (Avignon) would be a joy too.

Train to Cologne, then up the Rhine and finally to FRS

What is FRS? And by train to Cologne do you mean from Frankfurt?

Is the easiest way from Berlin to Paris via train? Or any scenic route to know about?

I'm a little confused by your first post. Are you flying into Frankfurt and then travelling to Paris somehow? Or are you leaving from Frankfurt? It would seem to make most sense to do a multicity ticket, flying into Paris and out of Frankfurt, or vice versa. Then use the train in between. The suggestion of going from Paris to Cologne, then along the Rhine with a couple of nights in one of the middle Rhine towns would be pleasant at this time of year. Then continue on to Frankfurt for your last night.

You can fly non-stop from Berlin to Paris for less than $50 on Easyjet. You have the option to fly into ORY or CDG. If you’re sleeping south of the left bank then choose ORY that’s cheaper. If you’re sleeping north of the right bank then fly into CDG. I would check how many kilometers between your lodging place and the airports before choosing which airport to fly into.
I'm assuming FRS is Frankfurt (FRA).

Hi CJean, my ticket right now is flying into Paris with a 1 hour connection in Frankfurt. But United airlines allows no change fees for award travel, so I could easily change the ticket to fly into Frankfurt or Berlin or Munich. Or any city that Lufthansa flies to within Europe.

I’m a bit confused about how train crossings work, since if I do go to Cologne, I would have to take a train through Belgium and then into France (other way to go around takes too long).

I’m leaning towards just flying into Berlin, then taking a flight to CDG.

In the short timeframe of your vacations, it is really not reasonable to take the train from Paris to Berlin (covid or no covid). Flying is the way to go!

If you skip any segment of your flight itinerary, all your subsequent flights on that itinerary are cancelled by the airline. It's assumed you are ill and won't be continuing your trip.

You can't see three museums in one day. Paris needs more time

Your entire trip appears to be 11 days on the ground. This is late in the game to make changes. Why don't you add at least two days to Paris, arrange with United to go to Frankfurt a few days early and check into a hotel, spend a day with Frankfurt on Foot tours, and another taking a train to the closest port and cruising the Rhein up and down. Get off to visit a couple of towns and take the next boat or train.

I would add France to your trip to France. Paris is awesome but there is so very much more to France than Paris.

What about using Strasbourg or Colmar as a base to see Alsace, and perhaps day trip into Germany?

Bets, I’m not skipping any segments. I can make free changes so that my final destination in the outbound flight is FRA instead of CDG by calling United.

Alsace region would be interesting, where in Germany would be a good city to cross the border for a day trip?

I’m also considering Nice and Avignon

Well, adding a country means adding a risk of having different Covid-19 rules than France chooses to apply. Do you want to add that risk? I personally would visit another area of France. Taking a plane to Frankfurt is not like taking the ferry to the closest island to Seattle. It eats up a day of your vacation. BTW, Germany has as many high points as does France. I personally prefer Cologne to Frankfurt, and you could probably fly there just as easily. But if your only desire is to add another country, it makes sense to visit the city you're flying home from.

What are your interests? You could say that the Loire is known for wine too, but the chateaux and abbeys are more interesting than a barn full of stainless steel tanks, aren't they? Most Americans are desperate to visit Normandy, and everyone wants to see Mont St. Michel. Alsace is lovely, with or without wine. Avignon is a great base, even without a car. You don't have to add a country to make good use of the days you have available.

If you are flying Lufthansa/United, flights from Paris I believe would go back through Frankfurt. If you are starting your trip in Paris, do the five days there, and then take the high speed train to Strasbourg as a base. This train will get you to Strasbourg in 1 hr. 50 min. Spend a few nights based in Strasbourg and day trip to Colmar, and spend a day doing Riquewihr, Equisheim, Kayserberg, Ribeauville, and/or day trip over by train from Strasbourg to Gegenbach, Germany (short ride) or rent a car in Strasbourg and drive through the Black Forest towns. There is a lovely boutique hotel, The Arok directly across from the train station in Strasbourg. If you rent a car in Strasbourg you can visit several of the wine villages in Alsace in one day. They are all close together. They have a car rental at the train station or one a couple of blocks from the hotel we walked to. We just rented a car one day for the wine villages and then another day for the Black Forest drive. No sense in keeping a car to pay for parking overnight when the rentals are so close. Strasbourg to Frankfurt is less than two hours by train or bus (Flix bus - check schedules). Depending on your flight times, if you have an early morning flight as we did, we spent our last day in Strasbourg then late afternoon took the bus to Frankfurt airport where we stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn inside the airport. It was a short walk to our Lufthansa gate. The train station was downstairs, so if you go by train, take it to the Airport.

If you really want to do Brussels, it's only 1 1/2 hrs by train from Paris - could be a long day trip.

My flight back I can’t change because I booked with a different airline. My flight back is CDG - SFO - SEA. But I could do SEA - FRA instead. Germany just requires a vaccine card like France. While Belgium requires you to quarantine so Brussels wouldn’t be worth it.

My current flight booked is SEA - FRA - CDG and CDG - SFO - SEA on the way back.

So I think I would have to start in Germany if I did that first and end in France.

But I’m considering again just staying in France and saving Germany for another time, given that France has so much to see.

I don’t care for Normandy because I don’t care about WW2 history. Isn’t it just a beach with some historical significance? (I mean no offense to any veterans, I just don’t find WW2 history personally interesting).

Loire seems beautiful. Nice, Avignon, seems so beautiful. So does Strasbourg and Colmar.

I took 5 years of French and we had Mont Saint Michel in our textbooks! Also considering going there.

Ahhhh there are so many endless choices and I’m getting overwhelmed cause it’s so hard to choose. Germany wouldn’t be hard to enter given they only ask for a vaccine card.

My interests are food, I don’t drink alcohol so wine tours aren’t interesting to me. I love seeing beautiful architecture (hence why I want to visit Alsace region, reminds me of Leavenworth, Washington). I also enjoy wandering in museums. Nice interests me because of the beaches. Munich, Cologne, interest me because of the architecture and food.

So start in Paris, then hi speed it to Strasbourg and you can do the train to Gengenbach for an afternoon. The region's villages are charming towns, and you don't have to partake in alcohol or wine to enjoy them. I wouldn't necessarily go to Munich for the food. It's another big city. If you want good food, check out Lyon in France and that region. Since you basically have 10 days on the ground I would give the Paris region at a minimum of 4-5 days. There are many excellent restaurants in Paris. You can take the train to Lyon and explore Annecy as well which is about 1 1/2 hrs away. From Annecy, Geneva is less than an hour away although I wouldn't necessarily go out of my way for that. You have so many options.

We are spending 5 full days in Paris, followed by 4 full days in Alsace region. There is a lot more to France than Paris. If curious, it is easy to rent a car in Colmar and venture into the Black Forest region of Germany as well.

I would choose visiting the Alsace region.

Hi JR, would Alsace region + Lyon/Annecy be doable for 4 full days?

Loire palaces would be interesting. Chenenceau is built over a river.

That is way too much for four days in my opinion. The train to Lyon is 3.5 hrs., and Annecy is a little over 4. Alsace region has so much to offer. One full day minimum, visiting the surrounding villages, Strasbourg needs at least a full day and then some, and Colmar at least half of a day. Leaves you with little time for anything else. If you have a car, really suggest you drive to the local villages, then you have another day to either drive over the border to Germany and the Black Forest (as you asked about) or take the train to Gegenbach for day trips. It's a lot to pack in with so little time. If you are flying home from Frankfurt, this plan makes more sense than trying to squeeze in Lyon or Annecy. Frankfurt is a short trip from Strasbourg and a lot less hassle to get to than further south. Would advise picking one of the other, not both with only four days.

SeaTraveler, since you’ve considered Germany and Belgium, is there a reason you excluded Spain? Barcelona for example. Lufthansa has a connecting flight from Frankfurt to Barcelona. Amazing architecture and food there. Spend a few days, then take the high speed train to Paris, or fly. (Please ignore if you’ve already decided on Germany)

I actually ended up deciding it’s more worth it to stay in France. I am already overwhelmed with the amount of possible trips from Paris (Strasbourg/Colmar, Annecy, Mont-St-Michel/Normandy, Nice, Avignon, Lyon, Bordeaux). Trying to decide which of these I want to visit the most. It’s so hard to choose.

I don’t care for Normandy because I don’t care about WW2 history. Isn’t it just a beach with some historical significance?

By no means.

Many Americans only visit Normandy for their D-Day experience but there is so much much more to Normandy than that.

It is like saying, isn't Oregon just a beach? Yes, the beaches runs along the edge. Just like the west coast of the US and Canada.

Or maybe Massachusetts is only a beach because it has Cape Cod. Massachusetts is important because it gives an idea of the size of Normandy. Massachusetts is about 1,000 square miles smaller than Normandy.

The inland area is beautiful and very enjoyable. I have spent many days there. Would you be interested in the William the Conqueror age Bayeux Tapestry? Very enjoyable museum, and you can walk all along the length of the embroidery. There are descriptions of what you are looking at.

Honfleur is at the other end of the Region of Normandy (which comprises five Department). A beautiful town.

The inland villages with their farms and orchards (apple and pear) are really beautiful.

Trouville and Deauville are lovely historical seaside towns without the D-Day associations.

Mont Saint-Michel is right on the border with Brittany.

Rouen is special city - Monet painted the cathedral at different times of day and in different light. The views today are very similar. The half-timbered architecture in the city is spectacular.

While Monet's work adorns galleries and collections all over the world, a remarkable quantity of Impressionist works can be found in galleries throughout Normandy, such as the Museum of Fine Arts in Rouen, the Musée Eugène Boudin in Honfleur or the André Malraux Museum in Le Havre.

The Impressionists painted all over Normandy, especially along the coast in places I mentioned above. Monet's home was in Giverny, just southeast of Normandy but on the trainline to Normandy, and you can visit his home and gardens there - where among others the water lily paintings were made - you can see the same views.

So don't write off Normandy if you are not interested in World War Two.

On the other hand you have so many other places to consider for your short vacation I don't want to further muddy the muddy waters of choice.

Nice interests me because of the beaches.

Nice to look at (see what I did there??) but not so much fun to enjoy. Most beaches along the Riviera are actually sharp sand or sharp gravel, especially Nice. Unless you want to pay admission and rent an umbrella and space at a small private beach marked off from the public area which has trucked in soft sand from somewhere else you will need a thick towel and water shoes.

With the four days you have and given what you've said, I would go for either Strasbourg/Colmar or the Avignon area.
Why not the others?
- you list Seattle as your location, so you are close to mountains that are arguably more impressive than those around Annecy (of course, every place is unique, but with limited time... Choices must be made)
- Normandy outside of D-Day beaches is quite spread out and not very convenient to visit by public transportation
- Nice is far away
- Bordeaux does not have 4 days worth of sights, especially if you don't care about wine

Balso, that actually really helps narrow down my options! Thank you :)

Are you still flying home from Frankfurt?

Never was flying home from Frankfurt an option, only landing in Frankfurt instead of flying directly to Paris.

Thinking of going to Avignon area

Another option would be to do multiple places split across 4 days. Ie day trip to Bordeaux, Strasbourg day trip, Avignon day trip, although it would be a lot of train travel

None of those places work as day trips from Paris.

Train travel duration is deceptive. For instance the train to Bordeaux takes 2 hours, but you need to get to the station in Paris (about 30 minutes from usual hotel locations), have a 20-30 minute buffer so as not to miss your train, and get to the city centre from Bordeaux station (20 minutes). So that becomes a 3.5-hour trip, one way.

There are, however, plenty of viable day trips from Paris if you'd rather stay there for the whole duration of your trip.