My wife and I are going on an impromptu getaway to Paris this month (Jan 2025) and looking to tag on 1-2 additional destinations after to make up an open-jaw trip to Europe (from Seattle). We've been targeting heading to the south and east of Paris and limiting our travel to train and/or rental car (no flights). We're considering the following rough itinerary, assuming a 3-week total trip time, staring with 7-10 nights in Paris:
- Paris to Alsace
- Alsace to Berner Oberland
- Fly home from Zurich to Seattle
According to the research we've done so far, Strasbourg and Colmar sound really nice and to pair with the Alsace wine trail. Would love some recomendations on specific accomodations and logistics. Looking for luxury, unique hotel or villa rentals in this area. I'm assuming we would want a car here to explore the region for 3-4 nights. Then take the train to Berner Oberland area, but where specifically?
Our dream is to experience a beautiful Swiss Alps locale. Snow, roaring fire, hot tub, fondue :-) We are not looking to partake in winter sports and prefer to avoid the winter sports peak crowds if at all possible. Based on multiple forum posts, I think Wengen or Murren may be a great fit for us, but open to suggestions. Also, should we plan to have a car here?
From here, we would likely travel to Zurich to fly back home to Seattle.
Are there alternatives we should consider, like Annecy, Chamonix/Mont Blanc, or others? Does this make sense or is it a lot of travel and logistics?