France, Spain, Amsterdam and Brussels in 20 days

If you want to include Dijon, then direct TGV departures from Dijon Ville to Nice Ville station take 6.5 hours. Looking Up Train Schedules and Routes Online gives you the Deutsche Bahn train schedule link and tips for using it.

But if you stop in Brussels on the way north, or skip it, you could then probably save time and money by flying from Amsterdam to Nice. See www.skyscanner.com. EasyJet and TransAvia have direct morning flights that tend to be cheaper than KLM/AirFrance and Amsterdam Schiphol airport is easy to reach by train in 15-20 minutes.

Hi Laura! Thanks for the info very useful! Do you think Dijon is worth the trip? Because if we don't stop by Dijon, we can take the 5.5-hr train ride directly from Paris to Nice. Thanks!

Brussels Airways will fly you to Nice in less than two hours for less than $50 US bought well in advance (plus fees for checked bags, etc.) Even with the hassles of going to airports, security etc. this is an alternative to train travel. I enjoy the train, but maybe not so much once the ride passes five hours. www.skyscanner.com

PS: Girona is a handsome visit with fine restaurants any time. Adding in a festival should make it a good day. It's less than an hour by train from Barcelona.

I'd start in Amsterdam and go south. And, while I think its feasible, do you really want to zig zag around quite so much?

Burgundy and bicycles is not a bad idea.

Here is a tour from Paris for a day trip to Mont Saint Michel

lhttps://www.viator.com/tours/Paris/Small-Group-Mont-Saint-Michel-Day-Trip-from-Paris-including-Abbey-Entrance/d479-7249P11

It would be a very long day. I would not advise it, you will spend far more time traveling than visiting the Abbey.

Better to spend a couple of days in Normandy, it is wonderful. Don't miss the Bayeux Tapestry in Bayeux or the D day beaches in Normandy. The tapestry is 900 years old and tells the story of the Norman conquest of England.

Also, I love Barcelona, but you probably have too much time there. In the South of France, I recommend visiting St. Paul de Venice, a small village not to be missed. Also, Arles and the Pont du Gard Roman aqueduct.

The first and most important issue is why are you flying into Barcelona and then spending time and money to fly immediately to Paris? Then going to and from Amsterdam? And then returning to Barcelona? That is a lot of time and money wasted. Have you looked into a multi-city flight into Amsterdam and out of Barcelona? Even if most expensive, you'll likely make that up in the transportation back and forth and get to spend more time actually enjoying the places you want to visit. Or at the very least, fly into Barcelona and connect a flight to Amsterdam to start there. Then move south.

I'm not sure how nice the Cote d'Azur will be in November, but if you are more interested in seeing the cities/towns and not beaches than I'm sure you can make do. Just expect it to be chilly and possibly wet.

I think you need an extra day in Amsterdam and one less in Barcelona. But that all depends on what you want to see and if you want to do other daytrips.

I have quite enjoyed Beaune and Dijon and both of their primary museums should be open on Nov. 1. I'm also the type of person who would visit the Gastronomy festival, if I were there at the right time. But you have to trade away something else on the list to add this stop. Of course, it would all be easier with an open-jaw flight plan, as others have indicated.

If you miss the Gastronomy festival, you should have plenty of other local market options that you'll probably enjoy just as well, and that make better photo ops, including rotating neighborhood markets in Paris, the market around Cours Saleya in Nice, and covered markets in Antibes and Barcelona. Of course, without a kitchen, you can't buy/eat/carry everything you see.

Only a fairly small part of the Beaux-Arts Museum in Dijon is cjrently open, and that will remain the case for quite some time because they're doing construction work. There's still a lot to see, but I hope you like medieval art.

The Beaune museum is also partly inaccessible. It's the pre-20th-century decorative arts galleries that are closed. I'm not sure how long that situation is expected to continue.

Hi all! Thanks for your help again! We have already bought our air tickets (in and out Barcelona) and thus we have to make do with more time wasted flying to Paris and working our way down.

Douglas raised a good point about the weather in French Riviera. I researched and it seems that it should still be warm to swim. But Douglas mentioned that it may be wet. Does anyone know how the weather will be like end of Oct and beginning of Nov?

We kind of decided to visit French Riviera as it will be a good change from Paris city. The idea of visiting coastal towns by the Mediterranean Sea feels lovely. But of course, we are giving up Burgundy / wine region, Loire valley and Normandy.

Or do you experienced folks have any better suggestions where to visit in France based on our return flights through Barcelona? Thanks!

We have been to the French Riviera in Summer, Spring and early Fall. Haven't been there in November.

The water will likely be chilly.

Last time we were there off a cruise, it was May and a few people were on the beach, but not overrun.

I do remember that Cannes' beaches were a bit disappointing. The beaches in the rivera are no where as nice as Greece or the Caribbean. Of course, the ambience of what is on land does make up for that.

Another thing that I remember was how much trash that washed up to the beach. We lived in Germany for four years and remember going to N. Italy to Rimini for the beaches and they were a bit nasty smelling. We did enjoy touring the countryside.

In my opinion, if you want to really enjoy beaches, go to the Baleric Islands or Greece.

Perhaps cling to the Med while you still have October temps of 20+C, then fly north to Amsterdam and Paris once November hits. I would be tempted by something like this ...

Oct
20..Arrive Barcelona (4N)
24..Train to Provence (4N)
28..Train to Nice (4N)
Nov
01..Fly to Amsterdam (3N)
04..Train to Paris (4N)
08..Fly to Barcelona (1N)
09..Depart Barcelona

It's unlikely that you'l want to swim in late October/early November. Even if the weather is decent, decent for that time of year is high 60s, MAYBE low 70s. It could just as well be rainy.

I tend to take my southern holidays in late September/Early October and that's really the last time of the year for enjoying beach type pursuits. You might be OK in Greece or Mallorca, but even then, it's a risk.

Hi everyone! We finally cleared up our itinerary. The focus will be seeing the highlights of Amsterdam and Brussels. And do more in-depth tour of Paris and Barcelona. I will leave southern France for another trip with better seasonal weather.

I would like to spend some time in the French countryside. But Dijon/Beaune is too out of the way. Any suggestion maybe where I can stop briefly between Paris and MSM to enjoy the countryside or vineyards? And any comments for my new itinerary? Thanks!

Day 1 - 20 Oct Fri: Barcelona airport fly to Amsterdam
Day 2 - 21 Oct Sat: Amsterdam 1
Day 3 - 22 Oct Sun: Amsterdam 2
Day 4 -23 Oct Mon: Amsterdam – Brussels (Thalys train)
Day 5 - 24 Oct Tue: Brussels 1 (City tour and Tin Tin museum)
Day 6 - 25 Oct Wed: Brussels to Paris (Thayls train)
Day 7 - 26 Oct Thurs: Paris (Disneyland)
Day 8 - 27 Oct Fri: Paris 1
Day 9 - 28 Oct Sat: Paris 2
Day 10 - 29 Oct Sun: Paris 3
Day 11 – 30 Oct Mon: Paris to MSM (overnight near MSM)

Day 12 - 31 Oct Tue: MSM to Paris

Day 13 – 1 Nov Wed (All Saints Day): Paris (Versailles)
Day 14 – 2 Nov Thur: Paris fly to Barcelona
Day 15 – 3 Nov Fri: Barcelona 1
Day 16 – 4 Nov Sat: Girona (Sant Narcis Girona Festival)
Day 17 – 5 Nov Sun: Girona
Day 18 – 6 Nov Mon: Barcelona 2
Day 19 – 7 Nov Tue: Barcelona 3
Day 20 – 8 Nov Wed: Barcelona 4
Day 21 – 9 Nov Thurs: Morning flight out of Barcelona

I would head on to Mont St Michel on the same day from Brussels.
I would also get the train to Girona rather than transferring after a flight to Barcelona.

October
Fri 20 Arrive Barcelona. Fly to Amsterdam (3 nts) 

Sat 21 Amsterdam

Sun 22 Amsterdam

Mon 23 Thayls train from Amsterdam to Brussels (3 nts)

Tue 24 Brussels (City tour and Tin Tin museum) 

Wed 25 Day trip to Bruges

Thu 26 Thayls train from Brussels to Paris then train to MSM (1 nt)

Fri 27 MSM to Paris (7 nts) 

Sat 28 Paris

Sun 29 Paris

Mon 30 Paris

Tue 31 Paris (Versailles) 

November 

Wed 01 (All Saints Day) Paris
Thu 02 Paris (Disneyland)

Fri 03 Train from Paris to Girona (2 nts)

Sat 04 Girona (Sant Narcis Girona Festival)

Sun 05 Evening train from Girona to Barcelona (4 nts) 

Mon 06 Barcelona

Tue 07 Barcelona

Wed 08 Barcelona

Thu 09 Morning flight out of Barcelona