Basel or Cologne as a day trip from Paris

Nancy, I've been on some long day trips, but I limit the train time to 2 hours or so. I think this trip is too long, and I love Cologne. Have you considered Strasbourg or Lille (France, not Belgium), or Brussels or Bruges (harder to get to), not to mention Champagne country? I applaud your energetic tourism, but I want you to make the most of your time. If money is no object, how about Eurostar to London or other Southern England? Since you'll have no luggage to slow you or pay for, how about a budget airline for the day to anywhere you like?

Thanks Tim. Agree that if money was not object, I might do the Eurostar to London, however I've been to London and it's a little pricey to go just for a few hours. Both Basel and Cologne would be 1/2 the cost of London. I will be driving around France for the month of July before I land in Paris for August and will see Strasbourg and Colmar at that time. Wine/champagne regions are not real high on my list. I have thought of Brussels/Bruges, so that's one option. Also, I don't mind the longer train ride, unless it's a horrible ride. I'm kind of a train lover.

Thanks for the useful response. I haven't seen all of Basel, but I was disappointed with the Fondation Beyeler museum (my reason for a brief stop there) - they show too little of their important collection at one time. But the museums in Cologne can't all be done in a day - you have to plan. (OTOH, the Lille Palais de Beaux Arts has a great collection, mostly on display.) Cologne is perfect for your plan because (besides deserving of a bucket list) the Cathedral is right beside the Hauptbahnhof and the best museums are easily walkable. Consider the Museums card (bought in a museum) over the Welcome card (bought in the TI.) The Cathedral has the longest hours. Their treasury is worth the price (main cathedral floor is free.) This is a great city to visit. I've been there twice in two years. I can't choose museums for you, but among my favorites were Applied Arts, Wallraf-Richartz, Kolumba, Roman-Germanic. Schnütgen and Kathe Kolwitz (umlauts omitted) are superb but a transit ride away.) The old market square isn't that good, but an old town ramble is charming. If your train stops in Liege, be sure to gape at the great new station by Calatrava before the doors snap shut.

I would suggest Beaune (or Dijon), Lyon, Arles or Nimes (or Avignon), Colmar (or Strasbourg), or Rouen. Some of these are farther than I would go for a day trip, but all are closer than 3-1/2 hours.

Adam, thanks for your suggestions. I hadn't thought of Beaune (although RS talks about it quite a bit) so that's an idea. Also, I had Dijon on my original list of possibilities but wasn't sure if it was worth the trip for only about 6 hrs but I'll check into it again. I'll be in Provence for a week on my road trip so will definitely see Avignon (staying there 1 night) and Arles and Nimes.

Of the ones already mentioned, I'll second the idea of Lyon (I really liked this city), Nimes, and Bruges. I'd also agree that Cologne, while not my favorite, is a perfect place to see as a day trip, because most of the places of interest are close to each other as well as to the train station (I did like the Roman museum). I also loved Nancy and would highly recommend a day there, and for a further trip in France, consider Marseilles (still within your limit). I haven't been to Metz (near Nancy), but it also sounds very interesting. Most other people love Strasbourg, but I wasn't as impressed. However, if you go, be sure to see the Museum of Alsatian Life - wonderful, and the definite highlight of Strasbourg for me. Logistically, Nancy and Strasbourg make a great overnight double header: see Strasbourg on day 1, spend the night, see Nancy on day 2 and then head back from Nancy to Paris late on day 2. I'm not sure if the fastest trains from Paris to Amsterdam are within your time limit; if they're not, consider Rotterdam. It has fascinating architecture (get the free architecture walking tour brochure from the tourist office, and don't miss the Cube Houses) and is quite a contrast to most other European cities. Come to think of it, Antwerp is closer to Paris than Rotterdam, and was also wonderful; it would make a very nice day (of the places I've seen in Belgium, it's the one I want to return to first). I didn't care for Brussels, except (as I've said on several other threads) for the Art Nouveau tour by ARAU http://www.arau.org/en/tours. But, if you have specific things you want to see there, it's certainly an easy daytrip from Paris. You probably know this, but for trips within France, you want to book way in advance to get PREMS fares from www.tgv-europe.com

Hi, "...a little further afield." Strasbourg. A day trip r/t from Paris-Strasbourg is very doable, ca. 2hrs 20mins. Take the early TGV from Paris Est. I did that in 2009 since I had not seen the city in ten years....Strasbourg, a lovely and fascinating city, is well worth a visit, its famous cathedral, (das Straßburger Münster), etc.

Just FYI with the new TGV Est routes you could even day-trip to Heidelberg (TGV stop Mannheim, then 15 minutes S-Bahn ride) or Baden-Baden (TGV stop Karlsruhe, then 30 mins regional train ride). While Basel is quite a nice city there isn't really that much to see IMO. Cologne, on the other side, is a metropolis with more than 1 million inhabitants. It's got a Bohemian life style, great beer halls and people are totally relaxed. So it's quite contrary to Paris - and yet they have similarities as well. I think you'd have a great time experiencing the differences in attitudes etc. Just make sure besides visiting the Cathedral and probably museum you actually take time for contacts with locals, as I said, e.g. in a beer hall (where they serve great food and all sorts of non-alcoholic beverages as well, of course).

I've spent a great deal of time in Antwerp, so I second that idea. It has only one or two direct trains (Paris-Amsterdam as I remember) that are expensive and heavily booked. It's a wonderful city. You have to accept the trendy and flawed MAS Musuem in place of the closed-for-renovation KMSKA art museum. But there are several other very fine museums in Antwerp. On the other hand, no one will ask you if you went to Antwerp. They'll ask if you went to Bruges, which is jammed all summer.

@Harold, thanks for the suggestions of Rotterdam and Antwerp. Both good ideas that I hadn't thought of, will research them both. @Andreas, I've been to Heidelberg (liked it a lot) but not to Baden-Baden so that's another idea. Also, I hadn't thought of the beer gardens in regards to Cologne but just one more reason to go there. So many places, will be hard to narrow it down to two. Thanks for all responses, keep ideas coming as I'm open to anything.