day trip from paris

There is enough in Paris to fill 4 full days. But if you are like me, you'll want to see at least one smaller town. The smaller towns of France are the most charming in my opinion. While in college I spent a summer term in Tours at the Institut de Touraine a Tours. We took day trips to Paris. So I know it is possible for you to take a day trip to Tours/Loire Valley. It is a beautiful area of small towns and chateaux.
Go see why the Royalty of France chose to put their "summer homes" along the Loire River!

Siena is situated between Rome and Florence. It would be backtracking to stop in Florence on your way from Rome to Siena. Better to do a daytrip to Rome from Siena. Take the bus to go from city center to city center.

There are a ton of things to do within an easy train ride from Paris. Here's a link to some of them: http://www.annabelsimms.com/20-daytrips Also, a trip to Reims in the champagne region is also very doable. You can not only see a champagne house, but also see the war room where the treaty ending WWII in Europe was signed. However, you're only going to be in Paris for 4 days, and this is your first trip. Believe me, there is more than enough to see and do in Paris to spend 4 wonderful days there, especially on your first trip. And if you love wine, sit in a cafe and have some and watch the people go by! Have a great time.

Well Versailles is wonderful.. and I love visiting it, but I would hesitate to suggest a daytrip out unless you are really interested, there really is so much to see in Paris. Versailles to me is a full day, but I have always been in summer months , in October it might be rainy or cool, in which case you likely will not wish ot spend a few hours in gardens and estate.. so in which case if you arrive early you could do Palace in morning and be back in Paris just after 1 or so,giving yourself another 1/2 day in Paris. This you can all play by ear weather wise.

No no no. Stay in Paris. You only have 4 days!! Stay in Paris.

Reims is wonderful. Versailles is wonderful. But if this is your first trip to Paris and you only have 4 days - stay in Paris. To do a day trip right, it takes all day. And that's one less day in the most glorious city on earth! (IMHO.) Seriously - don't bother. Stay in Paris. :-)

I agree with the others that 4 days isn't much time in Paris and you should have no trouble finding things to do. If you must leave Paris you could also consider Giverny if you like Monet and gardens. They are still beautiful in October. Another suggestion doesn't involve leaving town. There's a program called Paris Greeters. It is free, though you can donate to the program. Online you fill out a questionnaire to state your interests. They then try to match you up with a volunteer that will take you on a tour that you pre-approve. A couple of years ago a friend and I were taken on a tour of the Marais by a man who grew up there. Although I had been to the area a couple of times before that I learned so much. He spent about 4 hours with us. They are not allowed to take tips, so we took him out for a drink as a thank you. I highly recommend this program.

Four days is not a lot for Paris but I can understand wanting to explore beyond. If you like art I always like to recommend going to visit Giverny to see Monet's home and gardens (take the train to Vernon then taxi or bus to the home, if I had to do again, we'd take the taxi). Take the early train out, it is so beautiful and you can also grab a wonderful lunch at Hotel Baudy's Restaurant (with wine!). Head back to Paris after lunch and visit Musée de l'Orangerie, its a day with Monet. Wonderful for art lovers. If you are more into castles, I'd rec either Versailles or Chantilly. Both are wonderful and short train rides away. Chantilly is less crowded and we found the town more charming(again take a cab from the train station, for Versailles you can walk from the station and just follow the crowds, everyone is headed to the same place. For wine, there are quite a few nice wine bars that have popped up over the last few years and you could always do a wine tasting cruise or visit to the Musee du Vin, which I have not personally visited but it has pretty good reviews on several travel sites. For a lunch with a view go to the very top floor of the main store of Pretemps one of the best views Paris has to offer and not a huge price tag, Casual lunch sandwiches, pizzas, salads. (yes and wine). What a great girls trip, you'll have fun no matter what you do!!!

Thanks all I appreciate your advice! We will be in Italy for 5 days before that. I asked on the Italy board but I haven't heard back so maybe you all will know. We will be going from Rome to Siena. I thought about going from Rome to Florence to do a tour there and then heading to Siena. Do you know if you can store your luggage at the train station?

October is my favorite month to visit Paris. I agree with everyone else; for four days, stay in Paris! If you like wine tasting, the Montmartre wine festival this year runs from Oct 9-13 located in the neighborhood around Sacre Coeur in the 18th arr. On Oct 5, there is the annual Nuit Blanche ("White NIght"), an all night arts festival that has to be seen to be believed. Both these events have web sites you can pull up for more info. Versailles is easily a half-day or more day trip from Paris and is a quick ride on the RER from a couple of stations in Paris. It's not just the chateau but the grounds around it that need to be explored and should not be missed if you have never been there. So much to do; so little time!

I forgot, if you do Versailles, you can rent a golf cart to drive around the grounds. Half of the fun we had was the French speaking golf cart that would every now and then shut down because it thought we were off the path and we were not and it would fuss at us in French.

You can take a HALF DAY out of the city if you want to see a pretty small chateau. Chateau Malmaison can be reached by public transportation from Paris by metro and then bus. It was the home of Empress Josephine. Hardly ever a crowd there and you can be back in Paris after lunch. Google Chateau Malmaison for directions.

If you really want to see Versailles, then by all means schedule a day to see Versailles. My first trip to Paris was 4 days and I went to Versailles for one of them. It was something I wanted to do and so I made it a priority. Getting to/from the chateau isn't hard, and if you won't want it to take up an entire day, you don't have to let it. You could be back in Paris for an evening stroll, or cruise along the Seine or dinner and some wine tasting.

The Florence train station has a left luggage facility. If your plan is to travel from Rome to Siena and stop in Florence for the day, that is easy to do. It's a 5-15 minute walk from the Florence train station (be sure to go to the Santa Maria Novella station) to almost all the main sights. Then you can take either the train or the bus on to Siena. The bus stop is across the street from the train station.