Hi,
I'm looking for some suggestions for a day trip or overnight while we're in Paris. Of course London is in consideration, but we've already been there. Was thinking of maybe Amsterdam, Strasbourg, Luxembourg or Bruges. Any info on the feasibility of doing just a doy or an overnight would be great, as well as any other ideas you might have.
We'll be in Paris April 16-21
Personally I wouldn't visit any of these destinations as day trips, but they may work for you. Overnight gives you much more time there and makes the hours on the train worthwhile.
Paris is a rail hub and you can get to many great destinations (Lyon! Provence! Reims! Loire! Burgundy! Normandy!) in about the time it would take to go to Amsterdam. Some of these are quick enough to make great day trips even by my lights.
Try Colmar as an overnight.
You know Jarrod I saw Colmar on t.v. last night, my goodness it is gorgeous and definately worth visiting, on my list it goes, but I wonder if its a bit far for a daytrip ?
I would consider Amsterdamm, it is so different then Paris so that is good for contrast, and good train connections make it a good daytrip( ok long day) or an overnighter.
Pat, in Rick's last email update he said that there is a new bullet train that goes from Paris to Strasbourg. Then you can hop the regional train to Colmar.
I agree that it's a long ways away for a day trip. TLO was looking for overnight trips, so I suggested it as a place to spend one night.
Bruges really require more than a single night. I know Thalys doesn't connect directly to Bruges, so the trip itself probably takes most of the day.
For an overnighter, Bruges would give you a two-fer. Leave relatively early in the morning and you can be in Brussels in 85 minutes on the Thalys. Spend the mid-day touring Brussels (around the Grand Place area), have a nice lunch there, then head to Bruges (2 trains per hour, journey time 1 hour). Arrive there to check in, enjoy Bruges at night, and through the next day. Leave Bruges as late as 8:58 pm to get into Paris at 11:35 pm. Check Thalys.com for cheap advance-purchase tickets Paris-Brussels, then just buy tickets locally for the Bruges leg of your journey.
I would recommend a shorter day trip. My favorite is Amboise in the Loire valley. It is a quaint town with a very interesting chateaux on the cliff and the place where Leonardo da Vinci spent his final years. There are very nice B&Bs there too. Ursule
http://www.viamichelin.com/viamichelin/int/tpl/hme/MaHomePage.htm
This may help... P
