Can anyone suggest some excursions from paris by train that arent the typical versaiiles, chartres, giverny? Im interested in quaint villages or towns that would be "alive" en decembre. Rick doesnt talk about these places in his books. This would be for day trips. Thank you
Posted by
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
8293 posts
Dijon, Rouen, Reims
Posted by
Fontainebleau, France
893 posts
Not a town, but Vaux le Vicomte chateau decorates for Christmas (not open every day- so you'll have to check their schedule) and is quite neat to visit that time of year. You could also go to Fontainebleau, but the chateau there does not decorate for Christmas. The streets are decorated (shops have decorations, lights are strung about town). Time it right and you can attend one of the Christmas parades. One of which ends with fireworks over in the gardens by the chateau. Best to visit on a Saturday evening as this will be the most lively.
Posted by
Aurora, Il, USA
198 posts
Strasbourg has the oldest Christmas market in France. It's a 2+ hour train ride, but doable in a day.
Posted by
Gig Harbor, Washington, USA
1862 posts
You might want to buy a book called An Hour from Paris by Annabel Simms. She describes 20 possible day trips and includes the information on which train to take from which station....(If you decide you want to buy it, it looks like you would get it a lot faster from amazon.co.uk than amazon.com )
Posted by
upland, ca, usa
10 posts
thank you everyone for your reply.
Posted by
Aurora, Il, USA
198 posts
http://www.annabelsimms.com/20-daytrips FYI, here's the Annabel Simms website
Posted by
Charlotte, NC, USA
386 posts
Auvers-sur-Oise, where van Gogh died about 1 hour from Paris.
Posted by
San Francisco/Marin County
9436 posts
Pam, thanks for the Annabel Simms website with list. She recommends some places in Saint Germain-en-Laye... not mentioned, for anyone that's interested, is the home and estate of Alexandre Dumas. It's really lovely. Another day trip I enjoy is Malmaison, one of the homes of Josephine and Napoleon.
Posted by
Auburn, Washington, USA
515 posts
Roeun, Honfleur, Giverny, Normandy, Reims, Strasbourg
Posted by
Fontainebleau, France
893 posts
Monet's gardens in Giverny are closed in December, and the town hardly has enough to make it worthy of a trip otherwise. Normandy isn't a good one for December either - a lot of tour guides don't even operate in December. Many of the champagne houses in the champagne region will be closed in December as well. While I don't consider Alsace to be a day trip from Paris, there are Christmas markets and other things to see/do in December in that part of France.
Posted by
Tel Aviv
15781 posts
If you decide to head for Strasbourg to see the Xmas markets, make it an overnight and spend one day in Strasbourg and one in Colmar. Strasbourg was wonderful and Colmar was even better. If you need convincing, look at these sites: http://noel.tourisme-alsace.com/en/strasbourg-oldest-christmas-market-france http://www.noel-colmar.com/en/colmar-the-magic-of-christmas/five-christmas-markets