First time traveler to Paris and the South of France

Might buy Rick's book and peruse. It's your trip. You must have things you are interesting in seeing.

I totally agree with Claudia. If you don't want to buy the book, at least go to your local library and check out the latest Rick Steves France book and do some reading - perhaps make copies of some of his suggested itineraries - but the book is INDISPENSIBLE! Then you can decide which areas you are interested in. I would recommend at least 5 or 6 days in Paris then go south. Versailles and/or Chartres are nice easy day trips from Paris (by train). Note: Getting from Paris to Southern France by Train is very easy and fast. We took the TGV train from Paris to Toulouse in just a few hours - then you can rent a car and go anywhere from there in just a few hours drive. I highly recommend Carcassone, Albi, Arles, Avignon, Pont du Gard and Marseilles. Also many other little towns and villages in the area (like Rodez & Puycelsi). Have fun! BonVoyage!

Paris, Loire Valley, Eze, Monaco, Nice. Book your flight Multi City instead of Round Trip. Fly into Paris, Fly back from Nice. Day1: in flight Day2: find a flight that gets in early, do Eiffel Tower, Sacré-Cœur, free or stuff that is not covered by the Museum pass. Day3: Activate Museum pass, and tour Paris. Day4: Versailles, and be back around 4-5pm, tour some more in paris. Day5: Paris Day6: Rent a Car in Rouen, tour Rouen in the morning, drive to Loire Valley, Onzain perhaps, and catch one castle (Chaumont ) late afternoon. Day7: Chambord, Cheverny, Blois. Day8: Chenonceau, Villandry, Amboise. Day9: Drop car off at Blois or something, train to Nice. enjoy Nice late afternoon and night. Day10: Monaco and Eze or any beach town along the way Day11: Nice
Day12: fly home. I just made an Itinerary for you, enjoy your vacation.

another: Day1: inflight Day2: paris stuff not in pass or free. Day3: paris Day4: paris Day5: paris Day6: avignon + arles Day7: arles + marseilles Day8: marseilles Day9: nice Day10: monaco + eze or beach town Day11: nice
Day12: fly home

Frank thats nice of you to lay out an itinerary and they both sound ok to me, but note that museum pass is now only available in 2, 4 or 6 days( I think you were suggesting a three day one) and that Stephan would be wise to schedule his time in Paris so that they don't fall on a monday or tuesday as most museums ( and Versailles) close one or the other and so on a monday the musuems that are open may be more crowded by people who can't go to the ones that are closed and vice versus. This wouldn't be a big deal for a week stay , but if one only has 3-4 days makes sense to leave as many options open as possible. Stephen if you wanted a more leisurely itinerary I would fly into Paris, do 4-5 days there( includes a daytrip to Versailles) then train to Tours or Amboise, rent a car, tour Loire Valley 2 nights , then return car and continue on train to Nice and daytrips to Eze, Monaco , Antibes etc. .. trains to those places are cheap( like less then 3-4 euros and only 30-60 minutes) . Fly home from Nice. Or skip Loire Valley, take train from Paris to Nimes, tour Provence for 4-5 days , then Nice for last few days.

Having seen this post, its responses, and your post on beach towns, it is time to chime in. I would split between three areas, none of which is the Loire Valley. Spend about 4-5 days in Paris, perhaps including a side trip to either Versailles or Chartres (my preference, Chartres). Then train to Avignon and spend 3-4 days with a rented car touring Provence including the Cotes du Rhone and Luberon Hills areas. Then train to Nice. While trains/buses are great on the coast, I would recommend renting a car for at least one day and driving the coast Nice to Cassis to see Cannes, St. Tropez, and Cassis. Return to Nice on N97/A8. Return to Paris, TGV, no changes, downtown Nice to Paris Lyon station in 5:40.

You might want to go elsewhere on this web site to: "Tours" > "France, Holland, & Belgium" > "Paris and the South of France" to see where all that tour goes. I took that tour and really enjoyed every part of it. Happy travels.