france itinerary

Very good plan! NYE is on Saturday, so you would need to change the Versailles visit to another day since it's closed on Mondays.

I think that looks very nice and well thought out.

A bit too much IMO; you'll spend a lot of time travelling, packing and unpacking. If day 8 is a Friday I would choose Dijon over Beaune to be able to enjoy the food market in the morning (until 1pm) and all the museums. Bon voyage!

I think it's way too much in too few days. On Day 8 you're going from Strasbourg to Beaune, then Day 9 from Beaune to Chamonix, then Day 10 from Chamonix to Venice? If you're going to the trouble and expense of getting to these places you need more time in each. Both Beaune and Chamonix need at least 3 nights to do them justice. I'd re-think this if I were you and eliminate either Beaune or Chamonix. I wouldn't take time away from Paris, my favorite place.

Your first five days look great. After that, too much. These are all great destinations, but with big logistical costs. So lets start from Venice and work backwards. Perhaps you've got a plan to fly from near Chamonix, but the best train times run 8-9 hours. Alsace is similar. Burgundy is worse, except that there is a good night train option, Dijon-Vincenza. You might also consider the Berner Oberland; the train from Interlaken to Venice is about an hour shorter. If you prefer Chamonix, skip Burgundy. If you like the night rain from Burgundy, skip Chamonix. If the BO is an acceptable substitute fro Chamonix, you could consider Champaign > Alsace > BO > Venice. Any of these is a great trip.

Just a note about the time of year you are going. You need to make reservations as soon as possible. The New Year holiday is a vacation for all of Europe and hotels book out really, really far in advance (like years). I also think you've got too much on the schedule, no days for travel. I suggest just spending a week in Paris and the rest of the time in Venice. You won't run out of things to see and do. You're from Montana, you've seen mountains, save that area for another time.

As already mentioned, you seem to have too much for after Paris. Also consider how snow can cause delays in getting from point A to B. I'd make a final choice between Baune and Chamonix. Nailing the hotels will also be crucial. If you boo the flights now, you may also avoid the inevitable fuel surcharges that are coming...

Day 6 looks impossible to me. Sunset will be around five or so. You won't have time to do anything at the stops except look at a wine bottle and stick your head inside of a cathedral.

The France itinerary is the 2nd of 3 countries we will be doing. So I'm not worried about the amount of time we have for Venice. Thanks for the heads up on the bookings. We have several hotels in mind, guess we need to made a decision. I think we will end up skipping Beaune and making day 8 Chamonix as well. One question about the fuel surcharges... we were hoping to wait ~6 weeks or so to book our tickets as we will be accumulating a significant amt of skymiles in April. Do you think airline prices are gonna go up before then?

Will it snow tomorrow? I don't now... but it's winter, the sky was grey all day today, and we saw some flakes. It's quite likely that it will. Will airfares go up before April? The price of oil is going way up, unrest continues, and airlines tend to pass their increased costs along in the form of fuel surcharges.
It's quite likely that they will.