Hi! My husband and I will spend 2 weeks in France in May 2012, arriving in Paris on 5/19 and leaving from Nice on 6/3 in the morning. I would love to hear your suggestions about what to do in between! PS: We have already been to Paris twice so we don't need to spend a great deal of time there, we are coming back because we love the city, so figure about 4 days in Paris or so.
Thanks in advance!
Posted by
Honolulu/Seattle, HI/WA, USA
2787 posts
Two suggestions:
1) Do you have RS France Guide Book yet? If so, great. If not you should get one as it has lots of good information that we have used in traveling thru that country. 2) RS has a "Paris & South of France" tour. You might want to check out its information, both map and daily doings, for where it goes and for suggestions of what he thinks is important. We took that tour 2 years ago and enjoyed it greatly.
Posted by
Fontainebleau, France
893 posts
I think the key will be deciding which direction you want to drive when heading down towards Nice. You can either first head east and check out Normandy and stop in the Loire before continuing to Nice. Or you could head towards Burgundy and through Provence for a much shorter drive.
Posted by
San Francisco
124 posts
We just came back where we did Paris - train to Avignon - rented a car there and toured Provence. Then train to Antibes or Nice ( we stayed in Antibes). Again rent a car and explore the French Riviera. You could do 4-4-4 and 2 travel days.
Posted by
Boulder, CO, USA
719 posts
Do you have any interest in Wine Country? The Loire Valley, Bordeaux, and/or Burgundy is conveniently situated on several routes from Paris to Nice. You could piece together some great siteseeing enroute to Nice from Paris. The bike path through the burgundian vineyards near Beaune is worth it even if you're not that into wine...
Posted by
Atlanta
800 posts
We just spent 2 weeks in France - beginning in Paris and ending in Nice. We had 2 nights in Paris (even though it was a return trip I wish we had more time), 1 week in Burgundy, 4 in Provence and 1 in Nice. It was another great trip to France. I very much liked having 1 spot for the week in between Paris & Provence/Nice. I would suggest the same for you though you could pick another area that you haven't been to before if Burgundy isn't your thing. Spend 4 nights in Paris, 4 in Provence and with the remaining 7 nights split them depending on how much time you want in Nice. We really only used it as the fly from city so had 1/2 day to walk around, then dinner and out the next morning. If you choose to do that you'd have 6 other nights where you could wander the Alsace - Strasbourg and all the lovely little towns of the Route de Vin (especially Colmar). Or do 6 nights in the Dordogne - castles, prehistoric paintings, incredible scenery. Or a Gastronomic & Wine oriented tour of Burgundy - Dijon, Beaune, Lyon. Or stay close to Paris and do a few days in Normandy and a few in the Loire. Decide what type of thing you'd like to see more of (i.e. Chateaus of Loire versus the fortresses of Dordogne & Languedoc) and then make your plan!
Posted by
washington
837 posts
Having seem all the areas suggested, I would say that Maureen's suggestion would be my choice.