Help with loop Itinerary Starting and Ending in Paris

I can see a few potential problems here. For one, don't forget to factor in jet lag. You'll be pretty tired on the first day or two. Two, you haven't given yourself much time to do anything in the Loire other than arrive and check in to your hotel. At most, you may be able to tour one chateau. I would recommend an extra day or drop it. Three- stay a minimum of three nights in the Alps. What if the weather washes out the one day you had allotted for hiking? Maximize your chances of good weather by extending your stay. As for Belgium... I would recommend more re-arranging your itinerary into something more realistic before considering adding another distant destination.

I agree with Tom - you should add a night to the Loire Valley. Were you intending to spend only one night in Murten then one night in Gimmelwald? I generally try to avoid 1 nighters if at all possible. The Lauterbrunnen Valley definitely deserves more than one night. I'm going for my third visit this summer. We always stay at least 4 nights, and I never feel it's enough. If you want to add another desination - it might make more sense to put Brugge at the beginning of your trip - before Paris. You might consider someplace like Colmar or Straussburg instead (it would make more geographical sense).

Thanks for the feedback. Sorry, I did not clarify a few things in the itinerary. 1. For the loire valley, TGV seems to have trains to Tours that takes only 1hr from paris. My plan was to get a guided tour from Tours and visit 3-4 castles. Is this workable?
2. We did plan to spend three days/nights in the Berner Oberlands. I was not sure how many days to allot for BO. From your feedback, I think I would modify the itinerary to have days 8, 9, and 10 in BO. I am landing in Paris and I cannot visit Brussels before Paris. But is it better to visit Brussels and Brugges before heading to BO? Also, are there any good train connections from Brussels to Bern/Zurich? We couldnt find any on the eurorail website. Thanks

This itinerary already spends a significant fraction of its time in transit rather than sightseeing. So I think you'd have a better trip adding time to these great destinations than adding any more. The only exception, maybe, is that Alsace or Burgundy would work enroute back to Paris from Switzerland. But I would nix Belgium this trip unless you drop the Alps. Here is an example the risk you are running. You spend all day (and it is a long one) getting to Gimmelwald. That is a magnificent exceptional place. But you have one day there, and suppose it rains. Then you spend all day getting someplace else. You've wasted 3 days of your 13. So hedge your bets and add 1 or 2 days to Gimmelwald. For Belgium, the question you have to ask yourself is, is a day in Brugges going to be better than another THREE days in Paris or other place already on your itinerary? Because it's going to take a day to get there and unfortunately you must also return to Paris so that is another day.

"1. For the loire valley, TGV seems to have trains to Tours that takes only 1hr from paris. My plan was to get a guided tour from Tours and visit 3-4 castles. Is this workable?" Not in one day. Keep in mind, even though the actual train ride only takes one hour, you still have to pack up and check out of your Paris hotel, then get to the train station, then do the same thing in reverse in Tours. Add at least an hour to each end. It may be nearly noon before you get settled. And knowing how long it takes to see a chateau and move around the area, any tour that offers two or more chateaux visits would likely start early in the morning. With your plan as it stands, you'll have enough time to see perhaps one chateau.

There are train connections from Brugges to the Berner Oberland via Brussels and Basel, but it is a long trip. The route goes right through Alsace, so you could stop over for a night or two in Strasbourg or Colmar. But you also need to add a night to Switzerland, for reason mentioned above. It think there is time---day 9 Gimmelwald, 10 and 11 Alsace, 12 and 13 Brugges, or make one those a one night stop if you want to get to Paris sooner.

"1. For the loire valley, TGV seems to have trains to Tours that takes only 1hr from paris. My plan was to get a guided tour from Tours and visit 3-4 castles. Is this workable?" This is exactly what I am planning to do, but I'm doing it as a day trip from Paris, not as a 'moving on to tours for the night trip'. Train to Tours in the am, tour 3 chateaux, train back to Paris late pm. Is that what you were thinking too? It's a long day but doable that way.

Hi Nancy, Yes, that is exactly what we were planning. There is a direct train that reaches Tours in about 1:15 minutes (starts in the morning arnd 730AM). When are you going for your tour? If you are going before August, please let me know how it went :). Thanks
Poonam

Poonam,
Actually, I am going in August (not sure which day) so won't be able to let you know how it went, sorry. I checked into the day long chateaux tours and mostly they leave the Tours train station at 9:00 and return about 5:00 or 6:00 pm. It's been a while since I did my research but I think there was a train from Paris that got in at 8:45 so I think it would work o.k.. Enjoy your trip.

Thank you all for the feedback. Here is my d itinerary based on some of the inputs: Day 1(1/2)- Wed: Arrive afternoon in Paris, Eiffel tower/Seine River cruise Day 2- Thu: Paris Day 3- Fri: Paris Day 4- Sat: day trip to versailles, return to Paris Day 5- Sun: Paris Day 6- Mon: day trip to Loire Valley or Veaux de Vicomte, return to Paris Day 7- Tue:Leave for Bern early morning, tour Bern or Murten in the day, evening catch a train for Interlaken and Gimmelwald Day 8- Wed: Swiss Alps Day 9- Thu: Swiss Alps Day 10- Fri: Swiss Alps, evening 7 or 8 PM leave for Geneva(getting to Geneva just to catch th early morning train to Brussels) Day 11- Sat: catch first train from Geneva to Brussels, reaches Brussels at 1PM, stroll Brussels main square for about 2-3 hours and then catch a train for Brugges Day 12- Sun: Brugges Day 13- Mon: from Brugges back to Paris by evening/night
Day 14- Tue: Pack bags and leave for CDG airport in the morning Does this sound better or do you still think it is too hectic?

Thank you all for the feedback. Here is my d itinerary based on some of the inputs: Day 1(1/2)- Wed: Arrive afternoon in Paris, Eiffel tower/Seine River cruise Day 2- Thu: Paris Day 3- Fri: Paris Day 4- Sat: day trip to versailles, return to Paris Day 5- Sun: Paris Day 6- Mon: day trip to Loire Valley or Veaux de Vicomte, return to Paris Day 7- Tue:Leave for Bern early morning, tour Bern or Murten in the day, evening catch a train for Interlaken and Gimmelwald Day 8- Wed: Swiss Alps Day 9- Thu: Swiss Alps Day 10- Fri: Swiss Alps, evening 7 or 8 PM leave for Geneva(getting to Geneva just to catch th early morning train to Brussels) Day 11- Sat: catch first train from Geneva to Brussels, reaches Brussels at 1PM, stroll Brussels main square for about 2-3 hours and then catch a train for Brugges Day 12- Sun: Brugges Day 13- Mon: from Brugges back to Paris by evening/night
Day 14- Tue: Pack bags and leave for CDG airport in the morning Does this sound better or do you still think it is too hectic?