Just on the heels of a 3 week whirlwind tour of Italy in September/October 2012 (will post trip review with pics shortly), I am planning a 10-12 day trip to Paris, London and surrounding environs for early autumn 2013. The aspect we loved most about our trip to Italy is we really varied large cosmopolitan cities with small regional villages. It was the perfect mixbut I am having difficulty with this abbreviated itinerary. I would love to see Rouen, Blois, Brussels, Bruges and Bath but realize one must allot enough time to see Paris and London properly. I am open to any and all suggestions.
Posted by
Tel Aviv
15784 posts
You can visit Bath as a day trip from London. There are other day trips from London - Cambridge and Oxford are both close. From Paris, you can take day trips to Rheims (champagne tour and cathedral) and Chartres. With only 10-12 days, I'd advise you to split the time between the two cities. You will lose the better part of a day just going from one to the other.
Posted by
Sacramento, California U.S.A.
10601 posts
I agree with Chani. Split your time evenly, flying into one and out of the other to avoid backtracking. Does your 10-12 days include travel time, or is that just time in Europe? I think you could do a day trip to Rouen from Paris, or even spend a night there if you have 12 days and you feel you must. Remember that two nights in a location is only one full day, and every time you change locations it will take a minimum of a half a day to check out, get to the train station, take the train, then get to your next lodging. That's why day trips can be more time efficient. As Chani mentioned, there are day trip possibilities from London too. I don't think you have time for Belgium AND taking day trips from Paris and London.
Posted by
Boston
4132 posts
Rouen makes a very nice day trip from Paris. If you had even another day or two you might make a quick visit to Burgundy, Normandy, or the Loire, but given your time frame I would just look at a few day trips by train.