We'll be visiting France in June 2014,we're a married couple in our 50's. Have already visited Paris several times, but want to see Versailles, Chartres and Giverny. Can anyone recommend a home base which would be convenient for train or bus travel? It looks like staying in Paris and day-tripping is the only really workable way to do it, but are looking for alternatives if any. After the third day-trip we'd like to stay on in the countryside for a few days rather than spending more time in Paris. Any suggested itineraries would be greatly appreciated, including accommodation recommendations. Merci!
Posted by
Sacramento, CA, USA
41 posts
We stayed in Paris in March 2013 and visited both Versailles and Chartres. A note about Chratres - a large portion of the labryinth is covered with chairs most days, and was the day we visited. However, I read recently that they remove the chairs on Fridays. If you can confirm this information, I would highly recommend that you try to go when you can view the full labryinth. We also did the self-guided walking tours of both the Catherdral and the town that is in RS's 2013 guidebook, both were excellent. We absolutely loved Chartres. Enjoy!
Posted by
Tel Aviv
15781 posts
After Paris, with day trips, I'd head to Strasbourg for a few days. It's only about 2.5 hours by fast train. I was in Strasbourg and Colmar briefly and loved them both. Friends of mine just came back from a week-long visit (with rental car) and raved about it too. You can easily visit Colmar by train, and some of the other towns are accessible by bus or rail, if you don't want to rent a car. They also went to the Black Forest (just across the river) and Freiburg (??).
Posted by
Gig Harbor, Washington, USA
1862 posts
We stayed at la chaine d'or in Les Andelys a few years ago. The hotel is right on a wide bend of the Seine and conveniently located for visiting Giverny. Chartres, Rouen, and Honfleur were easy day trips from that location. Les Andelys itself has an excellent ruined castle that belonged to Richard the Lion-Hearted. If you use the hotel, be sure to get a room with a view of the Seine. We used a rental car - driving in that part of France wasn't any different than driving in the USA. http://www.hotel-lachainedor.com/hotel_en.php