Hello! My boyfriend and I are going to Europe for a month after graduating college, and are trying to set an itinerary. We will have eurail passes. Basically, what it boils down to is we will be entering France from Switzerland (after a few days of hopefully excellent hiking in Gimmelwald) and have 6 days before we need to be in Paris when our eurail passes will expire. This will be in the third week (leave Gimmelwald the 17th, have until the 23rd to get to Paris). We would both like to spend a day relaxing at the ocean somewhere, as we both are huge ocean/beach lovers. Then I would like to see stuff like lavendar fields and vinyards and such (I blame my mom for all her French decorating books she had when I was younger, when I fell in love with the photos of beautiful fields of purple...).
Can anyone suggest places we can get to by train OR even feel free to suggest a full itinerary! We could really use some help, as neither of us is sure where to go for these few days we have in France before we reach Paris. Thank you!
PS: Does anyone know if it would be worth it to do a day trip to Brussels and cut out a day of seeing the rest of France? Thanks! I appreciate all of your help and input!
Posted by
Corsicana, Texas, USA
354 posts
You can do a lot of your own research by exploring this very website. Click on the "Plan Your Trip" tab, then click on "Best Destinations-France". Rick Steves has written and posted 59 articles on France, and these should help you get you started. For more info, click on his "Favorite Links". You will quickly discover that France is a very big country, so you might need to narrow your focus.
Posted by
Portlandia
3313 posts
Beth - you don't say what month, so I'm assuming June. Which is early in the lavender bloom.
So you want beach, lavender and vineyards and you need to get back to Paris in 6 days coming from Switzerland. By train, correct?
So I suggest going to Provence and basing in Avignon. I would rent a car there to get out into the countryside. Buses are limited and tours are expensive. Reserve in advance through Autoeurope. In just double checking to verify that my memory is accurate (hint, hint, Carl..), I found this map of lavender fields in Provence.
You can enjoy many vineyards of the Cotes du Rhone near Avignon, especially the village of Chateauneuf du Papes.
From Provence, you can get to Nice and spots along the French Riviera for beaches. Though the nearby beaches are stony, I wouldn't stray too far because you'll have limited time to get back to Paris by train.
Posted by
Minneapolis, MN, USA
8700 posts
First of all, use the detailed timetables at www.bahn.de to plan your routes by train. After you get summary timetables for a departure point and arrival point, click on the arrow to the left of each departure time to see the connecting points.
You can get from Gimmelwald to Avignon via Geneva in as little as 7.5 hours and from Gimmelwald to Nice via Milan in as little as 9.5 hours. If you make Nice your last stop, you could take either daytime TGVs or a direct night train from Nice to Paris. If you make Avignon or somewhere close by your last stop, you can get from there to Paris fairly quickly on a TGV. If I were you, I'd visit Brussels another time.
While the beach at Nice is pebbly, the beach at Antibes is sandy. Nice makes a great base and it's a very short train ride to Antibes which is fun to visit for its own sake.
Posted by
vancouver, bc, canada
421 posts
while Nice is a pebbly beach the city is amazing. I feel in love with Nice and everyone told me do a night or two max...we did three and I would have loved to have done more.
the entire coast is beautiful. Provence is amazing. Fell in love with Arles!!!!
It is a nice train ride though from Nice to France.
so you have 6 days?
I say start in Nice...do a few nights...Antibes for a night for the beach...then head to Arles for a night then to Avignon. From Avignon take the fast train to Paris.
Posted by
Boston
4132 posts
These are great ideas--but note well!
The lavender does not bloom until late June in the south, and may be delayed by seasonal variations. You'll probably want to rent a car to see it.
The Cote d'Azure has many attractions, but its beaches are pebbly rather than sandy.
I am not trying to be a party pooper and think you can have a great time in six days, more likely if you calibrate your expectations accordingly.
Posted by
Trenton, Ontario, Canada
204 posts
Wine- Avignon is a good base- We hired a guide (Dave) who took us 2 wineries in the Chateau neuf du Pape region, a restaurant in old Roman ruins for $125E for 2 for the day. He was affilitated with Hotel de Blauvac in Avignon, trying to get a guide business going. We had a blast- he and his girlfrined Joelle were pleasant and took us over countryside we would not normally see. He even met us at the train. Also we were having trouble with our e-mail and he even took the initiative to call us here in Canada to talk about our reservation for the hotel and the tour.Here is his website hopefully he is still doing tours. He is originally from Texas. - imaginetours@gmail.com Enjoy your trip.
Posted by
Vidalia
113 posts
We saw lovely fields of lavender in bloom from the train Paris-Isle Sur la Sorgue, but I think that was in July. You can do a quick Paris-Brussels trip on the TGV, tho I'd stay in France myself.
Posted by
Honolulu/Seattle, HI/WA, USA
2788 posts
Cut out Brussels and add in Bruges.
Buy RS tour books for Paris and France.
I just returned yesterday (5/30) from almost a month in France including a week in Paris and his two books were MOST helpful.