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Paris in July - side trip to South of France

Paris in July - side trip to South of France

Old Feb 6th, 2016, 07:37 PM
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Paris in July - side trip to South of France

I will be traveling with my 18 year old daughter to Paris in July. We have 5 nights there. My daughter is interested in traveling to either Nice or Marseille for 2 of our 5 nights. Any thoughts? Is this too much to pack in to 6 days? Nice or Marseille? Always concerned about safety as its two females traveling alone. Or any other suggestions of cities outside of Paris to visit. Neither of us have ever been to France. Thanks for any comments
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Old Feb 6th, 2016, 08:29 PM
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Have you been to Paris before -- doesn't sound like it.

Five nights equals 4 usable days - not 6. So IMO no, you do not have time to go to the south of France.
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Old Feb 7th, 2016, 02:40 AM
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You barely have enough time to visit Paris. I would forget the south of France. There are few safety issues except petty crime like pickpockets.
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Old Feb 7th, 2016, 04:11 AM
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Agree that you don't really have time to go beyond Paris - IMHO your 4.5 days there (the first afternoon jet lagged) will barely begin to scratch the surface.

IMHO if there is any way you can lengthen the vacation to spread the flight cost - the single major one - over more days.

Ifyou can get up to 8 nights and fly into Paris and out of Nice then spending 2 days (3 nights) based in Nice makes sense.
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Old Feb 7th, 2016, 05:23 AM
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It's not too much time if that's what she wants to do, it's just your choice as to how you want to spend your vacation, there aren't any rules about this. Having said that, I would choose Marseille if she doesn't care as it is a lot closer by train than Nice. I'd take advantage of her interest to see some place different, and find it interesting as a lot of teens wouldn't have even heard of Marseille. Nice has more of a resort/Riviera vibe given it is right on the ocean with a promenade.

I think you should definitely fly out of the other city if that's what you do, not go back to Paris to fly home, obviously, that would waste too much time. As for other cities, you could go anywhere but if those are of prime interest to her, why not choose them. Other cities in France I might suggest probably would require you go back to Paris to fly home as they aren't as big as Marseille or Nice and don't have a big airport like they do (eg, Strasbourg or Lyon). And really, I do think Marseille or Nice are a strong contrast to Paris.

two females alone in France shouldn't be a problem with danger if you are prudent and I would guess you aren't going to do careless things or be in really dangerous areas. There are scams/harrassment, etc. but not due to single females, men are susceptible to them, also, if they are careless and/or naive (eg, pickpockets, scams from people on the street asking you stupid questions like if you speak English or if you want to sign some petition, or offering to "help" you buy metro tickets, etc).

But if you find traveling alone a bit nerve-wracking because you haven't done it before, and are apprehensive, I think it would be easier if you just stayed in Paris, logistically.
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Old Feb 7th, 2016, 07:17 AM
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Stick with Paris. It will be busy in July with tourist, but there is not other city quite like it.
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Old Feb 7th, 2016, 09:36 AM
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>>It's not too much time if that's what she wants to do, it's just your choice as to how you want to spend your vacation, there aren't any rules about this.are practicalities. If one has 5 nights/4.5 days . . . do either Paris OR the south of France. Otherwise one ends up w/ just 3.5 days seeing/doing having used up much of a day in transit between the two regions.
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