DD is studying in Salzburg for 3 months this Fall, and I will join her for a week of travel in late October. Since she will have the opportunity to take weekend trips near Salzburg, we plan to go a bit farther together.
DD is studying music, and we enjoy concerts, music history, theater. We are interested in history (esp WWII) and love mountain scenery. We do like being 'on the go'.
My tentative plan is to meet her in Salzburg (so that I get to see it), then make the following trip:
Sun - travel to Lucerne (train)
Mon - enjoy Lucerne (boat ride on the lake, cable car if weather is nice)
Tues - train to Normandy (likely would take train Lucerne/Basel/Paris/Caen, then rent a car)
Wed - tour Normandy D-Day beaches/museum
Thurs - morning museum in Caen, then train to Paris
Fri/Sat - in Paris
Sun - fly home to US (DD fly back to Salzbug)
I know it's a really long travel day from Lucerne to Normandy, but I have always wanted to visit there.
I am open to other ideas/suggestions. No air reservations have been made yet, so I am not locked in to any particulars yet. DD and I have talked for years about going back to Paris (family trip 5 years ago) as just a mother/daughter trip. (Husband and son are staying home this time.) I worry that the distance involved is too ambitious for our time. I am also a bit worried about the weather for both the mountains and at Normandy. Does this trip work, or do I need to start from scratch on our destinations?
I have work to do researching the train journeys (including whether a pass makes sense for me for this week and for DD for her 3-month stay, which will include several weekend journeys).
Thanks for your feedback. I used the very helpful information I found on this site (without posting my own questions) for our trip 5 years ago, and I must say it was the most well-planned trip we have ever made, thanks to the tips I got from this message board!
Planning Swiss/Paris/Normandy late October
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Your "week" is 1 day in Lucerne, 1.5 days Normandy and 2 days in Paris. Too much time on trains for my liking.
Very smart analysis by gh.
Please note that Paris to Caen you need to get from the Gare de Lyon to Gare St Lazare, so allow plenty of time.
When I was leaving Paris and going to Vienna, I bought a plan ticket on a smaller European airline. The plane ride, one way, was $35 USD and took a little more than an hour. I would look into flying from Lucern to Paris. Google low cost european airlines to try and find a flight. Might be worth it so there is less time on trains.
Too many places, too little time. I think I'd skip Lucerne. It's not a good time weather-wise and the cable car may be closed. (They use the time between seasons for maintenance.)
Skip Lucerne here also. Where are you flying to get to Salzburg? I think for travel ease sake you would do better to just go to Paris and if you really want to see the Normandy coast, take a guided tour for a day from there. Someone posted not long ago how to do it, and it was pretty "OK", for what was desired.