Shooie

What would be a good town to go to from Paris for two nights? We're just looking for a town with atmosphere for exploring by foot, not necessarily any tourist sights. We will be traveling by train. Any suggestions for a place to stay?

amourzique

Brussels is one hour and twenty five minutes by train and it is a particulary charming city..

jelopez33

Shooie:
In will vote for Strasbourg,a really nice city,connected with Paris by TGV;you even have interesting little villages near Strasbourg.

amer_can

Brugges can't be much farther and more unique than Brussels..Check it out.

mamcalice

You mention a town in your title. Most of the choices mentioned above are cities. How about Amboise in the Loire Valley. It is charming, easy to explore by foot and just large enough to have good restaurants.

Sarastro

Dijon, Tours, Avignon, Aix-en-Provence, Lyon, Strasbourg are all available from Paris within 1-3 hours by TGV, each city has much to offer, and will have easy access for someone without a car.

thursdaysd

I went to Chartres for the cathedral, but the town was also a good, atmospheric place to just wander around. I also loved Nancy, which has one of the most magnificent squares on Europe, plus a number of lovely Art Nouveau buildings. Agree that Dijon and Strasbourg would be good choices.

ured1975

Bruges (and Gent), in Flanders (2h away by HST).

Nothing can beat Bruges:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pacocanker/2448651886/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pacocanker/3977854380/

Otherwise, if you wanna say in France, try Colmar:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/batiks/2699312386/

A bit further away, about 2,5 hours in the Netherlands, a town called Delft. All 4 cities have canals, BTW.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/goodredroad/3092287844/

My personal choice? Bruges.

Cheers & Good luck!

Vttraveler

Auxerre is smaller than some of the other cities suggested (about 45,000 according to Wikepedia) and very charming

Shanti

If you want to visit a town outside of Paris instead of a city in another country, I'd also recommend Auxerre - beautiful cathedral and abbey and a there's a nice marked walk around town. Troyes, not very far from Auxerre, is another very nice town close to Paris. Gorgeous cathedral and churches, nice fine arts museum, good market and, again, a fine place just to walk around.

Some links:
http://www.ot-auxerre.fr/en
http://www.tourism-troyes.com/

I stayed at a lovely B&B outside of Auxerre - but you'd need a car to reach it so, sorry, can't help with lodging.

Travelnut

sorry, but "Brussels" and "charming" do not compute.

there are loads of interesting towns in France that are easy to reach by train from Paris. we've been to Nice, Lyon, Dijon, Beaune, Amboise, Chinon for at least overnights, and daytrips to Provins, Rouen, and chateau visits in Sceaux, Malmaison...

ira

Hi S,

Another vote for Auxerre.

Also,Beaune; Nancy; Auvers-sur-Oise (Van Gogh lived here); Kientzheim, Alsace; Chartres; St Remy en Provence; Saintes-Maries-de-la-mer, among others.

denisea

Barbizon is not far and is small & charming

Christina

I don't know that I'd call Brussels "charming", but I wouldn't call most towns or cities that, even if I enjoyed them and thought they were interesting.

I think a lot of these suggestions have merit but almost none of them are "towns", they are large cities. So if the OP really was serious about it being a town, that kind of leaves only Beaune, Amboise, Auvers-ser-Oise, Chartres, Troyes and Bruges as towns. I would recommend Bruges, I think that is a great idea and it would be a change from France. It is lovely in many ways and just about right for a couple days and most folks want to see it sooner or later. I think any of the French other towns are fine ideas, also.