On a budget, Mom and daughter traveling. The only other place we have been previously in Europe is London. Any suggestions please?

When are you traveling? and how far from Paris do you want to go? there are overnight trains from Paris to Rome and also to Barcelona. Paris and Barcelona would make a great combo IMO but really, it depends on what you want to do and what you like to see. Give us a little more info so we can make more personal suggestions.

With the little information given, on a budget and first time in Paris, I would say stay in Paris! 10 days is very little time to barely get acquainted.

Anything else?

Joan

You could go to Versailles, that will eat up a day.

There are bunch of other day tours you can take to fill out the days, Chartres, the Champagne country, Loire, etc.

Actually the Loire might be an overnight trip but you would have to rent cars after taking the train out of Paris.

Depends on what you like. If you can't get enough of museums for instance, you can easily spend day after day in Paris museums. But if you want to see the country and see chateaux out there, you could do these day trips.

Considering going in May, my daughter is a teenager. Airfares seems so good, we thought we should have an adventure somewhere. We are open to any and all suggestions since we haven't been hardly anywhere- it all sounds great. Paris, Rome, anyplace, just looking at a good value and a new adventure. We could just as easily pick another city. Paris just seemed like an "Icon" type city in Europe but others I am sure are just as nice and interesting. Thanks.

Paris is my favorite place and you can easily spend all your time there. On the other hand however, I believe Rome would be a bigger "adventure" and 10 days would hardly scratch the surface. Of course, there are all of the Ancient Roman sites that are incredibly interesting. The early Christian sites are also fantastic. Art abounds. And, if you are (or were)Catholic - well, then it's the center of the world The food is wonderful and the energy of the city - WOW (and I live in NYC so I know energy).

Hi hen,

With 10 days and a tight budget, I suggest staying in Paris and taking a couple of daytrips.

However, you could make your life more exciting and adventurous by flying into Rome (3 nights), flying to Vienna (3 nights) and then flying to Paris (3 nights).

That way you get to struggle with 3 languages, gloss over three nice cities, schlepp your luggage around a lot, and spend more money.


Stay in Paris. You will both love it.

I like to combine time in the city with time outside cities. If you'd like to see some of France outside of a big city, consider spending several days in the Loire Valley, visiting the chateaux. Our then-10yo son enjoyed our time there (and our time in Paris).

margaretlb-- sounds like you love Rome, I think airfare to Rome was good too. Is it easy to get around Rome? public transportation etc.. any day trip suggestions?

hendrenl - I do love Rome (although, I reiterate, Paris is my favorite place and I've visited many times). I've only visited Rome once-for 5 days. It was a whirlwind visit and I can't wait to return and next time I'll plan for at least two weeks. Rome does have public transit but if you're a walker you can see an awful lot on foot. Although it's hilly and the streets are in terrible shape, it's pretty compact.

Here's a pretty good website:
http://www.rome.info/

Also, a link to my trip report on Slow Travel:
http://www.slowtrav.com/tr/tripreport.asp?tripid=1158

If you do decide on Rome but want to take a day trip, you can easily go to Florence and see quite a lot in a day. If you're a Renaissance art lover...well, then Florence is just another name for heaven

IMO, it was far more difficult to get around in Rome than Paris.

Paris is so wonderful, and you could do a day trip to Versailles to break it up. You will not run out of things to do.

2nd choice--- 5 days in Paris, TGV to Nice, see the Riviera, and fly home from Nice.

If you're locked into Paris for flights, I suggest you stay put. Read the Paris reviews for all the wonderful ideas on what to do. We've been to Paris 6 times and still have things on our "to do" list.

If I took my daughter there, we could stay for a month.

Next thought- where to stay in PARIS on a limited budget- thinking of May travel.

I would choose Amsterdam. Your teenage daughter will like it (and not because of the pot).

Do you want a hotel or apartment? When I have traveled to Paris with my daughter, we have stayed at hotels in the 9th arrondisement. I got one great deal through www.hrs.de and one through www.accorhotels.com . Do you want your daughter to be able to venture out on her own? You may want to choose the neighborhood accordingly.

I forgot to add, that Amsterdam is an easy 4-hour train trip on Thalys, and you can get great deals booking the ride in advance. Also, if you set up your flights to fly into one city and out the other, you will save time and likely money.