bck

My wife and I (both 30) are visiting France during first week of October from US. Our flights are in and out of Paris, where we will be for 2 days, we may visit again some other time. Its the other places where we want to spend time/explore for other 5 days.
What we enjoy: Town walks, local food, bike rides, old towns, nature, views, countryside, landscapes, rivers, villages. What we don’t enjoy much: Museums, Memorials, Palace, Cathedrals
We want to stay in two places and it's been hard to choose two between these places to spend 2 days in one and 3 days in another: Tours (Amboise), Beaune (Dijon), Lyon and Nice (nearby small towns). Any advice is appreciated. Also, tips to decide between Train and rental car will be great. Thanks!

nukesafe

You have to realize that every time you change locations, particularly to places as far as Nice, you essentially lose a day to travel. With only five days I would stick to those places closer to Paris. If you had chosen an open jaw flight; into Paris and out of Nice, for example, I might advise differently.

bck

Thanks for your reply. Most of the trains between those cities take 2 hours or less (Eg; Paris to Lyon/Beaune/etc), not sure how would I lose a day. I can skip Nice if thats too far.

bumbleb

Hi bck-husband and I spent 5 days in Lyon at the end of April this year and did not regret it. We both fell in love with the city! Food is amazing in Lyon, public transport is easy and inexpensive and there is so much to do/see(don't miss the Parc de la Tete D'Or). We barely scratched the surface and would love to go back someday. Two of our five days were spent on day trips out, one to Beaune and the other to Annecy. Loved them both but Annecy would be my pick of the two if you have limited time. We had a rental car for this trip(DH's idea)but prefer trains if possible. We spent so much more on the rental cost, tolls, petrol, parking, and the inevitable speeding ticket than we have ever spent on train tickets for past trips in Europe. Also, my advice is to listen to the folks on here who are seasoned travelers. We moved around a lot on this past trip, Lyon being our longest stay in one place out of 18 days, and it was such a pain packing/re-packing, checking in/out, etc., but DH was determined to cover a lot of ground. Good luck with your decisions(guide books really do help)and have a wonderful trip!

bumbleb

Also meant to say that we debated Nice also but it was just too far out of the way and gives us a reason for another trip back in the future! Happy planning!!

fuzzbucket

You could combine an early trip to Dijon, then go on to Lyon.
Both cities are very interesting, in terms of history and food.

LarryJ

If you are into bicycling you can do no better than Beaune (Bourgogne). You can ride from Beaune to Sentenay passing through 5 small wine villages and never be on a highway. The entire route is about 25 km through vineyards and is entirely on the service roads with little more than the vineyard workers little vans using the roads. I go there from Paris 3 times a year to ride. You can rent a bike 2 blocks from the train station at "Bourgogne Randonnees". Cedric and his partner both speak perfect English. Good restaurants, wine shops, cafes, shops and and great scenery on the trail.

From Paris take the train to Dijon (1.5 hours) and then another train to Beaune (20 min).

Be aware that they close for the season Oct. 31.

Pepper_von_snoot

I would fly from CDG to Nice and spend my 5 days in Beaulieu-sur-mer! There is a bike rental shop there and you could take the easy train to explore Antibes! Explore St Paul de Vence! Côte d'Azur is one of the most beautiful places on earth! No need for a car here.


Thin

Whathello

Skip Tours : a beautiful cathedral (...) and excentered.

Beaune is nice base to bike, with not many big roads and is a small town, whereas Dijon is a bigger city. Food is amazing but is second to wine.

PalenQ

For trains - best to take to your places- much quicker than cars- check www.voyages-sncf.com for schedules and booking your own online tickets- at a discount if book early enough. also www.seat61.com for lots of info on self online ticketing; for general info www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.

You could do Burgundy - Beane nice smaller town base and yes bike or bus along Burgundy Wine Road and Lyon - 3 days former 2 in latter.

Christina

I don't even understand what the towns shown mean (ie, Tours(Amboise)).

DOes this mean you want to stay in Tours or you really want to stay in Amboise, there are two different places. Same for Beaune/Dijon, does it mean one of those two? If so, I'd agree with not staying in Tours.

I've been to all those places and you can certainly find enough to do for 2 days in any of them. I don't understand why you are naming some of the biggest cities in France (ie, Lyon and Nice) given you say you are mainly interested in villages and the countryside, though, and not interested in museums, etc. Lyon is huge, wouldn't choose it if you want to do bike rides in the countryside. The food isn't amazing if you do't like that type of cuisine, actually, that they are known for (which I don't). There is one village nearby (Perouges) which is kind of known you could visit, I think there is a bus there or something.

Pepper_von_snoot

Nice is a large city, but it is a coastal city and it is so easy to hop on a bus or a train and be in a small beach town in 20 minutes.

You could walk from the Old Port of Nice to beach town Villefranche in a little over a hour.

Nice is more like Charleston South Carolina than Atlanta even though it is the fifth largest city in France.

Thin

PalenQ

Yes I echo Pepper von snout: Nice is perfect for the whole five days -has everything you wish -gorgeous seaside walks thru untouched parts of coast; iconic hill towns like St-Paul-de-Vence, Vence and Grasse (perfume capital) and can even bop over to Italy on coastal trains for a taste of another country - to Ventimgilia or nearby San Remo. Stay in a smaller seasdie gem like Antibes - neat old town with buses to hill towns and trains up and down the coast - can esily visit Monaco, St-Tropez, Nice (nice nice city with really neat Old Town area for a Latin Quarter type place) and on an on.

Nice is 5.5 hours by direct TGV (goes nearly 200 mph for another thrill) and you can see some lovely countryside along the way, especially Provence area.

There is also an overnight train Paris-Nice that saves daylight travel time even over flying and the cost of a night in a hotel = another experience not available much in U.S.

Plus Nice still will have really nice weather compared to points north. Maybe even warm enough water for swimming? Not sure but seems so.

And no car needed here!

Fly into Paris - fly out of Nice.

bck

Thanks everyone, very useful tips and recommendations.
1. I am going to talk to my wife about Nice and let her decide because we have been to a few beaches already this year (Maui and California) so not sure if we would still want to spend 5 days there. However, we would love to make a trip again to France to visit Nice in future.
2. I am leaning towards 2 days in Beaune (coming from Paris) and 3 days in Lyon including a day trip to Annecy.

bck

For day trip from Lyon to Annecy- does anyone have a recommended route (train or bus)? There are two, one goes north of Lac du Bourget and the other in the south.

fuzzbucket

You can either go by autocar (bus) or train.
Both take about 2 hours.
See this site for details:
http://www.voyages-sncf.com/billet-t...0916064654%3As

PalenQ

You can also go via Chambery - 2 h 20 to Annecy - and if tire of Annecy check out Chambery on way back - a real nice town.