6-7 Days in France
 

Hey guys,

I am planning to go on a solo trip to France on the 20th/21st - 27th of May for my milestone birthday (turning 30 on the 23rd). I'd like to ask for your inputs regarding this trip.

1. As cheesy/superficial as it may sound, I'd like to celebrate my birthday in Paris. LOL. I am thinking of spending the first half of the trip there. I did a weekend trip to Paris 10 years ago but I thought I didn't get to feel the vibe of the city so I wanted to spend a little bit more time. Any recommendation on a breakfast/lunch with the Eiffel tower view? (the more suggestions, the better as I also have to consider the price)

2. I'd also want to visit a vineyard and do wine tasting activities. I intend do this in just 1 day just for the sake of experience --- I'm not rich so I can't afford to stay longer haha. Is it doable? Also, which place in France --- Burgundy, Bordeaux or anywhere else?

3. Based on my plans above, can I still squeeze in one more place to visit in France? I prefer to see scenic views or quaint little streets or nice cafes.

4. Daily budget for food and other expenses (excluding transport and accommodation expenses) would be around 60-80 EUR. Is that enough? Except on the day of my birthday, I'm totally fine eating inexpensive food. Any suggestions what to eat?

5. My last destination (in item #3) in France is where I intend to fly back to Singapore, if possible. For your suggestions, can you also let me know if there are flights to Singapore in that city? Or do I have to go back to Paris?

I hope I provided enough info about this trip. Really appreciate all your inputs.

(I posted this on tripadvisor but no replies LOL)

Happy Birthday! Should be a great way to celebrate. :-)

1. I don’t have any specific recommendations, but don’t consider the goal of sitting somewhere with a view of the Eiffel Tower either cheesy or superficial. JMO. And FWIW, if budget is a serious consideration, I think you can see the Eiffel Tower from the outdoor terrace of the Museum of Modern Art’s café? But I could be mistaken….

2. Have you considered a day trip to Reims for a champagne tasting or two?

3. With you time frame, I would think you could easily spend all your time in Paris – with a day trip or two (e.g., Reims, Chartres, maybe a nearby chateau or two), or it would be very easy to include an overnight in, say Rouen. I don’t think you’ll have trouble finding quaint little streets or nice cafes in France!

4. Other than recommending picnics of bread, cheese, and fruit, or an occasional croque monsieur or omelet, I’ll leave this one to others.

5. I think you can fly from SIN to Paris direct, but I think any where else would require at least one stop -- which can mean that you have a lot of latitude. Rome2rio.com is a good starting point – but double-check anything you learn there, as it isn’t always complete or up-to-date -- or, if you have a specific 2nd city in mind, check kayak.com or other flight identifying options. It really depends on what you want to do with your time. If you do plan to fly out of Paris, try to put all of your time there at the end of your trip to eliminate one change of hotels (as you’ll almost certainly want to be in your departure city for at least the night before your flight).

I trust you have a good guidebook or two? They will prove invaluable, and the cost should be nominal in comparison to the cost of your trip. You’ll probably learn things you never considered asking, and might find some great cost-saving tips. :-)

Hope that helps!

1. Grab a sandwich and eat it at champs de Mars. Under Eiffel Tower.

2. Reims indeed or the Loire. Day trip.

3. As kja says. Do daytrips.
Chartres or senlus or Versailles. You take a local train TER or RER. inexpensive and the day of the trip.

4. Perfectly enough. Eat crepes or kebabs and you'll be under 20 euros a meAl. Accommodation can be around 30 rue a night in dorms or min 50 eur in outer arrondissement fir very cheap hotels. I would book at last moment in hotels.com or booking.com.

5. No idea.

Viator has day tours for example from Paris to Loire Valley that includes visiting chateaus and wine tasting. They also go to Reims and include champagne tasting.

If you add up your transportation costs and food and wine costs plus entry fees, it might be worthwhile rather than packing up and hauling your stuff around to visit somewhere for one night.

Does Paris have Pret a Manger? Cheap and easy eats.

I figure you have 5 or 6 days so really not much time to go anywhere but Paris and your wine tour.

Kja, WoinParis, sundriedtopepo,

Thanks for the awesome suggestions!

1. Budget is not a serious consideration for this specific scenario. I will splurge for this one moment with the Tour Eiffel at least once in my life. :D

2&3. Daytrips would make more sense given the timeframe. I'll look into nearby towns/cities to do wine tasting.

4. WoinParis - for accommodation, I'm used to booking Airbnb rather than hotels but then again, still have to compare their prices before I book. Thanks for the tip!

Here comes the Airbnb parade.

Airbnb in Paris is mostly illegal, and the authorities are taking a look at it. There'll still be plenty of airbnb accommodations around at that time of your trip I'm sure, but I can't guarantee that the one you book will not be taken down by the police coming May. I'd prefer hostels or guesthouses, but it is your choice.

If you want vineyard and wine tasting as daytrip from Paris, nothing beats Champagne. A cellar visit and champagne tasting costs from 17 Euros (13 if you're student, but I doubt it). A vineyard visit, if you don't have your own transportation and must rely on theirs, might be a little bit more expensive, but still reasonable in my opinion. You may take a look at these tours, for example:

http://www.reims-tourism.com/Discove...o-the-vineyard

Other than that, Reims is beautiful city itself with a magnificent cathedral.

Furyfluffy,

I didn't know that airbnb is illegal in Paris! Thank you for mentioning that!

I'm going to read up on Champagne. And will check out the link that you sent. Thanks very much!

His budget of 60-80 eur does NOT include hotel and is more than adequate!

I really do recommend stopping at a traiteur and getting a picnic lunch and eating it on the Champs de Mars!! Go to the 7th ARR. and you can see the Tour Eiffel just about around every corner. Choose a cafe and sit and eat breakfast OR lunch OR dinner.

Had to google what a traiteur is --- are they like take-away shops? Is there any traiteur you can recommend?

And oh, that picnic lunch idea at Champs de Mars is definitely happening! Great suggestion! Thanks Gretchen!

If you want to eat breakfast/lunch with an ET view, some restauran/cafe at the Trocadero should work. There is a cafe there at the Museum of Man (musee de l'homme).

There is a snack bar at the Modern Art museum which has an open-air section with tables and a view of the tower.

A traiteur is like a deli or catering service, yes you can buy food to take away. I wouldn't go to one for a sandwich or lunch myself, and think of them more as something you'd buy for a dinner party or dinner at home, but they sell different things in the neighborhoods I stay, like Chinese food or something, and hot dishes, hors d'oeuvres, etc. I don't think of them as a lunch spot, but perhaps so. Many bakeries also sell sandwiches, though.

Here is one high-end traiteur, although I think of them as a tea salon/dessert cafe as that is what a lot of people go there for. There is one near Luxembourg Gardens.
http://www.dalloyau.fr/traiteur-paris

They do seem to sell sandwiches, but lots of small shops do that and a lot cheaper than dalloyau, of course.

I've never been, but I think I've heard that Les Ombres is a good restaurant with a great view of the Tour Eiffel. Expensive, though, at least by my standards. But sitting in the Champ de Mars with a sandwich right under the Tour isn't a bad deal, either.

There's a vineyard right in Paris, In Montmartre,so you don't have to even leave town if you don't want to. If you do leave town, just go to champgne country or Strasbourg because you don't really have much time for traveling to Bordeaux or even Burgundy.

You don't really have time for visiting other places in France (once you get to Paris you'll understand that). Just take a daytrip to Chantilly and Senlis, Fontainebleau, AuversV-sur-Oise, Giverny, Chartres, Ile des Impressionistes, Versailles, Pierrofonds....any number of places that will give you an idea of the countryside but put you back in Paris by evening.

You can find inexpensive food all over Paris: crèpe stands, food trucks (not plentiful, but there are some), ethnic restaurants (go to Belleville and Ménilmontant for great, cheap ethnic food), good eats from Monoprix and Franprix and any supermarket, fresh markets, pizzerias. Once there you'll see you have a thousand choices in all price ranges.

thanks Christina/StCirq for the inputs! trying to put together a more concrete day-to-day plan for this trip now, can't wait for next year!