Hello Everyone,
I'd love some advice from you seasoned travelers. I'm spending a week in England visiting relatives at the end of July, early August, and planning to fly from Manchester to Paris to meet a friend who has never been to France. I'm a novice there myself, having only been once - on a tour. We want to see Paris, but also spend some days in the countryside. I think we'll have about 7 days total. Suggestions? There may be three women traveling together by then, with two of us going on to Madrid for a week afterwards. How can we make the most of France in 7 days? Provence seemed like a good idea after a few days in Paris, but is it too far? Should we find a countryside location with easier/shorter access to Paris?
I haven't read a lot of forums yet, so haven't looked at hotels suggestions, or areas of Paris to stay in either, so if you want to throw in a good suggestion for where to stay in Paris, too, that would be great!
Thanks!

You could spend all the time in Paris and still ideally you would need many more days, so what can I say, it is a personal choice. Why don;t you take a couple of day trips if you must, actually
Versailles is worth a trip ( there is the chateau but also the garden , having lunch in town, riding bicycles or walking around etc) and there are many other day trips recommended in Fodors and in travel books, for instance Chartres with its magnificent cathedral in itself a charming place to visit, good place for lunch etc
If I were you, I would focus in having fun in Paris, so much to do and avoid changing hotels make suitcases, taking trains or what have you. good luck.

I think that Graziella5b has a good point about spending the week in Paris. I have never been to France, but I am in the midst of planning a trip to France for 2 weeks, at the end of July/early August. We are staying in Paris for 7 nights, & plan on going to Versailles for a day, maybe Chartres if we have the time.

In Paris we are staying at the Hotel Bonaparte, in the St. Germain (6th arr.) section of Paris. They are giving a 10% discount on their rooms for the month of August. What is your budget? Our room is $174 per night for the nights in July, then it decreases by 10% for the remainder of our stay in August. We have a room with a double bed, air conditioning, & a private bathroom (bath tub with hand-held shower) - no shower stall. The rooms with a shower stall are more expensive. The hotel has an elevator. All of these amenities are important & not all hotels in Paris have them. I've been told that A/C is crucial during the summer months.

If you still prefer to stay in the countryside for part of those 7 days, I can suggest the Loire Valley. AGain, I haven't been there, but that is what we decided to do. But don't forget, our trip is for 2 wweeks, not one week. You can take a train from Paris to Tours (Loire VAlley) & I think it's a one-hour train ride on the TGV. Then you can rent a car. Don't stay in Tours, according to my guidebook. We are staying in Blois & Chinon.

Hope this helps.

I agree that 7 days between Paris - when you are coming from England and going on to Madrid may be too much. Where are you counting the transit days? Do they come out of London? Of Paris? Of Provence? or of Madrid. In your trip you will have basically 3 full days given over to getting from one place to another. You need to consider those in how many days you really have.

(Granted if you take a 7am Eurostar from London to Paris you will end up with a half a day there. But do you want to get up by 5am If not and you take a midday train alL you will get in dinner in paris, You can;t count it as a day there.

I would lay out your itinerary by what you will be doing each day - not just where you will be spending the night - before you decide how many days you have for Paris, countryside and Madrid. And you definitely need AC in both Pars - may be 80 or may be 90 - and Mardrid - likely to be high 90s.

Thanks to both of you...I'm overwhelmed with all the suggestions I've been reading, so I appreciate your specific responses. ....it's early in my 'looking', and I really appreciate your input. Two years ago I did 12 days in Italy & used lots of suggestions from these forums. It was amazing how easy that trip was as a result!

If you go to Paris, you can head down south to Carcassonne, a beautiful castle with a city inside. Lots to do in the french countryside, then take the train down through Spain, spend a day in Barcelona and go to San Sebastian, then south to Madrid.

@ mytraveler...thanks! I kindof figured I'd count the travel days as extra...problem is, I'm going to England, possibly with one friend, or by myself, and meeting a different person in France, who will want a week there, and I will need a week in Spain with the person who goes to England with me....I think travel will have to be figured in between the stays. We're hoping to sort it all out by next week..travel times, then go from there. Good suggestion as to what to see - determining that first, then places to stay....that worked well with my Italy trip!

@euromom...googling your plan now...thanks!

Thanks, euromom....I'm meeting with my fellow travelers now...any input is appreciated.

I would totally ignore euromom's advice, personally. Carcassonne is close to impossible to get to without a car and it's far from a pressing destination for a first-time visit to France.

You certainly could spend the entire time in Paris, with or without daytrips. You could also easily realize your desire to see a bit of Provence, as the TGV gets you there from Paris in under 3 hours. Spend 4 days in Paris, take the TGV to Avignon, rent a car, and wander around for 3 days, then take the train back or fly to Barcelona from, say, Nice or Marseilles.

Or how about going to Reims, the heart of Champagne country ? It's a 45 minute train ride from Paris or a couple of hours by bus, which, if the bus takes the 'route touristique', will wind it's way through a couple of wine villages and vineyards. You could stay there for 1 night/2 days and explore the area a bit, or given the 45 minute train ride from Paris, do a day trip and visit a champagne house and do a tour.

I don't know how closely those of you who have responded follow these, but wanted to say thanks....going to do some searching through these forums....Spain is not on the agenda now, and we're thinking of going earlier in July to avoid all the French citizens enjoying their holiday in the south of France....have to figure this all out soon! Appreciate the help