Bets daytrips/small towns
#1
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Bets daytrips/small towns
In the fall, I will be visiting most of the major cities in Europe. Although I love museums, architecutre, etc... I'm thinking I'll probably need a break from the touristy things every so often. <BR>I'm wondering what your favorite daytrips or small towns (reached by train) between major cities are.
#3
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You might get more responses if your posting listed specific cities; if you truly are visiting most of the "majors" I envy you! <BR> <BR>From Florence, I can recommend Fiosole, Lucca, Orvieto, and Siena. All have the quiet charm and beauty of smaller Tuscan towns, with enough to see to warrant at least a daytrip, or better yet, an overnight stay. <BR> <BR>From Paris, Chartres is my top pick. The stained glass in the cathedral is truly magnificent, and the town is also lovely. <BR> <BR>All of these towns can be easily reached via bus or train; no need for a car.
#4
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Mel, <BR> <BR>If you enjoy wine and champaign I have 2 day trip suggestions from Paris. Champaign north of Paris is a pretty town with a nice cathedral and you can tour a few of the major champaing cellars there. PiperHeidsick(sp?) has a ride, Disney style, tacky but fun and informative. <BR> <BR>My favorite is Beaune, south east of Paris. It is a long (about 2hrs) TGV ride from Paris but it is a beautiful town. There are several caves that you can go to in the town center. You pay a small fee and are allowed to taste 10-15 different wines. Make sure you eat before you go, we almost purchased a case of very expensive wine to ship home, which was not in the budget. The town also had a Hospital which was built just after the plague which is now a small and very interesting museum covering the time period and hospitals. The town square is a great place to order bread and cheese and enjoy France. I have heard that this is a great location to do an over night trip. I hope to go back some day. <BR> <BR>Have fun! <BR>
#5
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Thanks for the suggestions. I think I'm going to spend a lot of time in/around Paris. Sounds like there are many wonderful places to visit in the area. <BR>amg, Lesli, do you think it's unreasonable/silly to try to visit more than one town a day? eg: Chartres and Amiens. I don't want to be rushed or feel that I have to see everything in one trip. On the other hand, I don't want to miss anything fabulous!!! <BR>julie, do you know what the "valley of the Fallen" is called in spanish?
#7
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Mel, <BR> <BR>If you are using public transportation it can be challenging to do more then one trip out of town a day unless they are on the same train or bus line. Have you checked out www.raileurope.com? <BR>In order to maximize time we have taken early trains to towns (6-7AM). The only problem with that is most shops don't open until 9-10AM. <BR> <BR>You can also check into bus trips from the major cities. I know that you can do trips from Madrid to El Escorial and the Valley of the Fallen and some include a stop in Segovia which is a beautiful town (Castle and a fully intact Roman aquiduct which I think is one of the modern wonders of the world) <BR>We ended up renting a car so I did not follow up on the tours. But I have heard that they are good. <BR> <BR>Hope this helps. <BR>Aileen <BR>