My husband and I live near Canada and often start and end trips to Europe from Toronto. We recently found decent fares from Toronto to Gatwick and will be going Oct. 16 -27. We plan to use budget European airlines to get to two spots. One will be Paris, but can't decide what to do the other 5 days or so.We'd considered Isle of Skye, but it seems hard to reach. We love to walk, bike, and antique shop. We want to be based in a quaint village or historic city. We're considering trying one of the following: Alsace, Normandy, Dordogne,Brittany, Burgundy, Loire ,or Salzburg, Cinqe Terre, Prague, and haven't given up totally on Scotland. So where would you go where the possiblity of good walking exists if the weather permits?

Have a look at Croatia

Since you will be in Paris, it might be nice to make the most of your time and go to a 2nd spot relatively close by (same country) so maybe exploring Normandy, Brittany, etc might be of interest. However, given your interest in walking, the Cinque Terre would afford you vistas from the tops of 5 towns and plenty of exercise! No antique shops though but I think you could manage. You could take a local flight into either Genoa or Pisa and then a train to the Ligurian coast. October is still quite nice there, Indian summer days, chilly at night (light jacket or sweater weather).

I just returned from Budapest and absolutely loved it. Might that interest you? Easy jet flies direct from one of the London airports.

www.easyjet.com

How about somewhere further south in France? You could take the TGV from Paris to Avignon then rent a car. L'isle Sur la Sorgue could satisfy your antique shopping. If you visit www.slowtrav.com, France, there's a topic on hiking in the Luberon. It's written by someone who lived in the area for several months. We did the hike from Bonnieux to Lacoste and had a great time.

Sorry, Just posted again, as I'd lost this and now see it. We are considering France, but still tempted by the hilltop villages in Italy. Could
we fly from Paris on a budget airline?
Also, how do you get to Crotia cheaply?

Have you checked easyjet.com? They have a great interactive map that shows all their routes from everywhere, including Paris. I've been on it a lot lately. Fares are definetly cheap.

We got FF tickets to Paris for May, and I too have been considering all the possibilities. But, my mind is overwhelmed by the choices.

I think the place you should start looking is www.whichbudget.com. That website will allow you pick Paris as your starting point, and then where the cheap airlines fly from there. If you can find a flight to Genoa or Pisa or even Milan, that would be a good jumping off point for Cinque Terre. (You could even fly into Torino, but then I would suggest renting a car).

However, I would also suggest you consider the south of France for the most reliably sunny weather. Given you love of cycling, you might find the south of France very accommodating in terms of bike rentals and good weather, but also think about Lucca (near Pisa), where bicycling along the historic walls is very popular.

http://www.croatiaemb.net/

http://www.croatian-villas.co.uk/craotia.htm

I have to say Scotland as I live here!
Low season means good hotel deals, those beautiful autumnal colours, shadows on the hills, less tourists....

I forgot to add maybe worth looking at Esay jet

Hi T,

Dijon is about 1:45 hr by TGV from Paris. 30E 2cl, 35E 1cl PREMS fares at www.voyages-sncf.com

Scotland- Dunkeld- quaint and historic village, lots of walks, bike hire available.

Easyjet to Edinburgh and train or (preferably) to Dunkeld. masses of accommodation types and prices available.

To pair with Paris, I think of Amsterdam or Venice.

These are great responses! I've listed some of these for my husband to look over late this evening. We'd given up on Scotland, but may rethink that. Seems like it would be best for another trip. We are checking out the Cinque Terre, Dijon area, and south of France. Are there walking trails near Amsterdam?

I've only stayed in the city, but I have to think there well could be (walking trails near Amsterdam).

If you're seriously considering you might start a new post with a title referencing Amsterdam. Your question is pretty buried here.