Critique my France trip
 

Hello, We are group of 4 women. We are planning our France trip! We all love Paris, so this is not our first trip to Paris.
So we want to branch out for a short trip out of Paris. We have been to Versailles, Chartres.
We have done quite of bit of researching, and have decided on tgv to Dijon and then renting a car driving to Beaune. Then stay overnight in the Beaune region. The next day heading to Reims, driving through Troyes. Dropping off the car in Reims, maybe staying overnight in the champagne area. Heading back to Paris on the train out of Reims.
How does this itiniary sound? Anyone taken this path? Thanks, PJ

I guess I missed a few details! We are arriving in Paris March 3 flying out March 9. So we are staying in Paris 4 nights, and possibly spending 2 nights elsewhere.

Sounds fine. Another stop en route to Reims could be Vezelay, a medieval-looking hilltop village with the famous basilica that once, fraudently as it turned out, housed the bones of i think the Virgin Mary or some other big Christian luminary. It was a stop on the medieval pilgrimmage path. Very nice and a pastoral setting in northern Burgundy - great small roads go there (buy Michelin map and try to stick to roads colored in yellow - great well paved backroads with nearly no traffic - red roads can be truck-filled boisterous thoroughfares.

1.5 hours to train to Dijon. ~1 hour to drive to Beaune. ~2 hours Beaune to Troyes. ~1.5 hours from Troyes to Reims. 1.5 hours on the train from Reims to Paris.

Sounds like you're doing quite a bit of driving/training for 2 nights outside of Paris. You'll be spending most of your time driving, catching trains, dealing with a rental car and checking in and out of hotels.

I've spent 2 nights in Beaune, 4 in Dijon (with 2 day trips) and 2 in Troyes. My trip in March I'm spending 2 nights in Reims because I decided I couldn't see all I wanted in a single day.

I'd do this one of two ways.

One way - Since rental car price breaks are usually at 3 days, I'd rent in Paris and drive someplace like Beaune, Troyes or Reims for a 2 night stay. You'd have the rental car for a day trip or could stop at something along the way.
t
Second way - take a train ake a train to Troyes or Reims and spend your whole time there. Maybe in Troyes you can catch a bus to the outlet mall on the edge of town for an afternoon.

If you're going to rent a car I wouldn't take the train too. You're just increasing your transportation costs. Some posters have said it's reasonable to drive out of Paris from the Montparnasse train station. Personally I've driven out of Paris from the Louvre parking garage and would not recommend that.

By the way check closely renting a car in Dijon. A couple of years ago it was one of the few places in France that had a one way charge for rental cars.

"...once, fraudently as it turned out, housed the bones of i think the Virgin Mary or some other big Christian luminary.."

I'm dying here! Too funny. It's the Basillica of Ste. Madeline, where relics of Mary Magdallen were supposedly housed at some time or other.

Thanks to all, we are now thinking just taking the train to dijon. We can rent a car and tool around that area. Then drop off the car in dijon and train back to Paris.

Hi pj,

That sounds better.