I am trying to plan a trip 6-7 to Paris. I've read a bunch of posts on the boards but I was hoping for some clarification/suggestions.
I'm trying to decide where to make some excursions out of Paris besides Versailles.
Normandy sounds pretty good from a historic point of view, with a stop in Bayeax. The Loire valley sounds nice, but is there a specific town? Someone suggested Dijon.

Basically, if anyone has any thoughts on some nice areas out of Paris to go. My wife are pretty open as to what to see. Be it historic, picturesque. I guess we want to see more of France than just Paris.

Also how do you get to these areas? Should I get a rail pass or just buy when I get there? I've tried getting a sense of the costs so if anyone has rough numbers of costs to go, that would be incredible. I gone to the rail europe website but it seems if we take more than one trip, it is more economic to but a pass. Is that correct?

Thanks in advance.

There are so many possible day trips and since you don't seem to have read much about them, I think it would be better for you to read good descriptions of them in a guidebook or something--better than mine. Also, I think there are always many many suggestions on the usual ones. You might consider buying Earl Steinbicker's Day Trips in France for what I consider the bible, but if you only want to do 1-2 maybe not.

However, I can clarify the train thing. If you are going to Raileurope to search fares, I wouldn't think you'd find a pass cheaper. Local tickets will be cheaper than Raileurope, but either way, I think a France Railpass is around $200 minimum for 3 days. That is the heavy sunk cost, after that I think it's about $30-40 a day add-on. This only makes sense for long-distance TGV and extensive rail travel. I don't know current rates, but day trips from Paris may run about $25 RT, for example, for a place about an hour away. I could even be on the high end there. Very close suburbs like Versailles are much less (I think that is around $5 RT).

Now if you want a day trip to Lyon, a rail pass could make sense if you were also doing several other big trips. I still don't think it could possibly make sense if you are going to Paris for only 6-7 days. I'm sure it has its charms, but I do not think anyone would recommend Dijon as one of the top day trips for someone who hasn't been on any.

My favorites: Versailles, Fontainebleau, Chantilly, Rouen, Chartres, Auvers-sur-Oise, Giverny, Moret-sur-Loing. A little longer, Auxerre and Lyon and certainly the Loire Valley but I did more than one day there.

During a stay for a month in Paris I made day trips to Rouen, Versailles, Chantilly and Chartres. My favorite was Rouen. Three cathedrals, walk along the Seine, visit museums and just generally see some great architecture and just very picturesque (followed Steinbicker's Day Trips France guide). It's only about a 45 minute train trip out of Paris and, if memory serves me, only about $20 or so for the round trip. I just went to the station (Gare St Lazare) and bought my ticket. Left at 9:15 am and returned on the 5:00 train.

I considered Normandy but, from all I've read, you really need to spend the night and have 2 full days. I didn't want the added expense.

Duggan, I meant to add that if you'd like my day trip report on Rouen you may e-mail me at [email protected].

Thank you both for your responses.

I guess my problems are that the more I read, the more options appears making the decisions harder and not easier. It has been difficult to 'pull the trigger' and plan on which places to go.

Thanks again.

My favourite day trip from Paris is to rent a car at Gare Montparnasse (Hertz or others) and drive to Vaux le Vicomte,Fountainbleu and Barbizon. They are all close to each other,you could picnic in the forest park near Barbizon. Also on the route back to Paris you can follow the Seine as much as possible and see some smaller chateaux.

Hi Duggan,

If this is your first trip to Paris, I suggest that one day trip is all you will want to do this time.

I fave a fairly extensive day trip file

[email protected]