We're thinking of staying in a small town in France, and these look nice. Anyone have any experiences. Paris looks close, and there's lots to do there!

Thanks for your help.

Hi ms,

Are you planning on staying in Dijon or Lyon so that you can visit Paris?

I'm sure we would side trip into Paris at least once, and maybe down to Nice or Geneva. But we like to be away from the crowds, although have activities within reach. I just want to make sure these towns don't have tumbleweed and roll up the sidewalks at 7:00 pm.

Thanks

I've never been to either, but they are certainly NOT "small towns," if that's what you're looking for. Lyon, in fact, is among the largest cities in France. It is not a "town."

Dijon is a wonderful old small city, about 1.5 hours on speed train to Paris. There are museums, markets and you could do winery visits in countryside nearby. Lyon is farther and a much larger city. Enjoy planning your trip!

I've been to both. they both have their pros and cons IMHO. I don't particularly care for Dijon - I never really felt safe there. However, the 2 times I have been there was on a Saturday, and I found the city overrun with kids just hanging around. There are some nice timber buildings, some museums and good restaurants. The best part if the proximity to the Burgundian wine villages, and the 90 minute TGV ride to Paris. We usually spend Saturday nite in Dijon, so we can take the 9:30 TGV to paris on Sunday. Just seems to work out that way when planning.
I loved Lyon. The old town was a nice area to spend a day walking around, poking in and out of alleys and shops. The ancient ruins were fascinating. We had a picnic lunch in the ruins of the old ampitheatre. There are tons of great restaurants, museums, etc. You are further away from Paris tho, we used Lyon as a jumping off point to tour the Alps.

Just like an earlier poster stated, Dijon and Lyon may not fit the small town criteria that you are looking for.

If you are looking for a relatively smaller town, Beaune is about 35 minutes south of Dijon. It has some very good Burgundian restaurants and is the central wine town in Burgundy.

Lyon has a population of about 500,000; Dijon, about 150,000. These are not towns, and certainly not small. If as you say you want to be away from the crowds, these would be poor choices.
What, out of the zillions of villages, towns, and cities in France, attracted you to these two places? It's hard to understand exactly what you're looking for without further clarification from you. If you're just looking for a "small town" that's accessible to Paris and that has some interesting options for sightseeing, there are hundreds of options. But surely you have more specific requirements.

Hi ms,

>...I'm sure we would side trip into Paris at least once..<

Have you been to Paris?

My husband and I spent our honeymoon in France three years ago. We traveled to Paris, Dijon, Lyon and Aux en Provence. My husband's favorite town was Dijon...its a magestic little town out of the middle ages with lots of timber buildings, and quiant shops everywhere. My personal favorite was Lyon because of its rich history and fabulous resturants. Try to get a personal guide to give you a tour around Lyon....we learned so much! It was truly fascinating. Aux en Provence was a dream! We rented a car and drove down the country side in beautiful autum, ahh, it was heavan. Aux en Provence is a very artsy town with great local artesans and posh shops. We stayed at the Villa Gallici...the inn alone makes Aux en Provence worth visiting.

Happy trails and good luck!

I really liked Lyon but I think msuguy probably didn't check the population of these places or location. They aren't that close to Paris that they are bedroom communities. You can do a daytrip due to the TGV, but you won't be zipping back and forth (which would get very expensive, in any case).

Better go elsewhere for small towns than these cities. It depends what one wants -- I think it's hard to find a very small town within the immedidate suburbs of Paris to make RER travel easy, and those won't be rural towns, anyway. Auvers-sur-Oise might be my favorite for that choice, you could do Vernon (but I didn't like it as well as Auvers). St Germain-en-laye is a nice town, but it's not really as rural small village-y feeling as Auvers, for example.

If the idea is just to go to Paris once from a small town, that does open a lot more options. There are plenty along the western route to Tours in the Loire, for example. Chartres could be another choice, or even Chantilly.