France August Itinerary Feedback
 

Hello,

We are going to France with 2 teenagers in late July/early August (I know, the Olympics, and Hot).

We have our Paris hotel secured for the first 2 days. We have decided to then head east and then to the Alps/Annecy.

Could anyone give me feedback on whether this itinerary is realistic for 13 nights?

We are debating staying in just Chamonix or Annecy, but they are very different and would like to spend some time in both. I read Lyon is wonderful, though we prefer smaller cities. However, the TGV will greatly reduce our travel time. Would appreciate any feedback on # of nights, what to swap out!

Arrive Paris @ 7 am – stay 2 nights

Paris to Colmar (TGV 2.5 hours) – stay 2 nights

Rent car in Colmar – Drive to Chamonix (4 - 5 hours) – stay 3 nights

Drive to Annecy (1 hour) – stay 3 nights

Drive to Lyon (or somewhere else? A smaller town would be preferred) (2 hours) – 2 nights

Return to Paris (TGV 2 hours) and stay in Paris or outside of town (1 night) (prefer not to return due to crowds but don’t want to miss flight)

Fly home out of Paris – flight leaves @ 1 pm

That's a lot of 2 or 3 nighters. More than I would do. A few comments:

- Paris to Colmar. Direct train leaves at 9:25 (too early with 2 teens?), or arrives in Colmar at 4:30 (too late - kills 1 entire day), or you need a train change in Strasbourg (are you experienced with train travel in Europe).

- You may only have 1 1/4 day in Alsace/Colmar. Which kinda wastes time on such a short trip.

- We stayed in Chamonix for a week in mid July a few years back We only saw Mt Blanc half the days we were there. What happens if you can only see it 1 day? See attached details

- The region between Annecy & Chamonix is stunning.

- If your itinerary puts you in Lyon on a Sunday - most the places you might want to visit will be closed (museums will be open - but kids will be bored with fabric & decorative arts museums). Monday morning also (till 2:30).

What I would do:

- Paris - fine

- TGV to Colmar & stay 3 nights. Rent a car. We were there for 2 weeks in '22 - fabulous!!!
https://www.fodors.com/community/eur...-book-1714137/

- Drive to Annecy & stay there for 5 nights. Keep a watch on the weather for Mt Blanc & make a day-trip there when it looks good. Could also do 2 day-trips.
See attached

- Return the car in Annecy and take a train to Lyon (many direct trains & buses). We've done this.
See attached

- Take the TGV to CDG & stay at the Sheraton IN CDG. There are many direct trains. We're doing this in October. The Sheraton is close to the TGV station in Terminal 2.

Stu Dudley

I have changed my recommendation. Doesn't seem that you are that excited about Lyon. And you are "shorting" Alsace, IMO.

So, I would:
- 2 nights Paris
- 4-5 nights Alsace/Colmar
- 5-6 nights Annecy/Chamonix

- Take the TGV from Annecy to the Gare de Lyon in Paris. Sleep next door to the train station/Gare at Novotel.
https://all.accor.com/hotel/1735/index.en.shtml

- Dine in the Train station at one of our favorite restaurants in Paris - Train Bleu
https://www.le-train-bleu.com/en/

Take a taxi to the airport the next morning.

We've done this 3 times in the past 2 years.

Stu Dudley

You can stay in Paris and take the RER to the airport. Barring a strike, it is the most reliable way to get to the airport. Stay near the jardin du Luxembourg and you will have a direct connection to the airport.

Thanks Michael for the train tip - we are staying in St Germain on the front end so that's great to know re the train (assuming it is not packed with Olympic travelers, but we are just going to have to go with the flow and see what happens). It is super expensive due to Olympics so we may not be able to return for another night on the return side and stay somewhere else for the night before the flight home.

And Thanks also for the recommendations Stu! I agree it's too much moving around and we should extend our stay in 2 places. You should have seen my first itinerary, it was completely unrealistic!

I still debate if we should do Normandy and/or Loire Valley for castles in August instead of Alsace and/or French Alps. But for some reason the Alps are calling (probably because they look stunning).

Assuming we do the Alps, much of the activities we want to do with the kids are in Chamonix (gondala, hiking, etc.) and it's a lot of driving back and forth to stay in Annecy (which also looks to have limited lodging as it is so late in the game and of course busy time of year and year in general). But if the weather doesn't comply we may not be able to do these things regardless. Perhaps I look for somewhere in between....

I agree it makes sense to extend Colmar or skip that region this time and do Lyon instead. We need to map out the logistics of train travel and driving with specificity.

Thanks again this gives me a lot of food for thought as I do a deep dive this weekend!

If most of your activities are in Chamonix - split the nights between there & Annecy. We stayed just outside of Chamonix in Domancy, and as I recall the parking was difficult in Chamonix. We were there as late as mid-July.

Stu Dudley