France First Time Trip suggestions for Itinery
 

I am planning a trip to France in late May 2010 for my wife and 2 adult daughters. Probalby 7-10 days depending on cost.
We have never been to France and are looking for suggested itinery
Want to spend a few days in Paris to see all the must see Paris sites, but then, open to suggestions. Want to go to Versailles. Should we do that as a day trip from Paris or us that as a the first stop on travel to other parts of France. Wouldn't mind taking a train and renting a car and visiting castles and quaint villages and a winery or two
Also, does it makes sense to rent an apratmen outside of Paris to use a home base since we will need 2 hotel rooms?
Thank you

You can spend more, more than 7-10 days in Paris without being able to see all the important sites!

For 4 persons, I think that the best option is to rent an apartment IN Paris, and I suggest to find one in a central location and near a metro station. It will be cheaper than two hotel rooms, you will have a small kitchen and will be more pleasant.

I suggest to rent it for all the period, and to make, if you want, day trips by train. This is very easy, comod and not expansive. You can visit outside of Paris, like day trips: Versailles, Fontainbleau, Chantilly, Reims, Chartres, Giverny and more, depend on your interest.

In so few days you don;t have time to see much of France. I would allow 5 full days for Paris (6 if you do Versailles). And do see Versailles from Paris - it';s only about 30 minutes by train.

to see outside with only a few days I would do the Loire - which has a couple of castles as well as a lot of chateaux (which were pleasure palaces, not fortified castles, and from later in France's history.) I would rent a car and then pick out one of the smaller chateaux that takes guests and stay there - an incredible experience.

We stayed in one - Chateau des Reaux - near chinon for 6 nights and saw quite a few of the chateaux, a couple of abbeys, some wineries and a couple of cute towns. the onwers offered dinners en famille a couple of nights a week and we dined with travelers from other parts of the US, Canada, Australia, Argentina and Russia.

I agree, rent an apartment in Paris. There are tons of threads here about apartments if you do a search. Spend all 7-10 days in Paris and plan some day trips.

I agree with others that 7-10 days could easily be spent in Paris. When planning number of days, remember that the first day is a bit of a wash because of jetlag, and the last day is check-out/airport day so it's also used up.

Good news is, there are plenty of day trips possible. Versailles is an easy one, and can be done on your own or via a coach tour. I like the Loire, it is a nice area for castles and villages. You could easily do a coach tour of there also. There are quite a few threads here on day trips, a search will give you much info. I've done Auvers-sur-Oise (Van Gogh), Giverny (Monet), Chartres (cathedral), Rheims (Champagne)...With the TGV you could even do a day trip to London.

Rent an appartment IN Paris if that is what you require. While the train system is very good, I'd want to limit the "getting there" time everyday to a minimum.

If you want to see some typical/beautiful French countryside, I would choose either:
1. Alsace (train to Salzburg - 2 1/3 hrs)
2. Brittany near Dinan (train to Rennes - 2 hrs)
3. Provence (train to Avignon - 2 2/3 hrs).

One of my other favorite regions, the Dordogne, will take longer to get to the "heart" of the region (Sarlat).

Burgundy (train to Dijon) is also a possibility, but I personally prefer the other regions.

Normandy might be another consideration, but if you go there to see the WWII stuff - that won't be as much of a "France" experience as the other destinations I mentioned.

If you visit Versailles as a day trip from Paris, I would not choose the Loire as your countryside site. Aside from the Chateaux, it is not nearly as scenic & charming as the other regions I mentioned, IMO.

HOWEVER, I dould only visit one of these destinations if you have 9 days or more. Otherwise, just stay in Paris with a day trip to Versailles.

Stu Dudley

Here is one of the Paris apartment threads:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...ent-thread.cfm

Lots of great ideas at a variety of prices. If you have any questions about any of them, just post on that thread and you'll likely get a response.

Anselm