France Itinerary Help
 

My husband and I are planning an 11 day France trip end of August / early September. We are flying into Paris and out of Nice. We have visited Paris before but would still like to spend at least two days enjoying Paris on this trip. Other cities we are thinking of visiting are Avignon, Chamounix, Annecy and towns along the French Riviera.

We're looking for a mix of activities including enjoying the French Riviera beaches and towns and seeing museums. Would appreciate any suggestions on cities to visit and how long to keep for Nice, Avignon and other cities. Time permitting, we are also considering a day or so in Geneva exploring the Swiss side near the French border. Any suggestions on nice areas to visit there?

Thanks!

Well, if you subtract two days in Paris from 11, that leaves 9, and you want to see Avignon, Chamonix, Annecy, Nice and "towns along the French Riviera," "a day or so in Geneva" and "exploring the Swiss side near the French border".... the math just doesn't add up, does it?

2 days Paris
3 days Annecy/Chamonix/Geneva
3 days Avignon/Provence
3 days Nice/French Riviera

I would skip Geneva and add that day to either Provence or the French Riviera

We are a company that delivers boxes from different cities, and our first is Paris. We would say go to Paris for 5 days-because there is so much to see! And you can always go to the other days to look at specific things you need!

The OP has been to Paris before and wants to see a bit more of France this time around. I think Hez's itinerary makes good sense.

@TrytheWorld - they say that they've been to Paris before so spending 5 day there wouldn't make sense.

Thanks everyone for your helpful feedback. We have decided to skip Geneva to enjoy France properly. After reading more we did decide to include 1.5 days in the Loire Valley to tour some Chateaux. Our itinerary looks like:

Paris: 3 days (off to Loire Valley night of the 3rd day)
Loire Valley: 2 days (train to Lyon in the evening of the 2nd day.
Lyon: dinner and stay overnight
Annecy/ Chamounix: 3 days
Avignon: 1 day
Nice / French Riviera: 3 days

Going down to Lyon and then up to Chamonix and then back down to Avignon means a lot of back-tracking. Can you reverse the order and go to Annecy/Chamonix before Lyon?

We did that tour once. Took 3 weeks. Only one day in Lyon is grossly too little.

Thanks Underhill and Caliban for your comments. We have decided against visiting Avignon and will spend the extra time in Annecy/Chamounix.