France or elsewhere for best value for October brief vacation?
 

I will be in Paris for a week for work in early October and then hubby plans to join me for a short vacation- 6 days. Being Americans and not wanting to spend a lot of money as we have a newly built house, would it be better to purchase a cheap flight or train and visit another country or are there good values in France? Any suggestions are appreciated. I have only been to Paris, never anywhere else in France and there is a lot of Paris I have never seen. I was wondering about Turkey? We tend to avoid touristy places when we travel and love "local ambience" Thanks!

Has your husband ever been to Paris? If not, you may just want to stay there and do a day trip or two.
We've been to Provence and Burgundy in early October and really enjoyed it. I think traveling in October you don't have to worry about crowds of tourists in most places.

I am sure that there are many lovely places you can visit in france and spend much less than you would in Paris.

however, i will recommend Turkey, because flights will be resonably priced in October and you may not easily get a chance to see a different culture as easily. Whereas Paris or France will always be closer.

1. Istanbul. the city is fabulous in terms of antiquity and the hustle bustle of a very cosmopolitan location where different cultures mix. The Bosphorus, separating Europe and Asia offers very scenic boat tours. There is more concentrated night life with jazz bars, concerts, etc. exciting archeological museums and sites, and good shopping for hand crafted silver.
2. Ephesus, Miletus, Aphrodisias, Prienne, Heraklia, Didyma ancient cities not too far from each other in Western Anatolia. Staying at Selcuk, or Kusadasi.
3. Behramkale, Assos, Pergamom, Troy Northwestern Aegean. More laid back, and with the spiritually loaded Kaz mountains.
Staying at Kucukkuyu or Assos or Cunda island.
4. Cirali/Olympos. Laid back beach, fires of Chimera, Olympos and Phaselis antique sites. A sifferent and interestin eco-system. Dense vegetation and pine forests.
5. Side, Antalya. A beach resort partially built on ancient city. sandy beaches, close to waterfalls and white water rafting. Perge, aspendos antique sites.
6. Cappadocia. alien landscapes, fairy chimneys, underground cities, early christian churches carved in rock, canyons, hiking, balloon rides, cave hotels. can be joined with trips to Hattusas, the capital of the ancient Hittite Empire, or nemrut mountain, for carved remnants of the Urartu kingdom, and/or Mardin and Urfa biblical locations with monasteries and other archeological sites.

Except for Istanbul, lodging will be very reasonably priced (i.e. from $20 per person. Food is cheap everywhere unless you go to upscale restaurants. But even at the most expensive restaurants will be a fraction of the cost of Arpege, Tour d'argent, etc.

For istanbul, I suggest checking apart hotels in Taksim-Cihangir area.

hope you enjoy your vacation whichever location you choose.

Thank you Judy, yes we have both been to Paris before.

Thank you otherchelebi for the wonderful trip ideas for Turkey- I plan to look into flights from Paris right now.

Taking account the travel cost to a non-French destination, I would say that the French provinces would be a good value, especially if you can get a PREM ticket to get to your destination. Decent B&Bs can be had for 40-60€ a night.

As otherchelebi gave alot of usefull information about Turkiye and if it is local ambience what u want; i can offer you a small town here in Antalya called Demre. U can catch local ambiance here and also will have great pleasure from the nature and sea. It is 3 hours away from Antalya with bus. And easy to find bus from Antalya Bus Terminal. For more information u can check the link bellow.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demre