ara1381

Hi All, this is going to be my wife's and my first trip to Europe. We have already booked our tickets to (28th aug) and from (11 sep) paris - total 13 days excluding travel. Does the following itinerary sound doable? We are very interested in art and history as well as hiking. All of your suggestions would be highly appreciated!!

Day 1(1/2)- Wed: Arrive afternoon in Paris, Eiffel tower/Seine River cruise
Day 2- Thu: Paris
Day 3- Fri: Paris
Day 4- Sat: day trip to versailles, return to Paris
Day 5- Sun: Paris
Day 6- Mon: day trip to Loire Valley or Veaux de Vicomte, return to Paris
Day 7- Tue: Leave for Bern early morning, tour Bern or Murten in the day, evening catch a train for Interlaken and Gimmelwald
Day 8- Wed: Swiss Alps
Day 9- Thu: Swiss Alps
Day 10- Fri: Swiss Alps, evening 7 or 8 PM leave for Geneva(getting to Geneva just to catch th early morning train to Brussels)
Day 11- Sat: catch first train from Geneva to Brussels, reaches Brussels at 1PM, stroll Brussels main square for about 2-3 hours and then catch a train for Brugges
Day 12- Sun: Brugges
Day 13- Mon: from Brugges back to Paris by evening/night
Day 14- Tue: Pack bags and leave for CDG airport in the morning

Southam

This advice is too late, since you have your tickets in hand. But for next time, consider an open-jaws airline itinerary. That's airline slang for flying into one destination and out from another. In your case you could probably have flown home from Brussels, saving both the time and the money of going back to Paris. Airline and agency sites usually present them as "multi-city" right next to the keys for single- and round-trip tickets. Note that they are not two one-way tickets, which would jack up the total cost. The multi-city price is likely to be comparable to a conventional round trip, or even cheaper depending on the pairing of cities.

ara1381

Hi Southam,
Yes, that would definitely have been better. We did not plan on Brussels initially. Well, I will have to make the best of it now.

Do you have any feeedback on Loire vs Veaux de Vicomte? We are torn about which one to go to.

Thanks

Judy

Since I hate one night in any city just to fly out in the morning, I'd look at leaving for Bern from CDG on arrival and having all of your time in Paris at the end of your trip.

adrienne

I agree with Judy. I always try to start with the farthest destination and work back to my departure city. I feel it's less stressful that way.

Take a flight from CDG to Bern and start your trip the next day when you're fresh.

StCirq

<<Do you have any feeedback on Loire vs Veaux de Vicomte? We are torn about which one to go to.>>

Vaux le Vicomte is a single castle. The Loire is an entire area with many castles (among other things).

ara1381

Thank you all for the great feedback. We will look into getting to Bern directly. I am a little hesitant because of the potential 15-16 hr total travel time.

As far as Loire is concerned, I understand that there are multiple castles. With the time we have however, it looks like we will just be able to do a day trip from Paris by going to Tours and taking a guided tour there (see 3-4 castles). With this limited time, do you still think Loire is a better choice than Vaux le Vicomte?

Thanks

Judy

If you have an entire day to devote to this, I think the Loire would be more interesting

Rastaguytoday

If you are going to Bern, visit the relatively new Paul Klee Museum, which is a short bus trip (15min) from the cith center.

A lot of paintings have transferred from the Kunstmuseum and from elsewhere. Worthy if you are in Bern.

My first trip there, it was a holiday of sorts. Songsheets were passed out and the entire crowd sang "what a friend we have in Jesus", in both French and German, no English.