My wife, 15 year old son, and I are planning a 10 day trip to France this summer, and I have a few questions for you experienced travelers.

We are flying in to London Gatwick and are planning the following itinerary:

Orlando to London
London - 1 night
Paris - 4 nights
Somewhere in Provence - 2 nights
Nice - 3 nights
Nice to London to Orlando

I want to use EasyJet for the transfers from London to Paris and Nice to London, the TGV from Paris to Provence, and a rental car from Provence to Nice.

Now my questions:

1. How much time should we allow to check in for our London to Paris flight? How about the return from Nice to London (and back to the states that same day)?

2. Is it feasible to take a day trip out of Paris to visit any of the D-Day beaches?

I will appreciate any advice.

Thanks,

Dave

Flip78, EasyJet's website says its check-in desks close 40 mins prior to departure and it recommends checking in 2 hours prior. I can tell you that a friend and I had our names broadcast over Stansted Airport's P.A. last fall when we were travelling London to Rome, advising if we didn't immediately show at the departure gate, our bags were being removed and set aside for inspection. And we were well within EasyJet's timeframe, sooo.... being the prudent traveller I am slowly becoming, I'd suggest showing up at EasyJet's check-in counter 2 to 2.5 hours prior to departure.

For returning to the U.S. from Europe, I'd suggest a minimum of 3 hours.

Can't help you with question #2.

Your itinerary looks terrific - have a great time.

Cheers,
Linda

Can you go on to Paris and skip the one night bag drag in london?

Good suggestion...I don't get the London stop either.

I'm assuming you have a long layover so are spending the night in London. That would make sense.

It is entirely feasible to make a day trip to the D-Day beaches if you book through a tour company. You would leave very early and return very late, but it is certainly possible. It might be more interesting if you waited for another trip and took a few days to explore the area though. You'll have plenty to keep you busy in Paris for the entire four days. Just a suggestion.

Theoretically Nice is in Provence. Nice is a city and Provence is a rather large area. If you'll tell us where you are staying in Provence, perhaps someone can suggest a scenic route or things to visit on the way.

It sounds like you've planned a great trip. I hope you all enjoy it.

Before deciding on easyjet from London to Paris look into the Eurostar train. Time-wise it is about the same once you consider getting to and from the airports at both ends. And you save all the hassles of airport travel not to mention taxis back and forth in London and Paris...

-Kevin

Alternatively, consider BMI from Heathrow to de Gaulle airport (LHR-CDG): http://www.flybmi.com

I think it's quite likely that the flight option is cheaper than the Eurostar, especially for 3 people, and with an early morning flight the time saving compared to the Eurostar doesn't matter too much.

Are you returning from Nice to Gatwick? Even so I would leave many hours in between, if not an overnight. If you are changing airports in London, I'd definitely leave an overnight in London.