anurag_aggarwal

We are planning to spend leisure holiday in France from 9th August till 16th August. We have created the following itinerary. Please help me with your feedback and feasibility of this itinerary.

We are 3 friends (29 to 30 yrs old).

9th Paris, Leave for Nice on 9th evening.
10th Nice, Spend time in Nice and Day trip to Monaco and near by areas
11th Nice to Antibes to Cannes to Saint Tropez (stay in Saint Topez)
12th Saint Tropez to Marsellies to MontPellier
13th MontPellier to Arles to Avignon to Paris
14th (Museums and leisure), 15th (Disney Land and shopping) and 16th in Paris, leave Paris on the 16th (whenever the flight is)

Would love to hear from you all!

rhon

I really think you need to re-think your plans. If you have not been to Paris before, my suggestion would be to just stay there. Your arrival and departure days cannot really be counted as full days. Do you arrive on the 9th? And where are you travelling from?

The days 12th and 13th are wasted days. You will not have time to see any of those places. If you really feel you want to go to Nice e.g., just spend a couple of days there and do day trips. Every time you pack up and move on costs you money and time. You also have to remember that you are visiting at peak season, so hotels will be filling up quickly or already full.

Stick to Paris. You do not have time to do it justice as it is . Especially if you are including a day to Disney. Another wasted day for me I am afraid.

bilboburgler

I think the whole trip is a waste of time, at the height of the season you are basically traveling every day, staying in a hotel every night and going to Disney (and you are 30?). Is this just a pretty girl watching thing?

anurag_aggarwal

Hey, thanks guys for the feedback. Some updates:

1. We reach Paris on the 9th at 6am in the morning from Delhi, India
2. We want to spend 3 full days in Paris (can you please suggest activities in Paris)
3. We want to explore as much of French Riviera as possible between 10th and 13th (4 days) of our stay there. So, please suggest how should we plan these 4 days.

Look forward to more inputs. Cheers!

Gretchen

Why bother to go except to see things between cities on the coast. There is NO leisure to this holiday.

rhon

Well, Bilbo, I was trying to be polite. But I do agree. Basically no time in Paris , 30, and going to Disney for the day?

Your arrival day in Paris is not going to be great - jet-lag and carrying luggage around all day until your train [ ?? ] to Nice. Look at an earlier train to Nice. Stay 9th, 10th, 11th in Nice. That is two full days to do day trips and look around Nice. On the 12th, back to Paris. This gives three full days in Paris [13th, 14th, 15th ] before leaving on the 16th.

Not enough time for either place, but better than spending half the time travelling between places and not doing anything.

And if you do not know how to spend three days in Paris, why are you going there?? Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Louvre, Notre Dame, Seine river cruise, walk up the Champs Elysee, Opera Garnier, St Chapelle, the islands, Place des Vosges, Luxembourg gardens, les Invalides, the Marais.

annhig

hi anurag,

welcome to fodors. You'll get a lot of excellent information here, and, as you have already discovered, some pretty frank opinions!

I have to agree with the others above that the trip you have posted would be mostly spent travelling from place to place, not seeing or doing.


rhon has a good idea - on your arrival, pick up the TGV to Nice direct from the airport. stay 3 nights in Nice, then get the TGV back to Paris, and finish the rest of your trip.

annhig

PS - here's the link to the website where you can book your TGV direct from CDG to Nice and back.

http://www.easycdg.com/1/ground-tran...arlesdegaulle/

bilboburgler

oops, sorry I lack certain skills, I thought I was being polite

anurag forgive me if I was over the top.

annhig

I think the whole trip is a waste of time,>>

bilbo - that passes for "frank" in my household. Not in yours?

but sometimes, only frankness will do it. we will see.

anurag_aggarwal

Thanks for all your responses and 'frankness'. Honest opinions help .

I like Rhon's suggestion of going directly to Nice on the 9th and then being back in Paris on the 12th.

Will be good if you guys can also help us with our planning for 3 days in Nice. Should we do day trips to Monaco, Cannes and Saint Tropez, or should we not travel much?

Also, thanks Rhon for tips on things to do in Paris.

Cheers

Gretchen

WHY did you choose this in the first place if you don't know what you want to do there? I think you saw a travel magazine in India and these are where the "beautiful people" are supposed to hang out. There are SO many more interesting and yes, beautiful places.
Monaco is zippo. Don't bother.

Christina

I don't think anyone has to see Paris for days on end if they don't want to, it is their trip. That doesn't make any sense, it would be like someone posting an itinerary for Germany and someone saying, it's a waste of time because you aren't spending enough time in Paris. so what, they obviously don't want to.

But for the coast, I think you are moving too quickly and I'm not sure how you planned to do that. I mean is this just a list of the stops on a train or something? Because in one day, you have Montpellier to Arles to Avignon to Paris. The train would take about 5 hours to go that route, I think (I've done it), but I'm not sure it stops in both Arles and Avignon.

SO what is the plan when you have 3 cities in one day, and then ending up in Paris which is maybe 3 hrs away by TGV?

denisea

Well, I hope you understand that August is busy at tourist sites in Paris. The lines will be longer, so you will have less time to see Paris attractions.

I would also encourage you to limit the extra travel time where you can. I would not go to Disneyland this time. You might also consider smaller museums in Paris to avoid standing in lines all day. Maybe a Seine cruise to see the monuments. Maybe museums like Rodin and L'Orangerie would be good choices for great art in a less crowded setting.

StCirq

It's a crazy plan. I agree that you probably saw some tour brochure in India that outlined this stuff and thought it was do-able. It isn't.

Forget Disneyland. Forget Monaco and Cannes and St-Tropez (these are just imaginary paradises). Go to Paris and take the TGV to Nice and spend a day or two enjoying that wonderful city, then get on the TGV and go back to Paris and absorb all its wonders.

And please get a guidebook or two for France so you have at least a minimal idea of where you are going and what there is to see and what the history of the places you're planning to visit is. Just please. One simply cannot jump continents without some insight and content.

uhoh_busted

Kind of like planning a trip to India to see the Taj Mahal, and also check out Nepal in one week.

JoyC

For 3 days in Nice:

1st day - explore Nice...promenade des anglais, cours saleya, vieux nice, parc du chateau, maybe musee chagall

2nd day - daytrip to Eze and Monaco

3rd day - daytrip to St Paul de Vence and Vence (or if you want a beach town, go to Antibes and if you have more time to Biot on your way back to Nice)

Go to the tourist information office in Nice to figure out how to go to these places by public transportation, if you're not renting a car.

Good luck!

Underhill

A word of caution: August is the big vacation month for Europeans, and many of them, plus Americans, head to the south of France. You may have considerable trouble finding accommodations, especially in St-Tropez. Just getting there is difficult unless you have a car and want to spend hours and hours on the road.

St-Cirq is right: go to Nice for several days and take day trips is you have time. Nice is wonderful.

KL467

Why would you fly to Paris, then go to Nice, and then back to Paris? Is it possible for you to fly from India to Paris and spend time there, then travel to Nice to spend time there, and then fly from Nice to India? I am from the US and have flown into Paris and out of Nice before. That way I had to travel only once to each area on that trip.

I think the French Riviera is absolutely beautiful. I rented a car, but I do NOT recommend it.

I hope you have a wonderful trip and enjoy Paris!

bluetravel14

As for Disneyland,Paris it probably would be good idea to go for someone who has not been to a good theme park before (none in India) and the nearest one is thousands of kilometres from home. Though I have never been there, I have been to Universal Park in Singapore and enjoyed it. But I do not know how different the two are in t erms of rides , apart from the obvious Disney theme. Disney is aimed towards kids/families.


7 days between Paris-Nice? I would reccomend Paris-4 nights, Nice area- 3 nights, with day trips to nearby locations on 1 or 2 days in both cities. A day trip to Vesailles nearby Paris is a must-see if you have a day. It really is up to you if you want to see Disneyland and use up a day in Paris., or see more of Paris itself.