I'm starting to plan out my first trip to France (April or May 2004) for 2 weeks. I'm a single, 51-year old woman and will probably be traveling alone; however, I'm interested in combining a tour for a portion of the trip where it makes sense. I have been thinking of flying into Paris and departing from Nice. (I have traveled alone before, Italy in Sept 02, great trip, but it was a little lonely for 15 days.)<BR><BR>At this point, the areas I'm most interested in seeing are Paris, Provence, the wine regions and southern coast.<BR><BR>Any tips, ideas, etc. are very welcome as I'm in the early planning stages. I would rather not rent a car and am in excellent physical shape.<BR><BR>As far as tours go, I'm interested in those that offer a lot of unscheduled time to do what you want with a mix of active people (male/female, single/married), age range 45-55.<BR><BR>Please reply with your thoughts, ideas, tour company names, B&amp;B info, etc.<BR><BR>Thanks for all your help. KOL

I think its wonderful that you are planning to travel alone...many women do not feel like they can. I have only been to Paris once, for a couple of days...but a good place to start is to do a search above...put in things like France Tour, Paris hotel, B&amp;B, France itinerary...you should get a ton of info..then when you have specific questions you can post them...I found this to be the best way for me to use this site.<BR><BR>Have a wonderful trip!<BR>Jamie

Hi KOL,<BR><BR>I've looked at a lot of tour companies and find that they either offer completely independent travel or that they over schedule the trip. If you find one with a great in between mix then please post the info.<BR><BR>In Paris you can take walking tours where you are with other English speaking people for a couple of hours or a day bus trip to the outskirts of Paris.<BR><BR>There's several old posts here about traveling alone and suggestions about doing so.<BR><BR>Other than Paris I'd recommend western Provence with it's charming small towns and relaxed atmosphere. Without a car you'd need to base yourself someplace with good train/bus transportation or bus tours such as St. Remy or Avignon.<BR><BR>Have lot of fun planning the trip and even more fun on the trip!<BR><BR>adrienne<BR><BR><BR>

Adrienne just &quot;topped&quot; a couple of old threads for you, but I think it's more useful to provice the URL (since they quickly sink again and are not there for people who find this post later on):<BR><BR>http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessages.jsp?fid=2&amp;tid=104185<BR><BR>http://fodors.com/forums/pgMessages.jsp?fid=2&amp;tid=34396930<BR><BR>(The way one does this is by right-clicking within the thread once you've found it, then left-clicking on Properties and blocking and copying the URL only though the number prior to the &quot;numresponses&quot; part.)<BR><BR>KOL: I've spent two weeks solo in Paris with day trips via train and have also taken my 60-something mother. Have had a wonderful time either way. Type &quot;solo AND france&quot; into the text box at the top of this page to find lots more good info on travel on your own.

I would suggest, if you want some group tours, but also want time to be independent, to take some (one)day tours. Any city will have them avaialble. I would suggest you spend time in the city on your own, and use the tours to go to places outside of the city. For example, in Paris there will be trips to some of the palaces in the area, from Nice there will be trips to the interior.<BR><BR>You can do as many or as few as you like, plus, you do not have to plan these out before your trip - you will be free to play things by ear.

KOL,<BR><BR>I would suggest that you consider doing the Provence and/or wine region part with a tour since you don't want to rent a car. Paris is obviosuly easy alone and the south of France (Nice etc.) has good public transit. Also would suggest looking into tours that focus on an interest you might have (like food &amp; wine or antiquing or art). It also sounds like too much territory to cover in 2 weeks but you probably know that.<BR><BR>This may sound crazy, but I would also try,in the year you have before this trip, to figure out a way to network to find a &quot;friend&quot; in Paris (through a trade association you might belong to or a chat room or penpal etc.) Someone you could have one or two dinners with or spend a day with. I think it would make the stay more pleasant.<BR><BR>There's a book called &quot;Without Reservations&quot; written by a woman journalist who traveled in England on her own. It won't necessarily provide &quot;tips&quot; but it's a fun read.<BR><BR>Good luck and continue to ask questions.

Lesli - thanks for that helpful tip to reference old posts.<BR><BR>adrienne<BR>

Hello KOL,<BR><BR>A canal barge would offer some group tours, but also time to be independent.<BR>It is a great way to travel through the countryside without packing, unpacking and it includes accommodations on board your hotel barge, all meals and sightseeing excursions.<BR>Several barges have single cabins (the 14-passenger Luciole in Burgundy would be a great choice).<BR>You may want to check out francecruises.com to get a better idea.<BR>Hope this will help...DAB

I haven't been to many places in France, but I have been to some, both with companions and solo.<BR><BR><BR>Paris is easy, I'd allow 5-6 days there, including one or two day trips<BR>to Versailles, Giverny, Chartres, etc.<BR>Those are very easily done on one's own with trains and a cab or two. There are also bus tours to those locations and more, even to the Normandy landing beaches. Three companies that run day tours of all kinds in Paris are<BR>American Express, Parisvision, and Cityrama. The latter two have descriptive websites.<BR><BR>The other thing that's easy to do is take a TGV train from Paris to Provence, Avignon for example. I once did a quick four days in Provence, spending two days in Avignon, and going on by train for two days in Arles.<BR>Very easy, but there are plenty of other towns to choose from.<BR>www.avignon-et-provence.com/avi/gb/tourisme www.avignon-tourisme.com<BR><BR><BR>Train service from Paris to Dijon or to the Loire Valley is also easy, and from there there are tours of wineries that I don't have details about at the moment. Perhaps someone else can chime in. For Dijon (Burgundy) you can start with<BR>www.bourgogne-tourisme.com<BR>for the Loire:<BR>www.loirevalley.org and www.loirevalley-tours.com <BR><BR>I have a file on Paris and a small one on other locations; if you'd like to see it, email me at<BR>[email protected]