dulciusexasperis

In travel as in many things, less is more. The less you move, the more time you spend seeing/doing things.

Quantity does not equate to quality. What you would experience by spending your entire time in Paris will differ from what you will experience if you split your time up.

That is the dilemna of travel. So many places, so little time. Isn't there some saying similar to that?

StuDudley

Paris

IMO, there is no such thing as too much Paris. We get pangs when we've been away from Paris for too long (like 1 year). We enjoy the one-nighters that we do almost every year - but we need two-weekers every few years (next year). Our "favorite" visits have been just before Christmas for 10 days (two of them).

Last year for our one-nighter, we arrived at the Gare de Lyon TGV station on July 13th. We took a bus to the Canal St Martin, visited, and then I mapped out a bus trip around the Right Bank that involved 3 buses. We were amazed at how crowded it was on that Saturday. Quite glad we never go to Paris for an extended stay in July. On one other trip in June about 20 years ago, it was so hot that we ran out of gas about noontime each day. Any big cities can be exhausting if it's hot (and crowded). I mention this because you might get some heat in June (last three June one-nighters were cool & even some rain, however). I would not want to be in Paris for 2 weeks of hot weather - especially considering that most first-timers (like you) want to see & do everything. I would recommend countryside (Provence) & Paris - even split.

Book Provence soon. We reserved our Provence gite for the last 2 weeks of June this year, in about May last year.

Stu Dudley

StuDudley

>>And Avignon or Provence or Normandy<<

That may be a typo - but Avignon is in Provence.

I believe "less is more" also (check my profile), but 7 nights in Paris and 7 nights in Provence is just fine for a first timer.

Stu Dudley

MelissaT305

I caught that too late Stu (Avignon being in Provence). Thank you for your suggestions. I just emailed btw

Sassafrass

Provence would be lovely combined with Paris. It is an easy trip and would give you a great variety of experiences with architecture, food, art, culture and scenery.

greg

This is a possible observation you can apply to your future trips to Europe. I am not sure how you decided to choose a round trip flight to Paris. If you were not constrained to do round trip flights only, you could have chosen different arrival and departure airports that could have opened up more destinations further away from Paris.

TPAYT

Our 1st trip to Europe ended with 4 days in Paris---fell in love with this lovely city and knew we'd return.
Next trip--Paris a few days, TGV to Avignon a few days, back to Paris another few days.
3rd trip--More Paris, TGV to Aix, back to Paris
After that:
Paris, Amboise, Paris
Paris,Antibes, Paris
Paris,Chinon, Paris
Paris, The Dordogne, Paris
Paris, Riviera, Paris
Etc.

Do you see a trend here? As many will agree, we just can't get enough of Paris.
That said, if it were my 2nd trip I'd do:
Paris, TGV to either Provence or The Riviera, Paris
OR
Paris, train to The Loire, Paris

Whatever you decide, you'll get excellent help from Fodorites.

lrock5

I would spend most of the time in Paris. I would suggest going to Normandy and doing a tour of the D Day Beaches. My grandfather was in the Normandy Invasion and I did not realize how emotional it would be to go to the American Cemetary and see the sacrifice that those soldiers made. And they were all so young. Our 20 year old daughter was with us and she loved Bayeux and the tour. It was a highlight for all of us.

MelissaT305

I was leaning towards Paris and either Provence or Normandy but my Husband strongly prefers in mixing up Paris with another city, either Rome or Venice, or just staying in Paris the whole time.

Given the fact that we already have roundtrip tickets from Miami to CDG and vice versa (I'm def. doing open jaw next time), is this at all possible? Is it even possible to do all 3? And, if so, what would be the best order to visit these cities? The visits to Rome and/or Venice will be to do the very main things, as we still want to spend as much time as possible in Paris. Please let me know your thoughts.

dulciusexasperis

You are now in the 'have my cake and eat it too' phase.

With a return flight from Paris, I really don't see going to Venice or Rome and having to return to Paris as best use of your time. You will LOSE two days of time moving that you could have spent seeing/doing more in Paris.

If you had done an open-jaw it would be a different story but you're stuck with what you've booked unless you can cancel and change to an open-jaw ticket.

suze

<Is it even possible to do all 3? And, if so, what would be the best order to visit these cities?>

Sure, of course, you could do Paris, Venice, Rome with 4 days in each city even allowing for a 1/2 day for each move. Just depends how you want to divide up your time.

I don't see you flights being in & out of Paris as any big hindrance or problem. You just need to fly (or train) back the next-to-the-last day of your trip, a day before the flight out. Or depending on timing of your flight home, fly and connect at directly at CDG that last day.

ira

Hi M,

Paris is a rare wine that should be savored in sips, not a bottle of beer.

Ten days is not too long for a first trip.

You can daytrip to Versailles, Dijon, Strasbourg, Avignon - see www.voyages-sncf.com

england1780

Haven't read all the replies, but what about Alsace? I've never been, but it seems lovely.

StuDudley

Your husband is making the same mistake most of us made on our first 5 trips to Europe - too much time "getting" there and not enough time "being" there.

Paris to Venice will consume most of an entire day because you have to get to CDG or Orly, fly to the Venice airport (which is on a different island than Venice), and then bus/water-taxi/vaperetto to your hotel.

Best train to Rome leaves at 9:25 and arrives at 13:10. By the time you get to your hotel in Rome, it's 14:00 - so you have less than a half-day this day.

Taxi to Rome airport, flying back to Paris, taking a taxi/RER to Paris for a 1 night stay, will eat up a day also.

So your original 13 days in Europe is now down to about 10 1/3 days.

Plus you have the added cost of 2 air flights, 1 train ride (TGV trains from Paris to Avignon can be had for 40E), plus 6 additional taxi/bus/RER trips. The 3 additional trips between your hotel & the airports will run you around 150-200 Euros.

Like I stated in the first paragraph - to much time & money spent in travel between A&B&C&A.

Stu Dudley

Leely2

Depends on what you like. You have lots of good options (Amsterdam is terrific, for example). I will say that rural France is very, very beautiful and might complement a week in Paris well.

Enjoy the journey.

menachem

I so agree with the "just stay in Paris". And do daytrips. Excellent trains! Chartres. And Alsace is a good suggestion also.

MrNuke

Paris and one of the two are very doable. All 3 are technically feasible if you are ok with 4 days in each city and realize the time you are wasting by traveling between them.

"I don't see you flights being in & out of Paris as any big hindrance or problem. You just need to fly (or train) back the next-to-the-last day of your trip, a day before the flight out. Or depending on timing of your flight home, fly and connect at directly at CDG that last day."

I too don't see that has a game changer. If it were me though I'd stay at CDG and fly to Italy in the afternoon on Day 1. That first day in Europe is a light day for most people until they get a good nights rest. If doing multiple cities, flying to Italy puts travel time at a more tolerable place to lose it.

MelissaT305

I was checking transfer costs and, more importantly, times/distances between the airport/train stations and hotels in Venice and Rome, and while we could make the effort to come out with the extra cash, I am not willing to lose my precious time in moving from place to place. We will stick to Paris this time; I will definitely come back for Italy and to experience the country side of France. Thank you guys!

StuDudley

Good decision.....

We find Rome to be exhausting - even when we were in our early 30s & "in shape" from jogging at home every day. Too much congestion & noise. If you start with Rome, then Venice, then Paris - I'm afraid that you would be "wiped out" by the time you hit Paris. That's why I suggested Rome last - but now it's "Paris only".

If you had gone to Provence - we would have been there at the same time.

Stu Dudley

suze

<We will stick to Paris this time>

Excellent!!!!! You won't be sorry.