One week in France in early March
 

Hello,
My husband and I will be travelling to France in the first week of March 2026. Flying into and out of Paris. We love Paris and have been there a few times. If we were to set aside 3 full days and nights for Paris (the first two days and the last day of the trip), we are looking for suggestions on a place to visit in the remaining four days. A few points that may help you all with your suggestions -

- I am aware that the weather will be cold and wet in most places, so ideally a place that is relatively drier would be ideal (and a place where restaurants and other places of interest will not be closed due to a leaner time of year).
- We love culture, history, food and wine and love to walk.
- We have driven around France on a longer holiday a few years ago and have seen these places and would like to see something new - Beaune, Nuits St George, Rousillion, Lourmarin, Pont du Gard, Aix en Provence, Nice, Abbey de senanque, Isle sur la sorgue, Arles.
- This time we would prefer to take a train from and back to Paris. We can do a day trip from our base but don't want the visit to be too rushed.
- I had considered Montpellier (with a visit to the Camargue national park), Bordeaux or Toulouse.

Is any of these an advisable destination? Any other place you can recommend? Thank you.

It about 3 hours by train but Grenoble is an interesting area....Lyon etc. lots of choices.

DW and I just returned from Lyon in September and I can highly recommend it. We did a day trip by bus to Annecy (trains were slower and more expensive) and it was the highlight of DW's entire trip.

"I am aware that the weather will be cold and wet in most places"
There may be a chance of about 50 per cent for that

While you have four days, you also have to consider you will be recovering from jet lag and also that your time back to Paris will est into your time budget.

What are your interests? Have you considered Normandy/Brittany or maybe Alscace region? Problem with those is it night not be good for time of year. I have yet to go to Lyon as suggested above (planning June 2026) and am aware of many museums which would give you options if it is too cold or rainy (or maybe even snowy!).

Sounds like us. We spent 4-5 days in Lyon at the end of this past February/very beginning of March and had pretty decent weather. Lots to see and do (and eat) in the city, with some easy day trips. One is to Vienne for the Gallo-Roman museum and sites. Lyon is an easy train ride to/from Paris.

We liked our few days in Toulouse with an easy daytrip to Albi. Carcassonne is less than an hour by train from there and would be another easy daytrip. I suppose it is possible that because it is in the southwest, the weather might be somewhat warmer and drier in early March.

You do not want to travel far if you only have four days or the journey and all that surrounds moving bases will leave you with very little time at you second destination. Effectively only two full days. You need to look at how long journeys are to the places you mention and add on checking out/in getting to and from stations etc to that.

Wherever you choose you need enough inside activities unless you are prepared to get wet/cold.

Thank you for the suggestion. Checking the train timing and weather etc.

Thank you. You are right - even a 2-3 hour train journey from and to Paris will make the day long because of the added time to the train station.

Thank you. Yes, Toulouse is still in my shortlist but the duration of the train journey is making me have second thoughts.

Thank you. The relatively short train journey from Paris makes Lyon a good option, with enough to do on a very rainy day, plus good food. Would you have any recommendations for food that you absolutely loved during your visit?

Thank you for your reply. We had intended to go to Normandy a few years ago and this time of year, it may not be the best option. I visited Strasbourg many years ago as a student and fell in love with the place. Will look up the weather trends once more. We enjoy historical sites, good food and wine.

Thank you. Looking at this in detail now.

I love Lyon! My favorite restaurant is Daniel et Denise. Another nice option is Bordeaux ...

Thank you for the restaurant recommendation. Narrowed down my options to Lyon and Bordeaux now.

Sounds good to me, just know it's going to be a long trip.

A few logistical issues present themselves.

You assign three days in Paris, but arrival day will involve mostly getting from the airport to lodging, getting set up there, maybe eating a meal or two, and resisting jet lag. This suggests that day doesn't really count. Similarly, departure day from Paris will include packing, checking out, getting to the airport with a safe margin for unexpected delays, so scotches that day. You wind up with one fully usable day in Paris.

You will choose your second site. Wherever it is, you will use most of a day checking out of Paris, traveling, checking in at the second site lodging,

You cannot avoid the logistical overhead of the arrival and departure days, but one transfer day can be reclaimed by not returning to Paris. Return home from your second site. Use the saved day for more useful time at your second site or extend your time in Paris at the front end of your trip.
Alternatively, travel directly to your second site and put all Paris time at the end of your trip.

A third alternative, the one I favor, is stay the whole week in Paris and do two daytrips from the Paris base. There are a plethora of options, which can be juggled depending on the weather. Also, take into account that a one week trip must include a weekend and any weekday closures for various targets of touring. That's why I travel on weekend days.

Rethink and improve your vacation immensely.

We based in Montpellier before the TGV from Paris was there and loved it. Do check what's to do in this wonderful college town! If memory serves, we trained to Arles for the day from there and I wished for a longer stay! Please report back.

Thank you. You raise a valid point about logistics and timing. We land in Paris at 6 am on day 1 and leave Paris in the evening on day 8. So yes, we will get about 1 and 3/4 days at the start and 1.5 days at the end, in theory. Practically speaking, we will lose time in travelling. Need to work out the pros and cons of option 1 versus option 3 (a couple of day trips from Paris).