One week in July
 

It seems as though I will have one week on my own following a two week stay with family in Normandy next July. Where to go? Lyons? Paris? Copenhagen? Scotland? I should be in Oxford towards the 7th day. And would prefer staying in one place for the major portion of the time. It is a delight to think of all the possibilities. Suggestions?

Go to Paris. In a week you'd barely see much of Paris. It's an easy train trip.

No sense going anywhere else. You can take tha chunnel to Englan on the 7th day.

I know Paris would be the most practical and I would very much like making a dent in the Louvre. But I've been to Paris many times and sort of feel I should discover another spot.

If you don't want to go to Paris then why is it on your list of choices, above?

Of the places you have listed, Paris is definitely my suggestion but sounds like you've ruled Paris out. I wouldn't recommend a week in Lyon or Copenhagen so I guess Scotland would be what's left. We enjoyed Scotland but I wouldn't think you could do it justice without a car.

I think I'd try and get something done so maybe rent a bike and do the first half of the danube bike path. Not one place but one area.

OK -- we are sort of working in the dark here. Your OP sounded a bit like you've never been before. Now we hear you have been at least to Paris MANY times.

So how about telling us <i>where</i> you've visited before. Then we can make better suggestions. And what sorts of things/places do you enjoy?

Sorry to have been so vague. I have not ruled Paris out and it was my first "oh my gosh let's stay there" choice. And of course it would be easy to take the Euro Star to London and on from there to Oxford. And Paris does have everything i enjoy (museums, sidewalk cafes, pastry!). But I have been there many times and was just wondering if I shoudn't try another city besides Paris or London. A little hotel in a good area in a city which is easy to get to from Paris. And I am still being vague. I am definitely not up for a hiking/biking week being in my early 70's with a bum leg. Perhaps in Belgium?

Sorry about the leg, I met a guy in Florence with a bad one and his wife was in a wheel chair and they had just roller bladed the length of the Dutch coast (him pushing) but you know your leg :-)

(museums, sidewalk cafes, pastry!).
Vienna is so obvious (cheap flights), Milan, maybe, Brugge (not so hard to get to Oxford) maybe, Berlin no, Amsterdam a possibility. I hate to say Cambridge, York (better than Cambridge I think).

Brugge sticks out and you know it's on the camino to Santiago :-)

Apart from Paris, every interesting city in Western Europe is equally distant, in time and usually cost, from Oxford. The time spent getting to and from, and hanging round in, airports massively outweighs the ten to twenty minute difference in journey time.

Personally, I'd say Rome, Florence, Venice or Naples if you're flying. Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin and Milan (and I THINK Venice) are doable, just, by same-day train (though personally I run out of things to do about day 3 in all of them bar Venice) - as is almost everywhere within the area they bound. Lyons makes sense for a week really only if you're into food.

Alternatively: Avignon/Arles (train), Chiantishire or Sicily (plane, but a car's then really essential for both)

PS:

If looking at the "destinations" page on airport websites is a source of holiday ideas, do remember that Southampton and Birmingham are also Oxford's local airports, and quicker to get to Oxford from than Gatwick, Luton or Stansted. Flights to them from the Continent are usually significantly cheaper than to Heathrow.

Biboburgler, I do like the idea of Burgge on the Camino to Santiago. There is an appeal there, not to mention the lure of appropriate postcards to send home. Keep them guessing as to what direction I am heading. And many thanks to Flanneruk as I keep forgetting about using the smaller airports which really can be a cost saver. I remember very much liking a brief stay in Dijon many years ago and perhaps a divide between Paris and Dijon? Pastry and mustard.