Paris
 

My wife and I have eight days to spend in Europe right after Thanksgiving, and we're definitely going to spend the last part of it in Paris. She hasn't been to Europe and it's a miracle I'm getting her to fly there, so I want to make the most of our trip. I think four days is enough for Paris for us, so I want time somewhere else. My first choice would be Venice, but that seems like a lot of traveling. Is it manageable, or is there something else better?

London, not much travel and a wonderful city IMO.

I second London...I LOVE Venice but to cut down on travel and since she has never been to Europe, I think London and Paris would be ideal for you. If you can do it...take the chunnel...I would think she would really like that if it's workable...JMO

I've taken the overnight train between Venice and Paris (reserved private sleeper cabin). Get an "open jaws" plane ticket so you can fly into Paris and out of Venice (or the reverse) to prevent having to make the train trip twice (often these arrangemetns are no more expensive than RT in/out the same city). Cost of the train ticket plus sleeper are about that of a nice hotel for 1 night. I thought it was fun and romantic.

I concur with the previous poster... get a flight from US to London, spend a few days, then take the train from London to Paris, spend a few days, and then fly Paris to US.

Should cost much more than a standard 2 city flight. Plus, you get to avoid a mid-trip schlep to the airport, a flight, and a schlep back into town from the new airport.

Rick in Maryland.

>...I think four days is enough for Paris for us,...<

Mind explaining why?

Iwould spend the full time in Paris.

we did a Paris - Amsterdam trip. ASmsterdam is about a 3 hr. train ride from Paris.

How long will this trip be? We spent 6 days Paris, 3 Amsterdam. We were with our kids and both my husband and myself had been to Paris before. None of us had been to Amsterdam. We felt that this was adequate time in both locations. I could always stay longer, but our schedule doesn't allow that!

A friend and I just spent five nights in Paris followed by five nights in Venice. Flew Volare out of Orly at 19:45 because we wanted another full'ish day of sightseeing, and were in our beds in Venice at 23:30. Easy!

My head says London, my heart says Venice but if it were me, I'd probably want to spend to whole time in Paris.

I vote for Paris and Venice because those are the places you want to go, and because they are so different that your wife will get a taste of the variety of cultures that make up Europe. I have taken a couple of trips consisting of three nights in one location and five in another with a flight between, and this has been a great way to make use of the time.

You might want to think about spending the entire time in Paris, taking a day trip or two from the city. Remember that in late November daylight hours will be short, cutting down on outdoor sightseeing.

I was in London four months ago for the fifth time. I could not believe how very little the dollar wa worth. It made the Euro seem like a bargain!

Anyway, you can get great, low coast flights to/from Paris on Volare Airlines. www.volare-air.com. We flew to Paris for anout $50 a person from Rome to cap off a two week trip to Italy this past February.

I am not sure of they go to Venice or not.

Only eight days?? Our 1st trip to Paris 4 years ago was for 8 days. My wife returned last year for 4 days (business) and we just yesterday returned from a 5 day visit. On the way back, all we talked about were the things we still must yet see and do there. In a nutshell, 8 days is NOT too long for a first visit.

Sure you could spend all 8 days in Paris, but my approach to European travel is different from most other posters, I want to see as much as I can in the time I have and then if I'm lucky enough to be able to go back I'll stay longer the next time. I've done both Paris and Venice and would vote for both of them, especially if you have already seen London(?). You can make it work and enjoy both. The shorter days just make you get to bed earlier and rest up for the next day. There are several musuems that have evening hours.

I'd consider spending all 8 days in Paris and its surroundings. Versailles and many Normandy sites are within reach from Paris (Giverny, Etretat, Honflour and possibly Mont Saint Michel and the WWII beachs). I'm sure there are other places close to Paris that I haven't been to.

If your post implies your wife doesn't like flying, staying closer to Paris would also make sense because these places an easy train ride from Paris.

Let me add my vote for the full time in Paris. To me 8 days in Venice would be too much, and if you split it, 3-4-5 days in Paris is not enough. Jusy my opinion.

in my opinion, 8 days is too short to try to visit paris and venice. many do it and you certainly can do it but why? by the time you recover from the flight to europe, it will be time for another flight. i'm sure you know what a pain it is to pack and unpack, make your way to and from the airport, wait and wait some more, security, passport queues, check out and in to another hotel, etc.

once you catch the bug you'll want to come back. both france and italy have a lifetime of travels in each. why try to do both in one very short trip.

You can get a good look at the sights in Paris in 4 days. If your wife is not a good flyer the chunnel train only takes 3 hours to zip you to London and you go from city-center to city-center. As beautiful as Venice is, London, Paris and Rome are still the crown jewels of Europe. Maybe after you break the ice with Paris and London you can make plans for an Italy trip in the future.

A second vote for the Paris-Amsterdam combination. A'dam is a convenient and comfortable Thalys ride away from Paree, and two cities provide quite the contrast - the big, grand scale of bustling Paris and the small, compact eclecticism of Amsterdam.
And although A'dam is quite different than Venice, you'll get the canals!

My husband and I flew volareweb from Orly to Venice earlier this month. The 9:00 flight from Paris had us at our hotel in Venice by noon. Return trip was on the 5:30PM and we were back at our Paris hotel at 8:00. Very doable especially if you're staying at the same Paris hotel-they may hold your excess baggabe in storage so you can travel light to Venice. The Paris Hilton held our baggage for three days at no charge. A great website for hotels is veniceby.com and parisby.com.