dbourget

Two couples traveling for the first time in France and Switzerland, arriving early a.m. Sept 16 in Paris and departing Sept 27 from Zurich. We have an apartment in the St. Germain area from our Thursday arrival until the following Tuesday. Planning on taking the train from Paris to Nancy, where we'll pick up a rental car and tour the Alsace region, staying at La Haute Grange from Tues - Sat. Not sure if we'll take the car to Zurich or drop it off in France, then train it. Love the outdoors and looking for special events that may be happening while we're in the region. Would love to hear your thoughts on our itinerary. Trying to keep it somewhat open for relaxation and spur-of-the-moment fun.

Thur: arrive early CDG; shuttle to apartment on Rue Saint Romain; potential sites are Pantheon, Latin Quarter, St. Sulpice; Lux Gardens; Seine cruise at night.
Fri: Bike tour (possible Bike About Tours); Tullieres, Grand Palais, Louvre
Sat: Notre Dame, St. Chappelle, Musee d'Orsy; Eiffel Tower
Sun: Versailles day trip
Mon: Giverny day trip
Tues: Montmartre, Sacre Cour; train to Nancy; tour Nancy; pick up car; drive to B&B in Freland
Wed: tour Strasbourg
Thurs: Route de Vin and the little towns along the way
Fri: Colmar; Mulhouse
Sat: (not sure if we'll drive or train); Basel, Zurich
Sun: Zurich
Mon: depart

Don't have much detail for the Alsace and Swiss portions yet....still workin' on it! Thanks in advance for your help.

wren

One suggestion I would make is:

Since Mulhouse and Basel are so close, I would not use part of Friday to see Mulhouse--just see it the day you are headed to Basel.

We enjoyed Riquewihr, Ribeauville, Kaysersberg, and Equisheim very much--which are all near Colmar.

bilboburgler

your paris time targets are pretty tight. D'Orsey can take a load of time so might try to make Eiffel in the evening.

Strasbourg might limit it to half a day unless you are ging to look at WW1 or WW2 sites.

Alsace, you gotta visit Eguisheim, if only there for a day I'd duggest tasting the better wines so look towards Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris. Vendarge Tardive and Grand Cru. I Eguisheim you have Bruno Sorg's winery and just down the road Rene Mure. Hugel is further north.

kerouac

I would recommend taking the train to Metz. You can visit the Pompidou Center which is just a few steps from the station and see some of the rest of the city as well.

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...enter-metz.cfm

You could either pick up your rental car in Metz (Nancy is less than on hour away on the A31 which is free), or else take the commuter train (Metrolor) there -- departures every 15 minutes or so.

I would certainly spend at least one night in Strasbourg.

HappyTrvlr

Also enjoyed the villages that wren listed but ended up being disappointed in Colmar. I would guess that if you drop the the rental car off in Switzerland you will pay a substantial drop off fee, so taking the train from Colmar to Basel or Zurich is probaly more cost effective.

wren

We were also disappointed with Colmar..HT.

We did basically the opposite itinerary of dbourget's this summer...trained from Bern to Basel --took the shuttle (10 minutes) to the airport, crossed over to the French side (Mulhouse)and picked up our car, drove to our gite in Obernai. I would suggest doing that in reverse--dropping off your car on the French side of the airport and then taking the train into your destination in Switzerland.

klondike

We were in Strasbourg from Friday 3:00pm to Saturday noon this past weekend and barely scratched the surface. I agree with Kerouac; overnight in Strasbourg!

wren

I also loved Strasbourg when I visited there last month, but IMHO, if I only had 3 full days in Alsace and had just spent 5 days in Paris, I would concentrate on the cute little towns and the Route du Vin, rather than use another day in a city...if I went to Strasbourg at all, I would go on a daytrip.

Michael

Drop off your car at on the French side of the Basel airport to avoid hefty cross-border drop-off fees. There is a local bus that will take you into Basel.

dbourget

Thanks to all for your comments. They are most appreciated.

kerouac: Metz looks very interesting! Certainly an option to discuss with my traveling companions.

Given the time of year that we'll be in the Alsace region..and especially given that we're there during the week and not the weekend, I am hoping that we'll be able to relax after our Paris experience and play things by ear. I hope we can take our time and enjoy the small towns mentioned above, wander the streets, hopefully enjoy the good weather (!), stay out of doors versus in museums, etc. Did I mention wine and picnics? Does that sound reasonable? Wren, I'd love to hear more details about your time in the region, given we're doing your trip in reverse!

Thanks also for the tips on the car rental.

PalenQ

If there is a huge drop-off fee for picking up car in France and returning it in Zurich then drop it in France as close to Basel as possible - such as in Colmar, if possible, which is a short train ride from Basel, which has frequent trains to Zurich. If there is no appreciable drop off fee then i would drive all the way to Zurich - perhaps hitting such famous places like the Rhine Falls en route.

phenry

We are currently in Strasbourg having just driven here from Metz this morning. Not much to contribute just yet...however, we just completed 15 days in Paris with side trips to Giverny and Versailles. You can easily do Monet's garden in 1/2 day if you leave Paris to arrive for the opening of the garden...it is actually not that large a garden...you will see everything you want and be back in Paris by 1:00 and you won't even feel rushed or tired. Versailles is HUGE...plan for your absolute maximum amount of time and be prepared to be wiped out when you're done with it (well, we did it on one of the hottest days of the year, so that was a contributing factor.) I assume you know about the Paris Museum Pass - it includes Versailles (which will normally cost you around 26 euros, can't remember) so it is an excellent value. When you get to Versailles consider taking one of the guided tours of the interior (cheap...about 7 euros and and aprox 90 minutes)...why? The guides show you rooms that are not open to the rest of the tourists - it is quiet, shows a different side of the palace and the info you get is insightful and thoughtful...your ticket for these tours also gives you a free audio guide for the rest of the palace (usually you have to pay extra for that)...so again, a little added value for a whole lot of impact. I am surprised you have not included the Rodin Museum in your list...it is only about a ten minute walk from the D'Orsay and is absolutely enchanting with the garden full of sculptures as well as the displays in the house. This is a lovely respite from a busy day, can take only an hour or two of your time, and is just wonderful. Do It! Did you know the D'Orsay is undergoing a big renovation? It is open, but the top floors are under reno...they have moved many of the Impressionist paintings and put them together (Van Gogh and Gaugain, the 'mad geniuses' are side by side.) As the top floors are not accessible, the museum takes less time to view than normal. (I was there in '07 and could have spent two full days here, this time I was satisfied with just the afternoon.) Finally, if your time allows, consider looking at the Paris Walks website www.paris-walks.com as these are wonderful 2 hours walks led by very knowledgeable guides...(great stories and anecdotes to tell...for example,take the one in Montmartre and they will show you Amelie's restaurant, Van Gogh's & Picasso's work space to name a few.) It is only 12 euros and you really get a focused, informative view of a neighbourhood.
You will love Paris - magnificent city...one last tip...if you do get the Museum Pass use it to go the top of the Arc de Triomphe...go at 9:30 pm....see a panoramic view of Paris and then at 10:00 p.m. you will see the Eiffel Tower light show...it only goes for about ten minutes but it is pretty nifty...after than the Tower is beautifully lit for the rest of the evening.

phenry

One last thing...we followed Stu Dudley's hotel advice as to where to stay in Strasbourg...www.hotel-gutenberg.com. This is a total WOW place...98 euro a night, includes breakfast, in a superior room....just a fabulous place...very boutique,fresh and modern interior... on the edge of the pedestrian area. We are here right now and are thrilled with the accommodation.

Stu or fodorites...if you're out there, could you give us a recommendation for our next stop in the Burgundy region? We want to plant ourselves for three of four days and are planning to be in Beaune Saturday morning for the market. Suggestions and tips greatly appreciated for anywhere in the region.

HappyTrvlr

We loved Strasburg and it is such a short train ride from Paris.
One thing we found interesting was about food in Alsace. We don't like a steady diet of German food and were pleased that a second French menu was usually offered. Moroccan dishes were often on the menu, tagines, due to the influence of so many Moroccans in the area who work in the vineyards.

dbourget

phenry: thanks so much for your insights and tips. I will certainly take advantage of the Museum Pass and add the Rodin into the itinerary. I will also try to be at the top of the Arc to witness the Tower lighting. Sounds magnificent. I had also wondered about Giverny timing, so thanks for that tip as well.

HT: I'm very pleased to hear of the French and Moroccan dishes offered, as I too can't do pure German food for too long either! ;-)