Hi there,
We are planning a family trip to Southern Europe in Dec/Jan and Paris in Jan ad have booked an apartment in Paris at the end of our trip for 7 days. After 4 weeks of visiting Morocco, Rome, Spain and London we thought a week in Paris at the end would be great. But as we only have 7 days max in France we are thinking that perhaps we should only stay in Paris for 4 nights and spend 3 nights staying somewhere a few hours out of Paris, possibly in a beautiful French town to give our girls a different experience. Is there any place not too far from Paris that would be worth the effort to go or would it be better to spend the whole week in Paris and be able to soak up the whole atmosphere. Weather is also a consideration given that it will be very cold. I would love to hear your thoughts here.

My thoughts are why short change Paris when you are going to be 4 weeks everywhere else and not in France. Take some time off of Spain, go to Provence and then to Paris. A week in Paris is not very long.

I don't know why you would short-change Spain, which can have pleasant December weather, to see more of France.

For me, the prospect of unpredictable, possibly very difficult weather in Northern France at that time of year would make me want to stick to Paris for the entire week and maybe do day trips when the weather is nice. But if you get days where it is very cold and wet, not being pre-committed to a countryside stay could be a bonus, and there is always lots to do indoors in Paris.

I love Nice off-season. But day trips out of Paris would work too - if you do that make sure to include Chartres.

I don't think this is going to be as wonderful as you think in January, going outside Paris to see some wonderful small town in the countryside or something. Not sure what you are seeking that would be so wonderful, though, that you'd want them to experience it. The only places I'd recommend are big cities, also, and they will be different just because they would be smaller, but I wouldn't go to the trouble myself at that time of year (eg Reims or Strasbourg). A few hours outside Paris isn't that far, Paris is a huge urban area.

Strasbourg would be most different, I guess. If you really want some small town, I guess you could go to Chartres, although I'd rather be in Paris. Dijon would be a possibility but it isn't some small town, but at least it would be different and is a lot smaller than Paris. It's nice.

I still wouldn't do it in January.

In Jan I would go only to another city - since the days are very short, grey with the possibility of cold rain/sleet/ice/snow and the countryside is brown andc runchy - not much to look at. Fine to do a day trip to Versailles for the palace or similar - but otherwise I would stay in Paris.

Unless there is some specific sight that you want to see. If so I would check the web site to be sure it is open in Jan.

The provinces tend to be dreary in the winter. Stick to Paris.

"Dreary?" Really? The ski slopes are dreary? The Medterranean coast is dreary? Strasbourg, Lyon, Nice etc. are dreary? Maybe you need get around more.

In spite of the TGV, I do not consider the Côte d'Azur or the Alps as a "few hours from Paris" in the context of the original posting. Lyon and Strasbourg would also escape the dreary definition. But I still stand by my opinion that the tourist appeal of provinces and its small towns in the summer does not carry over to the winter time.