Please critique our itinerary through France
My wife and I will be traveling through France for 2 weeks from Sept. 10 through the 24th. We fly SFO into Frankfurt, take the train to Strasbourg, go through our itinerary below before flying back from Paris on Sept 24.
We can afford up to 400 euros per night for lodging. More in Paris if we had to.. Please critique our activities vs. timeframe. Any not-to-be-missed? Any restaurant suggestions? We are not much into *** restaurants every night, rather bistros/cafes neighborhood eateries with great food and warm atmosphere. September 11 Arrive in Frankfurt. Train to Strasbourg. Hotel Rgent Petite France September 12 Train to Colmar Check out Colmar Lunch in Colmar Back to Strasbourg hotel September 13 Train to Colmar Take bus to do Riquewihr – Ribeauville Back to Colmar/Strasbourg September 14 Train to Lyon. Check into hotel. Hotel Royal Lyon Check out Lyon. Sunday - September 15 Train to Beaune Take wine tour??? Back to hotel September 16 Leave Lyon Take TVG. Go to Avignon Rent car in Avignon. Go to Arles. Lunch in Arles Go to Saint Remy en Provence Check in hotel. Hotel de L'Image September 17 Drive to Aix de Provence, Lunch in Aix de Provence Back to hotel September 18 Do Gordes Do Rousillon Do Lourmarin Back to hotel September 19 Do Les Baux des Provence Drive to Avignon Return car Check into hotel in Avignon. Hotel Le Prieure September 20 Train to Paris. Check into hotel. Hotel Villa Madame in the 6th Do Paris Eiffel Tower at night September 21 Picnic lunch in Jardin du Luxembourg Night river cruise Sunday - September 22 Guided tour to Versailles in the afternoon September 23 Do Montmartre walk September 24 Return home |
I have been mooning over Le Prieure's website! Have a blast.
|
Strasbourg,on Sept. 13 why not rent a car for the day to tour the Alsatian villages instead of going by bus. I think we picked up our rental car at the Strasbourg train station.You'll see more on your own; there are so many charming villages along the route.
|
@HappyTavelr - Thanks for the input. We thought about that, but we are a little concerned with parking the car overnight. It seems that the hotel is not very car-parking friendly, being smack dab in the middle of that peninsula. We'll check it out further when we get there.
|
IMHO you are not really spending any time in Strasbourg. I would spend the first and 2nd days there - then rent a car and make an early start - AM and lunch in Colmar and see the a couple of the wine towns on the way back.
Also I'm not sure about the Lyon/Beaune trekking to and fro. I think easier by car - and not so much circling. |
@nytraveler - Thanks for your thoughts. We will check out Strasbourg aplenty when we are not out-and-abount... We have heard a lot about the area around Strasbourg so we want to give it more time, no??
Unfortunately we will be in Lyon on Sunday. Not sure what, if anything, we can do other than take the train to... someplace to take in some different sights. We may need to just hunker down in Lyon for the day. |
Went back and reread the messages. I think the advice are so great. I think we will be very tired and jetlagged, so spending the 1st and 2nd days in Strasbourg may be the prudent thing to do.... then rent a car and do Colmar and the villages.
Renting a car and drive around on a Sunday from Lyon may also be The Thing to do... Thanks and please keep it coming. |
We had a friend pick up us in her car in Avignon at 9:00 am and drove to Rousillon, where we climbed to the top, had lunch, walked around. We drove through Gordes but did not have time to stop, and were back in Avignon at about 5:30.
Your September 18 day seems rather ambitious. |
>>Renting a car and drive around on a Sunday from Lyon may also be The Thing to do.<<
We were in Lyon about 2 1/2 weeks ago, and we also took the TGV to Lyon several years ago, picked up a car, and headed to Beaujolais. Driving in & out of Lyon is VERY difficult - I suspect even on a Sunday (is the car rental office open on Sunday?). And as you know, many shops will be closed on Sunday. Get a map at the tourist office and visit as many traboules as you can (indicated on the map). Just punch the "button" on the door and most will open for you to explore. Beaune will have some stuff open on Sunday (more things closed on Monday morning than on Sunday). I would do some traboule exploring on Sunday morning then head out to Beaune on the train. Agree with others about having a car in Alsace. All the villages are lovely, but it won't take much time to explore each one. Relying on trains & buses to get there may involve a lot of wait time. Many shops in Arles will be closed on Monday morning. IMO, you are visiting too many large cities - Strasbourg, Lyon, Arles (not as big as others), Aix, Avignon, & Paris - and not enough countryside/small villages. Do you have my 27 page Provence itinerary? I've sent it to over 3,000 people on Fodors. There is lots of detailed countryside drives/small-village visiting in it. If you would like a copy, e-mail me at [email protected] & I'll attach a copy to the reply e-mail. We live in the SF Bay Area. Stu Dudley |
All times are GMT -8. The time now is 06:20 PM. |