My husband and I will be in Paris for four days next March and are wanting suggestions for a side trip that would include castles and/or wineries. Any suggestions?

Are you planning on seeing Paris at all?
If you are , there is very little time for
side trips .Versailles is your best bet - about 25 min. by RER.

The Chateau Chantilly is another quick visit. It can be accessed with a train from Paris. It's not as grande as Versailles but then again, it's less time needed to visit.

Blackduff

Hi O,

With only 4 days in Paris, I wouldn't take any daytrips.

I agree with ira, don't take any.

I would also agree with that, but by side trip, do you mean day trip? Or do you mean going somewhere else and staying a couple days? Because the Ile de France is not wine country and there aren't any great vineyards for a day trip from Paris, and I wouldn't do that in March anyway. What would you do at a winery in March?

I have to agree that with only 4 days, you may want to re-think a day trip. There is more than enough to keep you occupied. If you insist, I'm going to put Chateau Chantilly as a possibility on my next week long visit.

I would go to Versailles, even if in Paris for only four days.

I disagree with those who told you to stay in Paris all four days. Sure, there is plenty to do to fill a week or more, but we like to see the countryside too. An easy day trip or overnight is to Reims and Epernay, home to a ton of great champagne houses, like Moet, Pommery, etc. It is about 1 1/2 hour by train from Paris with great restaurants.

Fontainebleau Castle is approx. 35 mn by RER from Gare de Lyon.

Another vote for no side trips. And I suspect when you get there, you will just say the same thing.

All within 1 hour of Paris:

Rouen, Moret sur Loing, St.Germain En Laye, Nogent sur Marne and Chantilly.

You can do all by train, no car needed.

Larry J

ttt

I'd agree with others in that if you have never been to Paris you should not plan anything outside of the city.

Are you landing in Paris from sowewhere else and then flying somewhere else? In that case, you could subtract 1/2 day at both ends of your trip for arriving/departing hotel+CDG. I was there in November from a Thursday to a Monday, of which Thursday afternoon to Sunday evening were available for touring.

This is not to say you should never consider a sidetrip, but you will find it will mean cancelling interesting things in Paris. In addition, at that time of year the vineyards in the regions of Paris may not be "picture perfect". I went to Rheims end of January, had a nice visit of the Taitinger cellars, but views of hills around there were desolate.

Let us help plan an itinerary for you. I think you will find that even with 4 days you would not see everything. I've been 8/9 times and am still looking at a list of the things I've never seen. My trip in November was a fill-in trip, and I still had a full 3.5 days and did not see everything I had planned to.

There are plenty of medieval buildings in Paris, the Louvre at one time was a castle, and there are plenty of wine bars, and even a vineyard in Montmartre, that could, if you squint, maybe satisfy your needs.

If you must, no arguments accepted, take a side trip, consider Versailles. You could go on your own, or take one of the bus tours that go everyday. It will take a full day. As an example:

http://www.parisvision.com/

Mike

Unless you've been to Paris before 4 days is really minimal even to see the basics.

As for a palace - the Louvre is an enormous one - or Versailles is 30 minutes away.

Note that these are palaces - not castles (which are midieveal fortresses bult for military purposes) - which do you rally want to see.

And agree - there is nothing to see in vinyards in March. And you can buy all the wine you want in Paris.

I don't see any reason to stay in Paris for your entire four days. There is nothing "more worthy" of your time there than anywhere else in the country. It's a matter of picking and choosing what interests you. If you are more interested in castles and wineries than the Louvre and Sacré Coeur, then the former is where you should spend your time.

Having said that, you should factor in the time it takes to travel to the destination. If it's one of the nearby castles like Chantilly or Vincennes, then this is a non-issue - but if you're thinking Fontainebleau or something, consider that you'll use up several hours jus getting there and back.