What city outside of France to visit with an 8 day trip to Paris?
 

My family decided to take a first time trip to Paris and want to visit another city as well. We originally planned on Barcelona but are wondering if there's somewhere else in Spain, Italy or elsewhere to see on our 8 day trip from the US that would make more sense time-wise. We've been to the UK, so wanted to see something new. We only have the total of 8 days including travel time.

Would appreciate any input. Thanks for your time!

>>We only have the total of 8 days including travel time. << . . . which only leaves you 5.5 days free to see/do anything. If you travel to some other country you'll lose another .5 to 1 full day so down to less than 5 days. And that is only if you fly open jaw into Paris and home from elsewhere. If you must return to Paris to fly home, you lose another half+ day.

So stick to Paris IMO.

With a total of 8 days you have day #1 with an early arrival and probably a jetlag, and day #8 with an AM departure. So you have 6 full days in Paris. Which is not bad to get to know the city, incl. the typical day trip to Versailles.
If the "other destination" was a total must, I'd get an open jaw ticket so you won't have to backtrack to Paris (and lose more time). Brussels and Amsterdam are in easy reach by highspeed trains.
Though I would not cut my first time visit to Paris short to only five days.

If you have to see somewhere other than Paris on such a short trip at least make it somewhere an hour or two away, IN France. I would vote for Chartres, which is a charming small town in its own right, and also has one of the best cathedrals anywhere, but I have no idea whether that is the kind of thing you would like.

"including travel time" means you have 6 days, and one of them with jetlag. NOT enough time to throw in another country, IMO.

Stay in Paris and do a couple of day trips if you'd like to get away from the city.

The reason I said 5.5 days . . . you arrive in the AM, have to get to central Paris, leave your bags, get a bite to eat, return sometime later when your room is ready and check in. Plus you'll be jet lagged - so day one nets you <i>maybe</i> half a day if you are lucky.

You sure ain't going to do the Louvre or the Musee de Orsay or any other serious sightseeing your first day in Paris.

What if we were able to add 2 more days?

I could easily stay in Paris for a whole month and see new stuff every day, and I've been 5 times already. But, if you absolutely must go elsewhere, I would go to Brussels or Bruges, Belgium. Makes for a long day trip, but it will let you see another totally different country. We did this in 2008 (11 days in Paris, 1 day in Bruges) and it gave us the Belgium bug and we returned there for 2 weeks in 2010 concentrating only on Belgium.

Then you'd have a week in Paris . . which is wonderful!

Or you could do a day or two in Normandy, or visit the Loire, or visit Giverney, or visit Chartres . . . .

How about a couple days in Amsterdam and then fly home from there? The fast train from Paris to Amsterdam takes 3 hours 20 minutes.

Amsterdam is definitely a possibility - just don't think that 3+ hour train ride means you get a full day in the next city. By the time you check out, get to the station, take the train, get to your next hotel and check in - even that 3 hour 20 minute train ride eats up half a day.

I just read on your other thread . . . w/ your health issues (best wishes w/ that) it is even MORE important to limit your travel hassles. 8 days minus flights minus jet lag . . . even if you can add 2 days stick to Paris. You can always take a day trip or on overnight to somewhere in the countryside.

If you really feel the need to visit another place, you could consider flying into Paris and out of London and taking the Eurostar train in between.

However, given the health issues mentioned, I would stick with France -- either do day trips from Paris or visit another area.

I can understand wanting to see more than Paris on a trip to Europe, most people do. Of course 8 days isn't long, but most people do visit more than one city in that time period on a trip, I sure do.

But the options are just the obvious, which is close enough. Of course London is, but you don't want to go there. So that leaves Amsterdam or Brussels (outside France, of course there are places in France you can easily get to in a few hours by TGV train). YOu could go to Switzerland, also, you can get to Lausanne by TGV in only 4 hours, direct.

I don't know about health issues, that's your call.

I think a lot of people on Fodors think people should never go anywhere but Paris, and talk about spending months there. Most people don't want to do that and do want to see other things in the world.

Barcelona.

I'll meet you in Barcelona cold. Can we do that as a day trip?

FMT - ask the folks up above with the stopwatches if a day trip is possible. They can figure out things to the minute.

((They always remind me fondly of this movie.))

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stopwatch_Gang

Oh I didn't read carefully enough to realize you had already been to London. Another option is taking a cheap flight from Paris to another city. You might take a look at www.whichairline.com to see cheap flights from Paris to other cities.

You don't have to decide now but you should do some research on easy day trips by train in case you get in the mood. My first choice would be Antwerp, but there are other possibilities.

I've flown to Paris from the US and returned in the same week and I did not lose 2.5 to 3 days in travel time or jet lag. I had time to visit other places outside of Paris.

fly into Paris and fly out of Venice - spend 5 days in Paris, hop the overnight Thello train to Venice - saving on wasting any travel time and also saving on the cost of a hotel - spend a few days in Venice and fly home.

Easily done if you really want a taste of Italy and Venice to me is the world's most sublime and beautiful cities.

Go for it - you may never get back to Europe. All 8 days in Paris would be about 4 too many for the average novice traveler. If not into night trains, fly to Venice.

For more on night trains and trains in general check www.seat61.com - good info on discounted fares on the Thello night trains; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com. www.thello.com is the official site for booking.

PQ - >>spend a few days in Venice and fly home<<

If they spend 5 days in Paris they will have less than one full day in Venice . . . do the math.

If you can add a day or two to the trip, do it! Even if you can't, going to another city is definitely do-able. If you take a late evening flight over, the first leg won't cut into your vacation time. You will definitely lose the last day to travel back (whether you do an open jaw ticket or not). That gives you 7 days in Europe. Yes, you'll be groggy the first day, so spend split the time so that you have 4 days in the first location, and 3 in the second. And yes, if you book a flight or take a train at 1:00 in the afternoon, you will lose most of that day to traveling between the cities. So don't. Get an early morning flight, late evening train, etc. Or decide that the train trip in the middle of the day watching the scenery go by is part of the experience of being in Europe!!

While I might choose to stay in Paris and see more of the surrounding area, I might also choose to do a Paris/Amsterdam trip or Paris/Barcelona trip or Paris/Venice. All are great choices and completely do-able with a little planning and understanding the trade-offs.

Enjoy!

Amsterdam is definitely a possibility - just don't think that 3+ hour train ride means you get a full day in the next city>

that's why the night train to Venice is a good possibility - no transit time in the day.

Yes janis I did not note 8 travel days total - means 7 as the last day you just go to the airport. The first day some folks make a whole day of it - like me, wishing to stay up to a normal clock time bedtime but still could be a wash out.

So Day 1 Paris
2, 3, 4, Paris
5, 6 in Venice

I think that is a very possible scnerio - assuming they travel at night - otherwise most of a day is wasted even if flying.

From Paris, we took day trips to Bruges, 3 Loire Valley chateaux, Versailles and Chartres. Obviously only Bruges was out of the country. First two were bus tours and second 2 we did ourselves on the trains.

I think a good day tour can save a lot of schlepping for tickets, directions, etc.

I agree that will all there is to do in Paris, you might not need to leave the city!

I second doing the Loire Valley, or perhaps head to the coast and see Mont St Michel!