I plan to travel with my 17yo daughter for 11 days starting in Paris. We have been to Paris before so only need a day to recover/maybe another day to try to see the rebuilt Notre Dame and walk around Marseilles. We like good food, museums, walking around old towns, art, gardens. We will only take public transportation (train/bus if necessary). We need to depart from Nice.

Idea:

day 1 - Paris/recover

day 2- Paris

day 3 - train to Dijon

day 4 - Dijon

day 5 - Dijon (Beaune day?)

day 6 - Lyon

day 7 - Lyon

day 8- Aix

day 9 - Nice

day 10 - Nice

day 11 - Nice

Couple of things -

I may be able to extend the trip one day.

I don't drink (alcohol/had enough), so wineries and the like are not a focus.

I realize a lot of "moving on" and I don't mind "one night stands" too much but don't want to go crazy with itinerancy

Not sure about what to allocate in terms of time with Dijon/Lyon .

What to cut out?

MERCI

If in Paris, I seriously doubt that you'll be walking around Marseille!

This plan is way too fast paced for my tastes; YMMV. Here's what I recommend: Pull out a calendar and mark it up with realistic travel times. (You can get a good idea of the actual transportation times by using rome2rio.com. Be sure to add time on either end of EACH change of location to check in/out, pack/unpack, get to/from your lodging from your train station or whatever, time to get oriented....) You'll see that you basically "lose" a day with each of the transitions you are contemplating.

So, by my count, you have 1 day in Paris, 2 days in Dijon (and you are thinking of trying to visit Beaune as a day trip on 1 of those days), 1 day in Lyon, part of a couple of days in Aix, maybe 2 days in Nice -- or only 1, if you're planning to leave on day 11. (FWIW, it's always clearer to lay itineraries out by where you will spend the nights.)

I don't know what you hope to see in this very rushed trip and only you can decide whether it suits you. I strongly encourage you to consult a good guidebook or two before committing. If you have to start in Paris, but only want your first jet-lagged day there, and you must end in Nice (which easily merits several days, not counting day trips), you might try to pare your itinerary down to at most one destination in between.

Good luck!

Thank you kja!
I wrote down all the train times and realize one must add time (get to station, wait, get to next destination etc). Now that my tickets are "locked in" I must figure out what to pare down. I have been reading non-stop online and on this forum and in a RS book. At this point I'm sure whatever we decide in between Paris and Nice will be pleasant enough. If we are in Paris only 2 days and then Nice (3 or 4 days do you recommend?) what would you suggest makes logical sense for the time in between to stop? What is your recommendation?
Merci encore une fois (I took high school French

There is no point in adding Aix for a fraction of a day. For that matter, with all the moving and shifting, there is really little point in the whole trip if you want to see and do the kind of things you list in your post. Half your time will be butt in seat and arranging transfers.

Take an axe to your itinerary. Leave only Lyon and Nice. Fly into one and out the other. There is more than plenty to see and do in those two cities, plus you will then have time at each for a day trip or two. Someone is sure to add that you could add this or that, but trust the travel experience on this site, acting like the kid in the candy store trying to eat everything, the result is a tummy ache.

Welcome to Fodors. We tagged your thread for France and added "France" to the title so others will know what you are asking.

Welcome to Fodors . . . by 'Now that my tickets are "locked in" ' Can we assume you mean the flights and not the train journeys?

Another assumption -- you meant Le Marais and not Marseilles

How much of Paris did you see on you previous trip(s). Even if you've been many times, I personally would want more than one day for Paris.

I'm not a fan of RS's guidebooks -- they skip much of what interests me. FWIW, I'd encourage you to consult a Rough Guide or Frommer's or Fodor's or DK or really just about anything else. The Michelin Green is outstanding, if dense. Kudos for doing some research to improve your trip!

Forgive me, but I can't possibly answer that question! There are too many wonderful options, each with unique mertis. And my interests might not be the same as yours. You really need to make that decision.

For my interests, 4 nights in Nice worked well, with one jet-lagged day there -- but there are many places that many people visit as day trips from Nice that I went to and stayed a night or two, so I can easily imagine a delightful stay in Nice of a week or so. It really depends on what YOU want to see and experience. Y

ou might find my trip report of some help. The section on Nice begins with post # 46. The section on Aix starts with post # 150. The section on Lyon starts with post # 190. (I haven't been to Dijon.)
A stellar month in southeastern France

Enjoy your research!

Yes - le Marais! (just was reading too much about south of France) We stayed 5 days in Paris last time (Versailles, Notre D, L'Arc, Orsay, Louvre, Lachaise cemetery). Tonight I "locked in" the flight. Fly into Paris and out from Nice. Now I have to narrow down options:/ I haven't been too much a "day tripper" on my travels. I tend to like to move on and not retrace my steps. But if a place like Lyon has some shorter day trip I would definitely be up for staying put. Others are saying it's too much and I figured so. The more I read, the more it all mostly seems nice and I could probably put the cities in a cup and just draw one = decision made. I am tending to think of dropping Dijon and keep the rest. With little evidence this is a good decision but just since something has got to go haha. Any ideas welcome and thanks for replying.

Thanks AJPeabody for your reply. Unfortunately I have to fly into Paris and out of Nice (direct flights). So I will need to trim out stops in between. We spent 5 full days in Paris a couple of years ago. I was planning on 3-4 days for Nice. Do you have any suggestions (so I could then do further research)?

Museums, old towns.....
May be Provence might be as interesting as Nice.
Check Avignon, Nimes, Arles, Glanum, Les Baux de Provence......

Lyon medans a lot of things:
Roman stuff (together with nearby Vienne)
Museum of résistance and Jews deportation (WW2)
Textiloe museums
medieval city center

Nothing specific to recommend except keep the number of intermediate stops small. You may want to check where the TGV stops on the way to Nice.

Thank you Neckervd! I am a textile fanatic so will look into what Lyon offers. And I love the medieval stuff. I am thinking longer in Lyon and maybe a side trip. Thanks again.

Medieval things around Lyon:
Tiny city of Perouges
Tiny city of Oingt
Church of Brou (Bourg-en-Bresse)
Abbaye de Cluny
Fontenais Abbay
Church of St-Philibert at Tournus

And in Paris, don’t miss le musée de Cluny—

https://www.musee-moyenage.fr/en/

The textile arts museum in Lyon is closed for a major renewal. Here is a list of the temporary loans exhibited elsewhere, including the Institut Franco-Chinois in Lyon.
https://www.museedestissus.fr/pages/prets
There are other sights in Lyon related to the silk industry.

Thanks so much for alerting me to this closure!

Thank you - on my list!

Neckervd - I'm coming back to you since I see you post on other itinerary related France issues. I have looked up all the train times for my destinations - the longest is getting to Nice. Depends on where I'll be going from to Nice (Whether Lyon, Arles, Aix) but I am wondering just about if I should cut off a day from Lyon to have another day somewhere in between Lyon and Nice or just add another day to Lyon. What do you think? Arles is a little longer trip to nice than from Aix by train.
(I have budgeted 3.5 days for Lyon It seems there is a lot to do there. We must depart from Nice.) Thank you!
Day 1 - Paris
Day 2 - Paris
Day 3 - leave to Lyon
Day 4 - Lyon
Day 5 - Lyon
Day 6 - Lyon (leave for Aix?)
Day 7 - ((Lyon?) (Aix?)
Day 8 -leave for Nice
Day 9 -Nice
day 10 - Nice

I see that you are relatively new to Fodor's so perhaps you will let me offer some comments.

• Targeting a general question to a specific poster simply makes the rest of us feel excluded and reduces the likelihood of getting responses from us. If that's what you want, fine -- your call.
• If you want to ask a specific poster a specific question, I suggest that you use the option to quote something that person said and then enter your specific question.

Even though you've excluded me, I'll offer my opinion, which you might not find very helpful: It depends on what you want to see and do! Yes, there's more than enough to keep you busy in Lyon -- I though 4 days insufficient for MY interests. I've already noted that 4 nights worked well for me in Nice and that I also enjoyed places that can be seen as day trips from there (but that I saw afterwards). So far, I've spent only 10 days or so in Paris, where I've only scratched the surface. For me, I was glad to have nearly two days in Aix. And two nights in Arles.

IMO, you need to do enough research to decide what YOU want to see. NONE of us can tell you that.

Good luck!

There is a lot to see between Lyon and Nice (you could easily spend more than a week in this area), but that doesn't mean that 3 days is too much for Lyon or that 2 days is too much for Nice.
It's really up to you!