Hello,

My partner and I are looking to jump in to an intensive trip planning process for the starting in the last week of July (2025) through the beginning of August. We would have 14 days coming from NYC and are still rounding exactly what we would like to see and accomplish on this trip. We are big outdoors people and also sommeliers so hiking and seeing a couple of wine regions is on our list. We are also very big into food I must mention. We are open to renting a car or multiple cars for different junctures of the trip. One thing we are wary of is the potential for August/summer closures in our respective destinations. I apologize now for any lack of clarity in this post. Please let me know what I can add to help you help us plan an amazing trip. We've been so appreciative of the Fodor's community in the past (we are pretty content making thorough trip plans on short notice, last August we went to Japan for two weeks and planned it all within 3 weeks or less).

Things we really want to do:
Hiking for at least a couple of the days (with at least one all day or so intensive hiking day). It would be cool to hike in both the Savoie and Swiss side (and/or the Italian side in Gran Paradiso). We'd like to do a couple of fine dining meals, visit the Chartreuse distillery, possibly visit Dolin (vermouth producer) in Chambery, see a cheese producer

Some thoughts on how we'd generally arrange the trip:

Fly into Paris from NYC > Train to Geneva (i.e. land 2pm Paris could train to Geneva in time for 8pm dinner)
Vaud, Laussane, Hiking SUI (4 Days)
Valle d'Aosta or NW Piemonte (2 Days)
Savoie (3 Days)
Northern Rhône (Wine Related) (2 Days)
Lyon (1.5-2 Days)
Train (Or Fly) Back to Paris from Lyon to Fly Back Home


We are extremely flexible at this point and super open to ideas and advice. We are quite active if I haven't mentioned and can log 25-30K steps easily for 1-2 weeks. We definitely like a pack-it-in style vacation and really try to take advantage of time away. One big thing is if we fly in July 31 and out August 13 how hard will reservations for dining and other activities be? I know we hear a lot about August being such a heavy closure month for France and its neighbors.

I'm sure I'm forgetting tons of stuff but I'll leave this hear and thank you all in advance for your contributions.

My experience with the places you mention is limited to Lyon, so I have just a couple of thoughts:

Why fly into Paris rather than Geneva? For that matter, why fly out of Paris rather than Geneva?
IMO, 1.5 or 2 days is very little for Lyon.

Maybe my post will "top" your thread and so bring it to others' attention.

I'm not sure how Lyon got into the mix, but it's a super walking town! I would spend at least two nights there and enjoy exploring its many markets, museums, murals, and Roman ruins.

As above: the easiest solution would be to fly directly into GVA.

If you land at Paris CDG at 2pm, the dfirst train that you can book should leave CDG around 4pm.
The TGV leaving the airport railway station at 14.59 seems to leave too early IMO.
So you could leave CDG airport by direct Lyon bound TGV 5120 and arrive there at 18.25.
Lyon is full of excellent restaurants. The question is rather whether you could enjoy a good (and expensive) dinner after a overnight flight.

You could easily spend 3 days or more at Lyon, Vienne, Perouges, etc.
If you want to assist to the Lake GENEVA FIEWORKS on August 1st (Swiss National Day), you should spend he night August 1st/2nd around Lausanne, however
https://www.myvaud.ch/en/P8091/fireworks-in-ouchy

The goided visit of la Chartreuse would take about 2 hrs.
https://www.chartreuse.fr/en/ticketi...ur-in-english/
If you vist the museum in the morning, will then have lunch and start the guided visit of the distillerie at 13.40, you may be busy for most of the day.
Otherwise spend a few hrs at Grenoble, a rather underrated provincial university town.

Aosta is an excellent hiking paradise. Best access from Lyon by car via Chamonix (another gem) and the Mont Blanc road tunnel. But know that August is top high season in Italy..

I don't know what you mean with "Northern Rhône (Wine Related)"
The northernmost point of the Rhone river (resp Lake Geneva) is Lausaanne in Switzerland, where you find tons of vineyards..

May be you pass the first night and the morning of August 1st in Lyon and proceed then to Lausanne (by rental car or by train, both in about 3 hrs).
From the vineyards of Lake Geneva, you could proceed to the Swiss Canton of Valais and then reach Aosta Valley via the Gd St-Bernard Pass.

It's of course easy (but somewhat strenuous) to hike for example from Chamonix (France) via Orny Hut - Val Ferret - to either Courmayeur or Aosta in Italy and back via Cervinia/Breuil - Matternorn Paradise to Zermatt in Switzerland.
But that would probably take more time than you can afford. The luggage deposit problem could probably be solved (luckers in the railway station of Martigny or so).

The best Gran Paradiso Park hikes are marvellous and endless.....If you want to hike from Valley to Valley, you better stay at Aosta city (much Roman stuff!) and reach the hiking trails by bus.

Lyon is handy for the last night, because only Lyon has directg trains to CDG. But only if your plane leaves after noon.(TGV Lyon dp 5.50am). Personylla I would leave Lyon he evening befora at 7pm and proceed from CDG by commuter train to a relatively cheap hoel around Palais des expositions (2 stops por so).

In addition to what I posted 2 min ago:
There is a Air France morning flight from GVA (dp 7.20) to CDG.

1st August firework at lausanne

Gondola from Cervinia (Aosta Valley) to zermatt (Switzerland)
https://www.cervinia.it/en/cosa-fare...lpine-crossing

Can’t advise on Swiss and Italian portions, but agree with those who say flying into Geneva would be more convenient, and would suggest you could easily spend two weeks between Haute Savoie, Savoie, Lyon and the French northern Rhone — am guessing you mean Tain-l’Hermitage, Cornas, St Joseph appellations? There is good hiking in the Vercors between Grenoble and the Rhone.

Anne-Sophie Pic’s 3 Michelin star restaurant in Valence is showing evenings available in early August. You are, of course, aware of Lyon’s foodie reputation.

Thanks everyone for the responses.

So the big thing about flying out of NYC to Paris first as opposed to Geneva is flight availability. We would like to work the day of our flight and grab a redeye flight as late as possible (I see options at 12:15am and 1am). If we were to go straight to Geneva we would lose more than half a day. Sure, we would lose time traveling from Paris to Geneva but honestly we would look forward to a TGV train where we could rest following the flight. We may consider flying back from Geneva as there may be some possible flights that make sense. Basically we want to maximize the 14 days I am permitted to be off and don't mind the expensive of very late or very early flights.

For those that brought up the Northern Rhône and its relation to wine, yes the Rhône flows all the way from Switzerland passing it's major regions the Valais and the Vaud but in a wine sense people refer to the Rhône being the Northern (Hermitage, Côte Rôtie (Ampuis is the major town here), Cornas, Saint-Joseph) and the Southern Rhône (Châteuneuf-du-Pape, Gigondas) so think Montélimar to Orange to Avignon. We would only be interested in this Northern sector which is much closer to Lyon. We'd like to do more of this wine specific part of the trip towards the end to minimize lugging around excess bottles throughout the whole trip.

Maison Pic is on the list, my partner worked with some alum of the restaurant here in NYC. I'm not sure if we would want to do a 2/3 Michelin type restaurant our first night after a flight, again another reason to leave Lyon until a bit later.

Lyon isn't essential for us to devote more than two days for despite it's many, many, many things we'd like to do and see there. We know we will come back but this is a trip focusing on hiking, food, wine with just a touch of city mixed in.

For logistics' sake, we could depart the Northern Rhône wine part of the trip from Valence to Lyon on one of the many trains that seem to run from early morning to 21:45. We could then spend our last couple of days in Lyon before getting to Geneva or Paris for the flight back to NYC.


Anyone have insight about restaurant and attraction closers for these first two weeks of August in Switzerland, France and/or Italy? Thanks so much!

Tain-l’Hermitage/Tournon makes a great base, with its cooperative tasting room as well as a big Chapoutier store with tastings. Le Cerisier in Tournon and Le Mangevins in Tain belong on your radar, at much lower price points than Mme Pic. Easy and medium hikes abound: https://www.visorando.com/randonnee-...sur-rhone.html
or you can take the little train up into the hills of the Ardèche.

Would you enjoy a medieval festival? There are two nearish ones, but you’d need a car:
- on the first weekend in August Saint Antoine de l’Abbaye (a “plus beau village”)
-second weekend in August, in Desaignes, a “village de caractère”.
From Savoie to the Northern Rhone would be easier by car, and would allow you to stop and walk any number of attractive trails in the Vercors.

Nothing speaks against a late departure from NYC.
As to the arrival airport, it depends on your plans in Europe.
I understand that you plan a circular trip
Lyon - Lake Geneva/(Valais - Aosta Valley - Valence area - Lyon.
For the French leg of this trip you will need a car for sure, for the Italian one it might be a good idea whereas it wouldn't be necessary for Switzerland.

The airports along your itinerary are Lyon, Geneva and Turin.Non of these airports has direct flights leaving NYC around midnight.
The last Geneva bound direct (Delta) flight leaves JFK at 20.50.
The next flight offered by Delta/KLM leaves JFK at 0.50 to Amsterdam, with a connecting flight to GVA ar 16.30 (with a rather tight connection at AMS)
Fights to Turin and Lyon go via CDG: NYC dp 1.00, TRN at 18.20, LYS ar 17.45 (the latter is cheaper).
Delta/Air France flights to GVA are cheaper than those to Lyon,
Those to Paris are even cheaper, of course, but the cost of the train to Lyon cannot be neglected.

I suppose you will reach Lyon or Geneva by plane or TGV from Paris, rent there a car (at Geneva airport on the French side) and start your circular trip after having spent 1 day in the city..

Okay we've booked our flights after some deliberation so here is what it looks like for us. Everything is VERY open to adjustment for now, other than the flights.

July 31: Fly out of NYC at 1am, land in Paris 2:15pm, Train to Lyon (I know it's a hair over two hours. Optimistically we could take a 4:25pm train but realize we may have to settle for a 6pm and arriving at 8pm) Dinner and light walk around Lyon
Aug 1-2: Lyon

Aug 3: Train early from Lyon to Geneva (not spending time here just as a jump-off point)
Aug 3-6: Switzerland: Hiking, Lausanne, Valais/Vaud (maybe one winery visit) very open to ideas in this segment

Aug 7-10: Savoie: Hiking, Annecy, Chartreuse Distillery in Voiron, 2/3 *** Michelin Dining, Fromagèrie Visit, again very open to ideas in this segment

Aug 11-12: Northern Rhône, wine-related activities and misc. Ampuis (Côte-Rôtie), Hermitage (Tain), and/or Saint-Joseph (Tournon). A couple of winery visits, we would have a rental car at this point for sure.
Aug 13: Early morning train from Vienne to Paris. Ideally have 9-5pm in Paris before flying back. Fly back from CDG at 8:20pm


I would love to hear any feedback and/or ideas you may have. We are so thankful (and excited!)

I'm sorry, but I'm really not following. At the risk of sounding harsh (sorry), it sounds like you are planning on a magic carpet to get from place to place. Just one example: When, exactly, do you plan to go from Switzerland (from what specific location in that country) to Savoie (where, exactly)? On the 6th? the 7th? What about the time it takes to check in / out, pack / unpack, get lost / oriented, etc.?

Maybe this itinerary will work for you. I'm having trouble seeing how it all fits in.

I second kja
Furhtermore, I cannot understand your flight choice.
You booked Delta flights JFK dp 1.00 - CDG ar 14.24 (July 31st) and GDG dp 20.20 - JFK ar 22.00 (August 19th)
For 25 USD less/pax, you could have booked (with Dellta too) JFK dp 0.50 - GVA ar 18,35 (via AMS), GVA dp12.45 - JFK ar 15.50 (direct).

With your solution, you will have to add a TGV ticket CDG - Lyon (130 USD/pax standard fare) and another one Vienne dp 7.28 - Paris Gare de Lyon ar 10.34 (discounted web tickdet 48 USD/pax, as long as available).
Frankly, I cannot imagine that you will do much more than having lunch between end of luggage deposit at Gare de Lyon (11am) and luggage retrieval (4pm).

BTW it's possible to do day trips into the Swiss and French Alps from Geneva, but thats' neither the most practical nor the most economical solution.
Geneva hotels and restaurants as well as Swiss trains are rather expensive.

As you want to start at Lyon, the best solution would be to rent a car there fpor the whole period.

Thanks for your input. We do not want to extensively see Switzerland 3 full days is enough for us for our intents and purposes. Trains from Lausanne to Annecy are two hours. We could also get a rental car for the whole or certain legs of the trip (75 minutes driving from Lausanne to Annecy). We're looking to just stay around the Vaud and Valais. Perhaps the Panorama trail of Lake Geneva would make sense. For hiking there's also the Grand Tour de Vanils around Rossinière. (2 hours to drive to Annecy).

To answer your question I could envision leaving late the 6th or early the 7th. As a couple that has done this sort of itinerary in terms of number of days and locations, packing does not take very long for us, nor does checking in and out. Getting lost? Sure that happens but with four full days assigned to Switzerland and Savoie each I think there's plenty of room to get lost within that.

Thanks for your response. For sake of clarity we are flying back home to NYC August 13th, not the 19th.

Are you suggesting our flight from NYC would leave at 12:50am and get to Geneva at 6:35pm (local time)? Well we want to spend time in Lyon. We also won't have to deal with a layover. With your proposed return flight we would not have the opportunity to spend 6+ hours in Paris, a city we've been to separately quite a few times but never together.
With your idea, flying in and out of Geneva we would also have to take trains back to Geneva.

As far as Paris on the last day, there are trains from 6am onwards from Vienne that would get us to the city around 9:30am leaving us plenty of time to drop off luggage and retrieve it for an 8:30pm flight home. We've done this sort of thing before.

Perhaps some clairity on the flight choice, we want to leave very late Wednesday from NYC so we can work that day (not take another vacation day). We work in restaurants so work evenings. Flight options to Geneva are not available this late without significant layovers (and higher costs). We also want to fly back as late as possible for our return to maximize time abroad as we are totally fine with getting into NYC airports at 10:30pm and resting up before starting work at 3:30pm the next day.

We are looking at car rentals as well for the whole trip or legs of the trip.

We just found an Enterprise car rental for the entire trip for $600. This would avoid train fees and give us the luxury of getting around whenever and wherever we wanted. Pretty cheap for what we were expecting.

Please don't try to drive upon arrival in Paris -- you will not be safe to drive (safe for yourselves or anyone else one the roads) for at least 36 hours. And don't tell us it has worked for you before -- that just means you've been lucky.

That is indeed a good deal. If renting in France and driving into Switzerland, you know that you must buy a Swiss vignette at the border, yes? And that a car is not at all helpful in Lyon: would you rent just as you leave the city? Lastly, I trust you are not renting the car as soon as you land in Charles de Gaulle after a sleepless night and time zone change.
Haven’t been yet, but the wines and hikes around Aigle and Bex sounded appealing. Three nights in that area?

From there to Chambery or Voiron via Yvoire and Annecy is a manageable day’s drive with sightseeing time. Three or four nights in a smaller base with a car is better than a city, I think. Again, lots of pleasant hiking and wine in the Chartreuse area.
https://www.chartreuse-tourisme.com/...-destinations/
The drive to Valence ought to take you through the gorgeous Vercors which I’ve mentioned before. Other than Sophie Pic’s restaurant, however, there is not much to attract you to the city.