European Cities...

[Anonymous]

Where is nice to go...

already planning next summers yearly holiday and looking for a diversion from paris...

rough plan is..

Friday 23rd - travel to paris
Saturday 24th - paris
Sunday 25th - Paris
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday - Travel to newcastle Uk, for a wedding

Weve already done brussels, so thats out, considering munich as there is an overnight train we could take on the sunday, and spend monday, tuesday and wednesday in munich before travelling back to paris overnight on wednesday for one more nights accom on thursday before returning to england..

any other european cities that are easy to get to from paris, and not too expensive and time consuming that people can recommend? Ideally ones with easy NON FLYING routing back to the UK..

 

[Moondance]

I can strongly recommend Munich. Absolutely gorgeous, I could walk around that city [from biergarten to biergarten] all day.

 

[Anonymous]

Zurich maybe?

 

[auscyclefan94]

Well if you do Munich then you should do Wien, Salzburg and Bern.

 

[Bala Verde]

Saint Malo (not a big city) in Bretagne. From there on you can explore the Bretagne region.

Nice, Montpellier, Monaco and the French Mediterranean region, East-Occitan region. Aix-en-Provence is very historic.

Barcelona, probably too far, is amazing.

Vienna, certainly a city you must see. I liked the feel of the city more in the winter though.

Cologne, closer rather nice city, Berlin should be high on your list (although it's a little far from Paris, by train)

Milan? San Sebastian and the Basque region, also fantastic.

too many options!

 

[craig1985]

Dimspace, how about anywhere in Holland? Or go to the south of France on the TGV (no idea what your budget is like).

 

[LugHugger]

Dim, Gent and Bruges are both pretty cities. And they have lots of cobblestones! I know Belgium may not have the allure of some of the other European honey pots but these cities do have a great deal of charm.

 

[elapid]

Lyon is an interesting city, particularly if you follow the "silk road", and is an easy train trip from Paris. Vienna is absolutely gorgeous, particularly Hofburg Palace and Schonbrunn. Basel is another one that should be on this list if you are in Switzerland. It is on the train line and there are plenty of things to do, from walking around the old city to floating with the tide down the Rhine. Spain is probably too far away, but is easily my favourite European destination. I haven't been to Barcelona yet, but Seville and Madrid were both wonderful.

 

[Anonymous]

Cologne or Aachen are possibles.. both offer easy routes back to the uk via brussels as well...

Holland, we have freinds there, and my mothers partner lives there so we are saving holland for when we go to see them...

Bruges, possibly, weve heard its nicer than brussels (which we really wherent that fussed over)...

 

[ak-zaaf]

If travel is possible I would go to: Cologne, Vienna, Geneva, Nice or Maastricht (Not really Holland ;p)

Or do a few days in Charleroi, just to remind you how pretty the rest of the world is

 

[Bala Verde]

Cologne or Aachen are possibles.. both offer easy routes back to the uk via brussels as well...

Holland, we have freinds there, and my mothers partner lives there so we are saving holland for when we go to see them...

Bruges, possibly, weve heard its nicer than brussels (which we really wherent that fussed over)...

Aachen is quite small and quaint, compared to Cologne. If you are in that Ruhr/Limburg region however, you ought to go to Maastricht as well.

Cologne, Aachen, Maastricht?

 

[Buffalo Soldier]

Gent, Belgium

More pictures:
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=698844

 

[St. Elia]

How about Barcelona? One of my fav's Madrid is nice and Munich is not bad either. In italy I would go for verona especially if your wife likes opera.

 

[flyor64]

While you are in Paris you should think about a day trip east to Reims (about an hour east I guess...maybe 2 by train).

Beautiful countryside, "capital" of the Champagne region...good winerys in the area to tour. Dom Perignon, etc.

 

[Anonymous]

How about Barcelona? One of my fav's Madrid is nice and Munich is not bad either. In italy I would go for verona especially if your wife likes opera.

bit of a treck from paris.. we thought about erm, florence, buts its almost two days wiped out with train travel..

think we are in that belgium/germany/austria/france region..

 

[Anonymous]

bit of a treck from paris.. we thought about erm, florence, buts its almost two days wiped out with train travel..

think we are in that belgium/germany/austria/france region..

If Austria is an option, then Salzburg is amazing as is Bertesgarten.

 

[Anonymous]

Brussels is a drag...give Antwerp a day or two...you will love it...I lived there for 12 years...best Belgium city to visit overall...

 

[kelvedon wonder]

Nimes is a fabulous place, as is Arles. We had a really good couple of days in Marseille, too. I think you can get to those quite quickly by TGV

 

[craig1985]

Too bad flying isn't an option, what with flybe flying out of Exeter airport.

 

[Anonymous]

Too bad flying isn't an option, what with flybe flying out of Exeter airport.

shhh.. we dont talk about it..

we always eurostar to paris, cos basically its cheaper, you come out in the centre of paris, no luggage to mess around with.. and im not a great fan of flying..

not a fear i need to be addressing at the moment.. thats something for 2011

 

[Big_Blue_Dave]

Dim, you might want to consider a couple of places on the coastal region of Holland or Belgium and then get the ferry to Newcastle. Or head inland first to Zurich (great city, especially just sitting by the lake and watching the world go by) by train (takes about 4 hours, leave early in the morning and you are there for lunch can get the train from Gare du Nord as well), then travel North and west towards Bruges as you have mentioned. From there i'm sure you can get a train to Rotterdam/Amsterdam for a ferry to Newcastle.

 

[Anonymous]

Dim, you might want to consider a couple of places on the coastal region of Holland or Belgium and then get the ferry to Newcastle. Or head inland first to Zurich (great city, especially just sitting by the lake and watching the world go by) by train (takes about 4 hours, leave early in the morning and you are there for lunch can get the train from Gare du Nord as well), then travel North and west towards Bruges as you have mentioned. From there i'm sure you can get a train to Rotterdam/Amsterdam for a ferry to Newcastle.

oooh.. hadnt thought of a ferry.. good plan...

edit: amsterdam to newcastle over night.. £106.. bargain.. thats damn sight cheaper than getting eurostar back to london and heading to newcastle..
so whittling this down now..

friday-travel to paris (hotel paris)
saturday - paris (hotel paris)
sunday - paris - overnight travel to ?????
monday -
tuesday -
wednesday travel to amsterdam (hotel amsterdam)
thursday - leave amsterdam 5pm
friday - arrive newcastle..

so where to spend monday, tuesday and wednesday morning.. must have easy access to both paris and amsterdam

 

[Big_Blue_Dave]

oooh.. hadnt thought of a ferry.. good plan...

edit: amsterdam to newcastle over night.. £106.. bargain.. thats damn sight cheaper than getting eurostar back to london and heading to newcastle..
so whittling this down now..

friday-travel to paris (hotel paris)
saturday - paris (hotel paris)
sunday - paris - overnight travel to ?????
monday -
tuesday -
wednesday travel to amsterdam (hotel amsterdam)
thursday - leave amsterdam 5pm
friday - arrive newcastle..

so where to spend monday, tuesday and wednesday morning.. must have easy access to both paris and amsterdam

Glad to be of help there, speak to the guys at RailEurope, and go on the SNCF website to see the timetables of trains out of Paris. Then look at that city's national rail website and see if they have a sleeper train to Amsterdam (these are fantastic, and cheaper than a hotel).

 

[LugHugger]

so where to spend monday, tuesday and wednesday morning.. must have easy access to both paris and amsterdam

easy peasy, dim. monday morning drive to gent (due north 250km) via compeigne, cambray, valenciennes, parc naturel regional nord pas de calais, orchies,tournai, geraardsbergen, oudenaarde, waregem - IF you can get away with it with the wifey and you don't give yourself away by stopping and having your photo taken at various 'landmarks' en route Monday night Gent, Tue am sightseeing Gent, travel to Bruge, overnight Bruge Tuesday, more sightseeing/canal ride, then travel to Amesterdam. Voila!

 

[giantmonster]

I hope you dont miss out venice and amsterdam! The best two places in europe... Of course in UK there are some cities which you could visit too.. Like brighton, bournemouth,norwhich and many other towns. You will love them!