France Itinerary (7, 10 and 14 days)

With 7 days, spend four in Paris and two in Normandy for the D-Day beaches and Mont-Saint-Michel. With 10 days, take the TGV from Paris to Lyon and Provence. With 14 days, keep going to Nice and fly home from the Riviera. Each route changes hotels only three or four times and uses fast trains for every long leg, so you spend your vacation in France instead of in transit.

These plans suit first-time visitors who want Paris plus a real taste of the regions. They assume you arrive at Paris Charles de Gaulle on an overnight flight from the US. Day-by-day detail for the capital is in our 3 days in Paris plan; to build your own route with different interests, try the trip builder.

Which route is right for you

7 days: Paris and Normandy

The classic first trip for Americans: the capital, then the coast where US troops landed on June 6, 1944. Trains for Normandy leave from Paris Saint-Lazare.

1. Day 1

   Arrive in Paris

   Land at CDG and take the RER B (€14, about $16) or a flat-fare taxi (€56 to the Right Bank, €65 to the Left Bank). Drop your bags, walk along the Seine, and eat dinner on local time. See getting around Paris.

2. Days 2–4

   Paris

   Follow our 3 days in Paris plan: the islands, the Latin Quarter and the Musée d'Orsay on one day; the Louvre and the Arc de Triomphe on another; Montmartre, the Marais and the Eiffel Tower on the third. Keep the Louvre off Tuesday and the Orsay off Monday.

3. Day 5

   To Bayeux

   Take a morning train from Saint-Lazare to Bayeux, about 2 hours 20 minutes; some departures need a change in Caen. Check into a hotel in town and walk the medieval center and the cathedral. Note that Bayeux's famous 11th-century embroidery of the Norman Conquest is away: its museum closed for rebuilding in September 2025, and the work is on loan to the British Museum in London from September 10, 2026 to July 11, 2027. In the afternoon, visit Arromanches and the remains of the artificial harbor, or rest up for tomorrow.

4. Day 6

   The D-Day beaches

   Join a small-group minivan tour from Bayeux, about €85 to €140 (about $95 to $157) per person, which picks you up at your hotel. A typical American-sector day covers Omaha Beach, the Normandy American Cemetery above it, where 9,389 Americans are buried, Pointe du Hoc and sometimes Utah Beach and Sainte-Mère-Église. Book weeks ahead for May to September. See Normandy.

5. Day 7

   Mont-Saint-Michel, then Paris

   Drive or take a tour to Mont-Saint-Michel, about 1.5 hours west of Bayeux by car, and climb to the abbey early, before the day-trip crowds. In the afternoon, take the Keolis bus from the Mont to Rennes (about 1 hour 15 minutes, two or three a day timed to meet Paris trains) and a TGV to Paris Montparnasse (about 1.5 hours). Spend a last night in Paris and fly home the next morning.

10 days: Paris, Lyon and Provence

This route heads south from Paris Gare de Lyon on the fastest TGV lines in France. It trades the Atlantic for food, Roman ruins and stone villages, and it needs a rental car for only two days.

1. Day 1

   Arrive in Paris

   As on the 7-day plan: RER B or taxi in, an easy walk and an early night.

2. Days 2–4

   Paris

   The 3 days in Paris plan. If you have energy left on the last evening, book a Seine cruise after dark.

3. Day 5

   To Lyon

   TGV from Gare de Lyon to Lyon in about 2 hours. Spend the afternoon in Vieux Lyon, the Renaissance old town, looking for the hidden passageways called traboules, and take the funicular up to the Fourvière basilica for the view. Dinner in a bouchon, Lyon's traditional bistro.

4. Day 6

   Lyon

   Morning on the Croix-Rousse hill, the old silk workers' district, with its market along the boulevard (most days except Monday) and the Maison des Canuts weaving workshop. Afternoon at Les Halles de Lyon Paul Bocuse food hall and the Musée des Beaux-Arts. See Lyon.

5. Day 7

   To Avignon

   Take a TGV south to Avignon TGV station, usually a little over an hour, then the shuttle train into the walled city. See the Palais des Papes, the largest Gothic palace in the world, and the broken Pont d'Avignon. Evening in the old town.

6. Day 8

   Pont du Gard and the Alpilles

   Pick up a rental car at Avignon TGV station. Drive about 30 minutes to the Pont du Gard, the three-tier Roman aqueduct (walking in is free; parking is €9, about $10, per car). Continue to Saint-Rémy-de-Provence and the hilltop village of Les Baux. Back to Avignon for dinner.

7. Day 9

   The Luberon villages

   Drive east to Gordes, the Sénanque abbey (lavender in late June and July), the ochre trail at Roussillon and Ménerbes, and end with dinner in Bonnieux or Lourmarin. Return the car that evening or the next morning. See Provence.

8. Day 10

   Back to Paris or fly home

   TGV from Avignon to Paris Gare de Lyon in about 2 hours 40 minutes. Some TGVs from the south run directly to the CDG airport station; check SNCF Connect for your date before booking a same-day flight, and leave a generous margin.

14 days: Paris to the Riviera

The full arc: Paris, Lyon, Provence and the Mediterranean, flying home from Nice so you never backtrack. Book it as an open-jaw ticket, into Paris and out of Nice, which often costs about the same as a round trip to Paris.

1. Day 1

   Arrive in Paris

   Into the city, a walk and an early night.

2. Days 2–4

   Paris

   The 3 days in Paris plan.

3. Day 5

   Versailles

   Take the RER C, or SNCF trains from Montparnasse or Saint-Lazare, for a regular €2.55 ticket each way. The Passport ticket, the only one that includes the palace, costs Americans €25 (about $28) from November to March and €35 (about $39) from April to October. Versailles is closed Monday, and Tuesday is its busiest day. See day trips.

4. Days 6–7

   Lyon

   As on the 10-day plan: Vieux Lyon and Fourvière, then Croix-Rousse and Les Halles.

5. Days 8–10

   Avignon and Provence

   Avignon on the first day, then two days with a car: the Pont du Gard and the Alpilles, then the Luberon villages. Return the car in Avignon.

6. Day 11

   To Nice

   Train from Avignon to Nice, about 3 to 4 hours, usually with a change in Marseille; check SNCF Connect for direct options on your date. Settle in, then walk the Promenade des Anglais and Old Nice at sunset.

7. Days 12–13

   The Riviera

   One day for Nice itself: the Cours Saleya market, the castle hill view and the Matisse and Chagall museums. One day along the coast: the TER train to Villefranche-sur-Mer and on to Monaco, with the perched village of Èze on bus 82 from Nice on the way out or back. The coastal line runs about every 15 to 30 minutes at busy times. See Côte d'Azur.

8. Day 14

   Fly home from Nice

   The airport is about 20 minutes from the center. In summer there are nonstops from Nice to New York, Newark, Washington, Philadelphia, Atlanta and Boston; in winter you usually connect through Paris or another European hub. See flights.

What to book now

What these trips cost

Per person per day, not counting hotels, flights or long-distance trains. Paris costs more than the regions; Provence in summer and the Riviera in August cost more still.

Add the long-distance trains: each TGV leg is roughly €25 to €140 per person in second class, depending on how early you book. For two people sharing a mid-range room, our money guide puts a full day in Paris at €220–350 (about $245–390) per person including the hotel, and €160–260 in the countryside. Run your own numbers in the budget calculator.

Trains, cars and flights

Use the train between cities and a car only where public transport stops: the Normandy beaches (or take a tour), the Loire châteaux and the Provence villages. Paris has seven main stations, each serving one direction, so check yours: Saint-Lazare for Normandy, Montparnasse for Brittany and the Loire, Gare de Lyon for Lyon, Provence and Nice, Gare de l'Est for Champagne and Alsace. Allow an hour to cross the city between them.

• Driving: you need a US license and should carry an International Driving Permit from AAA. Most rentals are manual; filter for automatic. One-way rentals within France are common, but returning a car in another country costs far more. See driving in France.
• Luggage: there is no checked baggage on French trains and the steps are steep. Since 2025, TGV INOUI allows two large bags plus one small bag per person, each labeled with your name; Ouigo charges extra for big suitcases.
• Strikes: SNCF must announce disruption at least 24 hours ahead and usually publishes the reduced timetable the afternoon before. Check the app the evening before each travel day.
• Flights: an open-jaw ticket (into Paris, home from Nice) saves a long day of backtracking on the 14-day plan.

Where to stay along the way

In Paris, stay in the Marais, the Latin Quarter or Saint-Germain, near a Métro station with several lines; neighborhoods and example hotels are on where to stay in Paris. In Bayeux, stay in the walkable center, where minivan tours pick up. In Lyon, the Presqu'île between the rivers is the most convenient. In Avignon, stay inside the walls for evenings, or at a country hotel or B&B (chambre d'hôtes) if you will have the car. In Nice, stay near Old Nice or the train station so day trips are easy. For how French hotels, B&Bs and rentals work, see where to stay in France.

Variations

In winter (November to March)

Provence's villages and the Riviera's beach clubs are quiet or closed, Giverny is shut until spring, and days are short. Make the trip about cities and Christmas instead: four days in Paris, then the TGV from Gare de l'Est to Strasbourg in about 1 hour 50 minutes, with Colmar 30 minutes beyond by regional train. In 2026, Strasbourg's market runs November 27 to December 24 and Colmar's November 23 to December 29. Add Lyon for the Fête des Lumières on December 5 to 8, 2026. See Christmas markets in France and France in December. On the Riviera, Nice stays mild in winter, around 57°F (14°C) by day in December, and makes a good city break.

With kids

Under-18s get into national museums and monuments free. Shorten the city days, add a park or playground every afternoon, and choose the 7-day Normandy route with older kids; the beaches and Mont-Saint-Michel make history physical. For four or more, an apartment or a gîte (rental cottage) is often cheaper than two hotel rooms. See Paris with kids.

For wine lovers

Swap Lyon for Burgundy (Dijon is about 1 hour 35 minutes from Paris; Beaune is a short regional train beyond), or add Champagne as a day trip: Reims is 45 minutes from Paris Est. On the Bordeaux side, TGVs reach Bordeaux in about 2 hours 5 minutes. See wine regions.

Slower

Drop one region and add a night to each remaining base. Three nights per stop, with day trips out, is far more relaxing than one-night stands.

Mistakes to avoid

• Trying to see the whole country in ten days. Pick one direction out of Paris and go deeper.
• Booking one-night stops. Every hotel change costs you half a day.
• Leaving TGV tickets until the last minute. A Paris–Lyon seat can cost four times more the day before.
• Driving into Paris or Lyon. Return the car first; city parking runs €40 to €60 (about $45 to $67) a day in central garages.
• Planning a same-day train and flight with no margin, especially on announced strike days.
• Forgetting Mondays and Tuesdays: many museums close on one or the other, Versailles on Monday, the Louvre on Tuesday.
• Expecting summer opening times in winter. Check seasonal hours and closures for each sight.

Bottom line

For a first trip, 7 days in Paris and Normandy is the most rewarding short plan, 10 days adds Lyon's food and Provence's villages, and 14 days lets you finish on the Mediterranean. Book the TGV legs and Paris timed tickets as soon as your dates are on sale, rent a car only for the countryside, and give each base at least two nights. Use the planning timeline to book in the right order, or see how France compares with Italy in our Italy itinerary. Want this route planned around your dates? Tell us your dates.