In 2 weeks I’ll be in Paris for 4 days for work, and can use one of those days to explore not-Paris. What should I do? Lyon is a 2 hour TGV ride, and it’s at the top of my list. Stay in the town? Get a train to a local wine area? Book a tour? Explode my head with the plethora of options?
thanks!
jim
I adore Strasbourg. It is an easy two hour journey. Or a bit further to Colmar. Like another world from Paris. Highly recommended.
Reims is 1 - 1 1/4 hours away by train. You’d be right in the heart of Champagne country.
Giverny is a fun side quest, especially if you’re a Monet fan. That said, four days is hardly enough time to enjoy Paris. I barely scratched the surface… with two years.
Giverny?
I’d have to be in Paris for more than 4 days to do a day trip. Even though I love Giverny.
4hours in a train plus and 2 hours in total to/from the 2 trains sounds unappealing.
LOL I had my wife’s Amex charges on my mind; forgive me.
Giverny is an hour out of Paris iirc? Worst case, go on a tour and let them drive.
Champagne is easiest. Alsace most value/distance/fun. Lots of places are reachable, but if your timeline is rigid I would not go far and risk train issue/strike.
Lion is wonderful, but really hard to get your arms around it in a day. If you decide to run it, make sure you arrive in a station in the city
I’d explore Paris.
^ second this, unless you’ve already spent so much time in Paris you want something different. One of my bucket list items is to rent an apartment in Paris for a month and just explore and enjoy.
If you do want something a little different for a day, we took a bike tour out to Versailles that was a lot of fun.
And the cathedral in Reims is worth a stop. If you do go, arrange one or two caves tours at Champagne houses. We did Taittinger and Mumms in the afternoon last June with the family. Neither are my favorite houses and it had been 40 years since I’d been in the caves, but still awesome
Similar tunnels. One filled with 100,000 bottles
I would stay in Paris! 
The greatest city in the world.
If not I would take the train to Burgundy, rent a car drive around Burgundy, have a great meal and return that night
Reims or Dijon would be my vote for a day trip if you are looking to go by train. Lyon is great but too far IMO and too much to see in basically half a day once you factor in travel.
Ok, not the answers I was expecting
Since enough of you said you’d stay in Paris, what are some things to fill up a few nights and maybe a day? Wine and food themed of course, ideally priced reasonably; I’m not interested in Food TV celeb stuff.
I’m about 1/4 mile north of Place de Concorde, near the Miromesnil metro stop. I won’t have a car but I will have a Metro card.
If I play my cards right at work I can spend longer term stays here but for now the trip is bookedned by local wine events so 4 days it is…
If you have a favorite type of museum, Paris probably has a very good example of it. An interesting lunch and dinner catering to your specific tastes can be found no matter what those tastes are.
There are many jazz clubs, including several in caves. We have enjoyed great classical music both at the Philharmonie and in thousand year-old churches.
The shopping is pretty good too.
Lunch or dinner at Tour d’argent is memorable.
Good choice to stay in Paris.
I have enjoyed creating themes for touring Paris. For example, the Medieval Paris theme:
Or strolling through the left bank. Jardin de Luxembourg. Rodin Museum. Cafe de Flore. Saint Sulpice Church. Swing by Ambassade de Bourgogne for some great Burgundy wines with charcuterie. Watch the sunset from the rooftop bar at Hotel Dames des Arts. Dinner at Oktobre.
Or hit a bit further north. Lunch at Cour Saint Emilion (the old wine market). Stroll through Parc de Bercy. Cross the bridge to the Mitterand Library. Walk over to the Jardin des Plantes, and visit the small zoo, or the Galerie de Paléontologie with all the dinosaur bones. Then have some tea at the rooftop of the Arab Monde Institute. Drinks at La Tour d’Argent. Pop over to the Ile Saint Louis for dinner at Le Sergeant Recruiter. Then some Bertillon ice cream for dessert.
There are so many neighborhood itineraries you can build for Paris, the possibilities are endless.
Oh, and if you want a private tour of the seine, there are plenty of options out there. I booked MyParisRiver for me and the family, it was a great ride, brought our own champagne and snacks and had a blast.
I initially started to say that with only four days total, leaving Paris for one didn’t make a whole lot of sense but I stopped since I didn’t know how much you already know Paris or like bigger cities. Paris isn’t really that big but if you like it, it provides practically endless entertainment. While you can spend big, I don’t think it’s necessary to spend much at all. I have no idea what your interests are so it feels a little like throwing darts in the dark to make suggestions. Tourists are a drag IMO and Paris has too many in certain places so I tend to avoid those areas as much as possible. Unfortunately this knocks all of the major museums out of the way but if you’ve never been and they’re of interest, it’s worth going to a couple of the bigger ones or even smaller places like the Picasso Museum. But, really, just walking around the outside of the Louvre, the Palais Royal (do read up on it) and then strolling the Tuilleries and then some of then the area around the Sorbonne could fill a day and that’s really just a sliver of the town. Also near there if you like cooking is Dehillerin. I love to stroll all over the 19th and 20th or even in the 13th off the main streets to find ephemeral works of street art. There are so many great little stores all over the city, some that have been around a very long time. As someone I once knew put it, “if you can’t find what you’re looking for in Paris, you’re not looking hard enough.” Just go full flâneur and let your mind be your guide.
Edit to say that I am aware not everyone likes Paris. My first visit there a loooong time ago was with a friend. He pretty much hated it and I loved it right from the start. We spent about five days there together. We traveled a little more around Europe together but when he went back to Spain, I went back to Paris for three more weeks because I couldn’t get enough of it.
I go to Paris 3 or 4x a year and I never tire of just walking around. So many things to explore. Don’t overthink it. Walk from where you are to the Marais and head to the market and try something at Les Enfants du Marche and then try something at The Butcher. Then walk some more…
CHAMPAGNE - Short distance - incredible visits await…
Do you like museums? There are many amazing ones. I usually walk for half the day, visit a museum for a couple hours.
I usually have a couple of foodie stops along the way- a fromagerie, chocolatiere, boulangerie.
Dinner and music in the evening.
I sort of disagree with Tim about the big museums. The Louvre has many sections that are relatively peaceful - like the Egyptian section and the Napoleon rooms. (I hate crowds in museums). Go where they ain’t. Evenings are usually much quieter.
Sometimes I have a big lunch and go to the museum in the evening, especially if the weather is poor.
