Which french city is better: Dijon, Tours or Dday?

[sandradee]

Hi, I just posted my itinerary and wasnt sure exactly how to end my trip. Now I'm coming up from Nice (well Cannes actually) to Lyon and I want to visit a final french city before leaving and before seeing Paris. Dijon is the most logical as its on the way, but I was also wondering about perhaps Tours or the Dday beaches region, or even some where in Champagne.

I guess what my question is, which city should I finish with?

[madamtrashheap]

Lyon is actually more "on the way" from Nice to Paris than Dijon (TGV or regular train), so it depends on what you'd like to do as all of the three places you've lists have appeal.

Lyon is the gastronomic capital of France in that there are more restaurants per sq km than any other city. The old town area is great for cheap local food (snails and frogs legs anyone?!! ;D) and whilst it's a large city, it's still easy to walk around and explore up the hill to the cathedral, views, etc. Lyon is just on the edge of the Burgundy region of France, so lots of good local wines to be found too.

Dijon is pretty and quaint, but very popular on the tourist trail (mustard anyone?!! ;D). It is on the opposite end of the Burgundy region, so wine is big here too. You could also visit Epernay, home of all things champagne (bubbles anyone?!! ;D) if you'd like to experience that region.

Tours has a huge cathedral and pretty old town plus a lot of parks to lounge in (from memory). It's also in the Loire Valley which is dotted with castles and vineyards.

D-Day region - there are many places to choose from in Normandy for the beach landings from WWII. Eagle might be a better expert on this area than me in terms of suggestions. But again, it's not far from Paris and even though you'd be crossing from east to west before going north, it would be worth the journey if you're interested in the history.

If you stop at either Lyon or Dijon, you could, on your way to Paris the next day, do a quick stop at Fontainebleau to see the chateaux and gardens (it's an hour south of Paris). It's just a thought, not a necessity.

Hope that helps with a decision!

[Jules80]

i visited tours and really enjoyed it the castles were magnificent and the wine was great, too!

[sandradee]

Thanks for those comments...
Would it be possible to do a day trip to Epernay, as I will be in Paris for about a week in total?
Fontainbleu is a great idea and I'm already planning on visiting if I get enough time as I have been there briefly before
I guess I really want to see the Loire Valley/ Tours region, but from Lyon, I'd need to go up to Paris and back out anyway. As for the D-day beaches I think I would find that interesting, as I'm planning on seeing alot of other war history sites in Belg, Germany and Poland..

SO... D-day or Tours?
I'm already planning on going to the Rhine Valley, is that sort of the same?

[madamtrashheap]

sandradee said:

I'm already planning on going to the Rhine Valley, is that sort of the same?

Well, they both have wine...and that's where the similarity ends. Different scenery, different architecture (castles too), different atmosphere, and different wine.

I answered your other post about itinerary, so have a look there and you could perhaps go from Nice to Lyon, only spend 1 full day there, then head over to Tours up to Normandy and then over to Paris to finish. The train Lyon-Tours doesn't have to go through Paris, even though that's what comes up first. There's a regional train line Lyon-Tours that may go through Orleans, but in the end the 5hr trip Lyon-Paris-Tours with TGV and regular trains might be the same as the other. I've been trying to find another connection, but not having any luck at the moment, je suis a bit confused about it. Unless the SNCF changed the routes to carry more passengers on the TGV sections. Try putting in Lyon - Montlucon then Montlucon-Tours and see if that works any better. I just have a sneaking suspicion that the times will be the same/longer than going up to Paris, which is a pain.

[sandradee]

Thanks for the suggestion, so I could pretty much go from Nice to Lyon in the morning, spend the night there and the next day leave to Tours, spend two nights there and the next morning? leave for a central normandy city close to the Dday beaches and spend about 2 days looking around there, before heading to paris?

Ok, thanks for that tip, whenever I entered times it told me the via Paris route so I'l check that out