My husband and i will be spending a week in Paris in mid-November with his sister and her husband. Before we meet them in Paris, we would like to stay in one other place for 3 or 4 nights. We are considering Florence, Venice, Barcelona, Amsterdam, and Provence. (In no particular order of preference, although i think Amsterdam may be very gloomy in Nov?) I would appreciate all suggestions regarding choice and transportation--by train, air, etc., to get to Paris from this destination. Thanks so much!
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It%26#39;s not on your list but we always fly to London, spend a couple of days, and the take the Eurostar over to Paris. On your list, Provence would be our choice.
oprah44
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Amsterdam will be dark and gloomy -- but Amsterdam is also wonderful -- and an easy trip into Paris on the Thalys (it would be better to do that AFTER Paris so you could fly out of Schiphol instead of the execrable CDG
A good sunnier choice (probably) would be Florence -- of all the choices it is the one with the richest artistic heritage -- if that interests you, it is the definite winner here -- and since its charms are mostly indoors, it is weather proof. (we have had charming sunny weather that time of year but can%26#39;t count on it)
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Thank you, Oprah44, we have been to London several times and taken the Chunnel to Paris, so that is why I didn%26#39;t put London on this list. Where in Provence would you suggest staying? (I assume we%26#39;d take a train to Paris--from what station?)
Thanks also, Graceh9. We can%26#39;t go to Amsterdam after Paris because we will return home for Thanksgiving. Amsterdam seems easy as far as the Thalys, but it might be nice to have a little sunnier weather in Florence--would you recommend train or plane from Florence to Paris?
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Florence may have a bit of rain in November although temperatures might be higher than in Amsterdam. I traveled from Paris to Florence Oct. %26#39;06 flying there, but I was on an Air France special where one could stopover at a second city for no additional cost. Other than dealing with CDG (not as bad as checking in to fly to the States though) it was good to arrive in Florence at just over an hour%26#39;s time. I%26#39;m not sure about the train, haven%26#39;t taken it.
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BTW, the Florence airport (Vespucci) is tiny no comparison with CDG at all and is not too far from the centro historico although I forgot how much we paid for a cab-less than 20 euro I think.
Also Amsterdam best way I think would be by Thalys train at just over 3 hours, very easy, nonstop journey from the Gare du Nord station. We did it for an overnight just this past March from Paris. Highly recommend Amsterdam gloom and all.
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My vote is for Venice. It%26#39;s my other favourite city besides Paris. You should fly there, since there are many inexpensive flights available, and the overnight train is a long haul (we took the train there and back last August). The nice thing about Venice is that it%26#39;s quite small, so 3 or 4 nights would be perfect to see a fair bit of it.
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My vote is Venice. Florence will always be there. Venice might not be. Plus, everyone should see Venice at least once.
Venice floods in winter but I think November is too early for that, and you shouldn%26#39;t have a million other tourists there then.
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Actually the acqua alta (Venice flooding) is typically worse in November but can start in October. That%26#39;s why we decided to head to Florence instead. But it sounds like the locals take the flooding in stride and it%26#39;s something quite normal. Even the hotels provide the knee high rubber boots for guests.
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I wouldn%26#39;t do Venice in November when it is likely to be flooded -- it is definitely IMHO a sunny option
I would fly to Florence -- you can fly into Pisa and take the train in or fly into Florence whichever is cheaper --both are easily managed
Provence in November? I wouldn%26#39;t -- if the weather isn%26#39;t good it doesn%26#39;t have the advantage of the big cities of having many wonderful indoor venues --
And really Amsterdam is just a great place -- even in gloomy weather
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Thanks to all!!! I really have quite a bit to mull over now!
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