Switzerland, South of France - seeking ideas

[esseeeayeenn]

Some suggestions for France.

First I would recommend the boat trip across Lac Leman from Laussanne to Evian les Bains. It is spectacular.
Chamonix is a great spot near Mont Blanc in the French Alps. I'd recommend the train to Montenver and the Mer de Glace where you can walk on and under a glacier.
The lift up to the Aiguille du Midi is also spectacular.
Coming down through the French pre-Alps, Annecy is a very beautiful village.
If you were driving I would recommend driving over the Col des Aravis -a high mountain pass - and through La Clusaz to Annecy.
If you're heading to Lyon I would recommend the medieval village of Perouges on the way.
Lyon is worth a few days itself. Don't miss the gallo-roman ruins.
To the north-west of Lyon the village of Le Bois-d'Oingt is also beautiful.
On the way to Paris you could head north. Besançon features an amazing citadel above a bend in the river.
Dijon is delightful full of history and food. The city of Troyes in the south of Champagne is remarkable for its half-timbered medieval houses - would be Tudor if they were in England.
A smaller town of Langres nearby is also worth a look. As is Sezanne, closer to Paris.
If you have time to kill you could head a bit further north in Champagne to Epernay or even Riems.
Alternatively you could head for Fontainebleu and Orleans and approach Paris from the south east.
I'd be happy to discuss these places further and send photos - or if you're clever you can find my instagram!

The true south of France is further south, from Avignon down to Marseille and across to Cannes and Nice. But that isn't really on the way from Zurich to Paris!

 

[vetrade]

Bit late to the party but if still looking for options you could consider heading south from Zurich via Lucerne (lake cruise / cog railway to top of Mt Pilatus and cable car down the other side), Lake Como then across to Nice and Cannes (Intercontinental Hotel should be on everyone's bucket list).

 

[legroom]

Anna

Sorry I had missed the thread !

My final itinerary is as follows:

SYD ZRH on SQ F

Zurich to Lucerne (2 nights): super saver train fare

Lucerne to Zermatt (via Brunig - Interlaken Ost - Spiez - Lotschberg - Bri/Visp): 3 nights in Zermatt [full fare only]

Zermatt to Lyon via Geneva: 3 nights in Lyon [super saver fare]

Lyon to Avignon: 4 nights in Paradou (a small village off Avignon)

Avignon to Paris: 2 nights in Paris

HKG 1 night

CDG SYD on CX F/J

*****

Back to work afterwards !

******

I set a reminder to go to the Swiss Train site about 30 days out to look for saver fares.

Legroom is your trip going ahead at Easter? What itinerary did you decide on?

I'm going in June. Trying to decide which would be more cost effective - buying a full 15 day 2nd class Swiss Pass travel card, or the half-fare one month card.

 

[VPS]

Around Avignon (which is lovely in itself and Palace of the Popes is amazing)
Nimes - is a lovely place to visit - Roman Coliseum is amazing
Uzes is a great small town and has great markets - Wednesday and Saturday
St Quentin La Poterie is about 10 minutes from Uzes and has a large number of boutique potters (a lot of it exclusive to the village)
Pont Du Gard is quite amazing
Orange - interesting town with Roman theatre
I also love the Camargue - there is a great bird park in there
and lastly I think you'll be very close to Les Baux which has great views over the countryside
ENJOY - I've spent quite a bit of time down that area so any questions let me know

 

[VPS]

Lyon - it's been a few years but L'Ebullition was excellent - great markets - the hop on hop off bus is great

 

[legroom]

Great to have such info, thanks

Around Avignon (which is lovely in itself and Palace of the Popes is amazing)
Nimes - is a lovely place to visit - Roman Coliseum is amazing
Uzes is a great small town and has great markets - Wednesday and Saturday
St Quentin La Poterie is about 10 minutes from Uzes and has a large number of boutique potters (a lot of it exclusive to the village)
Pont Du Gard is quite amazing
Orange - interesting town with Roman theatre
I also love the Camargue - there is a great bird park in there
and lastly I think you'll be very close to Les Baux which has great views over the countryside
ENJOY - I've spent quite a bit of time down that area so any questions let me know

 

[esseeeayeenn]

Great to have such info, thanks

If you're that far south don't miss the stunning medieval town of Aigues-Mortes, near the Camargue.

 

[bam71]

Every year or two we stay in the Medieval village of Lorgues or Flayosc, around an hour from Nice or Marseille for a week or two.

 

[legroom]

View attachment 67275

This is a surreptitious TR from someone who has yet to write his first one !

The SYD SQ F lounge was crowded (10 pax) so we sat in the dining section and were asked on sitting down for our drink orders.

We were offered the seafood Laksa after we toured the buffet bar without picking up anything.

It would have been better if the Laksa was put on a notice somewhere. It was quite good.

Trip to SIN was pleasant with a la carte meals rather than BTC like we had done previously.

Our side trip to Newton hawker centre was a flop : it was closed for renovations way past its planned reopening date. So we had to return to the TPR with empty stomachs.

That was not an issue as the noodles with Lobster, lamb with potatoes etc filled in the void.

TPR staff came in to personally advise us of the time for boarding which was a nice touch.

There were only 4 pax for the SIN ZRH sector so ... you had your own sitting areas and then another resting / sleeping one where we shared a double bed - not quite, with a 10cm gap in between.

Alas, no rose petals like the promo photos !

......

 

[legroom]

SYD SIN

The usual suspects:





Chicken broth: quite nice



The lamb was moist, tasty and spared me a trip to Little India



I couldn't say No, terrible

 

[LadyC]

Please continue on your surreptitious not quite TR! It sounds like a fabulous trip.

 

[Anna]

How's the trip going?