Nice place to visit in France for a couple of people in their mid 20s?

humbert

Myself and a friend are looking to meet up somewhere in France toward the end of next month. Since that'll be Halloween I would like to book flights and such like asap.

Paris would be my obvious choice but she's been there quite recently and would like to go somewhere new but neither of us know much about France and where would be good to visit.

I'd be looking for somewhere with a nice atmosphere and a bit lively but definitely not to go clubbing or anything of that nature.

Any suggestions or experiences would be greatly appreciated. I'm still a little tempted to twist her arm into going to Paris...

bills

Carcassone would be nice

humbert

Looked that place up on wikipedia and it does look pretty beautiful!

rossie1977

fly into geneva, spend a day or two there and then get the bus to chamonix which takes 90 minutes approx. Chamonix is in the middle of the alps and europes tallest mountain Mont blanc is at the end of town

get the cable car up to the top of Aiguille du Midi and view 3 counties (france, switzerland and italy)

euph

Carcassone is nice alright. Though I went to Nice earlier in the year and we drove through a beautiful little town called Menton (about half an hour from Nice and half an hour from Italy also). It really looked like somewhere I'd like to visit, so I'd recommend checking it out. Reckon you could get a train or rent a car directly from Nice airport (aer lingus/ryanair) and be there in no time.

Plenty to see in the city of Nice, and also near Monaco also.

humbert

Thanks for the suggestion. I don't have a driving licence though and I don't think she does either.

Was thinking about Nice too and I hear Monaco is well worth a visit.

Any suggestion at all are helpful

Didn't notice rossie's post. Hmm, that's an interesting suggestion. What's Geneva like(I know that's a very diffecult question to answer)? Friendly, sociable, picturesque, traditional, cosmopolitan?

Visited Bern and didn't find the Swiss the most welcoming people, but that could just be my experience.

rossie1977

geneva is nice, its not too big about the size of cork and there was loads of markets/stalls down by the lakefront at night when we were there a few years ago (august), the town came alive at night but it may not be same during the autumn/winter

we wandered around the old part of geneva for a few hours checking out the churches and stuff

but chamonix in france is spectacular; huge mountains towering over the town; a raging torrent of a river flowing through it and a massive glacier which you can go inside to the north of the town

mer de glace http://www.sutherlandclan.org.uk/assets/images/2004/family/110604_inside_sea_of_ice_glacier.jpg

the cable car ride up there is fantastic, you can then take another all the way to italy, there is a restaurant up there too http://mumu.bleublog.lematin.ch/media/02/02/2074735340.jpg

humbert

That is pretty spectacular! Thanks for the advice, it's a very tempting option. I'll have to look into it and find out what it's like to visit in autumn/winter.

missmatty

If you go to Geneva I think Lyon isn't too far from there?
It's not a bad place to spend a day :pac:

humbert

missmatty wrote: »

If you go to Geneva I think Lyon isn't too far from there?
It's not a bad place to spend a day :pac:

Quite interested about Lyon, it's a very big city but I don't know anyone who's visited it for a holiday.

olaola

Just back from a European road trip. We stayed in Lyon for a night or two. Lovely city, around the size of Dublin - like a mini Paris. LOADS of restaurants and good places to eat. Defo worth two nights visit! There is the old town west of the Saone, and the majority of the city is within the Saone & the Rhone.
We did the whole bike rental thing and mooched around a good bit.

Would defo go back - and if you were there, I would try to get a night in Annecy too. It's a picture postcard spot, definitley one to visit! It's just under 2 hours on the train from Lyon.

P. Breathnach

Lyon is a good destination if you want a trip without getting involved with driving. While it is a large city, it has much of the feel of a small one. Lots of old stuff -- Roman, medieval, some renaissance, and so on. Very good hop-on-hop-off bus tour to help you get oriented. It's the foodie capital of France -- great restaurants at various price levels. It is best to look for accommodation on the "presqu'ile", which is the peninsula formed by the confluence of the Rhone and the Saone.

As a winter destination, I think it is better than Nice.

humbert

Ok, first thanks for all the recommendations.

I have decided to go to geneva(booked flights today) and from there we might visit chamonix or lyon or both depending on time and money. She has a friend in Annecy so I think we are spending the weekend there. I believe it's a lovely place.

I'd have prefered to have had this booked a couple of weeks ago but the friend in question is a typical girl when it comes to making a decision.

I wonder if the guys who've been in Geneva would be able to recommend a hotel?

I've been looking on the various rating sites but it's very difficult to know how accurate the description is, what the location will be like, etc etc. Also I dunno what availability will be like at this short notice.

Staying for 6 days and wouldn't like to be paying more than 100 euro a night, preferably less

Again, thanks a lot!

P.S. don't answer the question about hotels. I booked one and don't want to find out there was a much better much cheaper one

humbert

Just thought I would give some feedback on how the trip went, in case someone is looking for similar info.

Went to Geneva from Dublin. Very handy as the airport is close to the city centre and transport is very good.

To be honest it's not the most impressive city I've ever visited but we visited the Red Cross museum, the UN buildings, Botanic gardens, that little island(I forget the name) and a couple of other museums which was all quite enjoyable.

The old part of the the city is very pleasant for a wander around and the best places to eat seemed to be there.

We also strolled from the Botanic gardens(Jardin Gardens) along the lake into the city which is a really nice walk in the evening.

We went to a concerto in Victoria Hall which was very impressive, the building and the music. This was probably the highlight of the time in Geneva. We stayed in a hotel called Suite Hotel which was really very nice for a three star hotel and they gave us passes for public transport around the city which was a very nice perk.

After Geneva we spent a day in Lausanne, we were a bit late setting off so we really only saw the cathedral (Cathédrale Notre-Dame), well worth seeing. We popped next door into the Lausanne museum which was interesting too. Lausanne looks like a very nice little spot though and it's only 40 mins by train from Geneva.

We then spent a night in Chamonix. It's quite touristy, I suppose you have to expect that, but not in a tacky way and the trip there and the place itself is breathtaking. At the time of year we were there it was very quiet and we had no trouble getting a hotel.

Again we were late getting off so the first night there we just looked around, even though it was rather cold and had dinner, there are loads of places to eat.

The following morning we took the cable car up to Aiguille Du midi right next to Mont Blanc. It goes up to 3800m and the views are like nothing either of us had seen before.

Lastly we spend a night in Annecy, it was the last night of the holiday so we just strolled around and had dinner. Very pretty little town.

All in all, it was a really great holiday. Prob wouldn't have spent quite as long in Geneva, three and a half days, but we took things at a pretty lazy pace and so we were definitely not bored.