France Best 7-day Itinerary: Paris, Provence, etc.
France in 7-days? Are you planning a trip to France? If so, chances are Paris will be your first stop. Okay, you can do Paris in 7 days. But, if you really want to engage with Paris as well as the rest of France, than there is no way you can do it in a 7 day French itinerary. Therefore, this post contains our suggested three 7-day French itineraries, as well as some additional recommendations on places to visit in France. When visiting France you can do one, two or all three of our suggested itineraries.
Our Travel Experience to France
Over the years, Cos has traveled to Paris, the French Capital, many times, sometimes on vacation, but mostly on business. France is truly a wonderful country. Since the pandemic, Cos and Robin have made three trips. The first, in 2021 covered Paris, Bordeaux, the Seine River from Paris to Normandy as well as the Loire Valley. The second, in 2022, was to Alsace-Lorraine on a river cruise on the Rhine and a separate visit to the Cote d’Azur (i.e. French Riviera) and Provence. And the third, in 2024, the “piece de la resistance”, was a second visit to Bordeaux and a return to Paris, this time for Paris 2024, the Olympics. While each trip had its “best ever” moments, there was no question that the combination of the Olympics in this Parisian venue which maximized the iconic venues as a backdrop was like no other.
Our Recommended Itineraries to See France in 7 Days
We have developed three different 7-day itineraries that center around a number France’s major cities:
- France in 7 Days- Paris
- France in 7 Days- Bordeaux and Normandy
- France in 7 Days – Provence and the French Riviera
France in 7 Days – Paris Only
Okay, we will start with Paris. Paris in 7-days is doable. But there is so much to do in Paris, that if you only plan for 7-days, you will definitely feel that you left too early. Nevertheless, given that many of our readers are not as fortunate as we are to spend extra time, as we are retired, we recognize that 7 days may be your travel limit. Therefore, following below are our ideas on when, where and what to do in Paris, given 7-days.
When to Visit Paris?
As the popular song “I Love Paris”, written by Cole Porter, and made famous by Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra and Maurice Chevalier, says “I love Paris every moment, every moment of the year”. If you can love Paris every moment of the year, than we assume you can go there any time of the year. Not just in the high season. Why not? While, it “sizzles” in the summer, we recently visited in July and August (Paris 2024 Olympics) and it was wonderful. Spring and fall are perfect times, and even when it “drizzles” in the winter it can be wonderful. Therefore, the best time to visit Paris is anytime, perhaps even in the winter when there are fewer people.
Where to Stay in Paris?
Ideally, when you visit any city you usually will want to stay close to or in the city center. That may not necessarily be the best idea in for in the “City of Light”. There are a number of reasons.
First, Paris does not necessarily have a true city center. Also, if you want to stay in a luxury hotel there, like the Four Seasons/George V Hotel, which we visited, they are very expensive.
Secondly, Paris has perhaps the best public transport system in the world. Taking the Metro is the best way to get around Paris. Even though the single trip cost was raised to four euros during the 2024 Olympics, it was well worth it for the convenience of getting to the Olympic events. During the Olympics, there was a very heavy armed police presence which made the subway seem incredibly safe.
We have stayed on the east-side of Paris in Vincennes, on the west-side in La Defense and on the left-bank in the area of Montparnasse, all considered on the outskirts. We have also visited Montmartre, where the Sacré-cœur Basilica is located. It too can be a convenient place to center your visit.
If you are a foodie, like us, then you may want to decide where to stay based on the restaurants where you might want to eat. There are great local restaurants all over Paris, so this may not help you choose a place to stay. We constantly remarked that the French restaurants really know how to cook even the simplest meals with a flair. In any case, go local, no need to eat at any of the many US fast-food restaurants that are all over Paris. Please check out some our recommendations for best places to eat in our Restaurants Post.
Paris, France: What to do in 7-days?
There is so much to do in Paris that the only way we can make a good recommendation about a 7-day itinerary is to know your preferences. Do you like museums? Or, do you like to go shopping? Do you like to check out the wonderful architecture and spend some time in the beautiful gardens? Do you want to visit famous churches and cathedrals? Are you like us and want to see the famous people burried in the Pere-Lachaise Cemetery?
Since, there are so many things to do, check out all our photos and plan your own 7-days. Also, consider doing a hop-on, hop-off bus tour or river cruise on the Seine, Either will give you a great view of the “City of Light”. In Paris, we recommend the Big Bus Tours.
Great Photo Spots in Paris
Paris has some of the best “Instagram-able” photo places in the World. Here is our new favorite, Jardin du Luxembourg, from our recent trip to the 2024 Paris Olympics. We were simply doing a walking tour around the left bank near Montparnasse when we discovered the beautiful and peaceful garden. Great place to have a picnic lunch, which many did.
There is no question about it, it is a beautiful hidden gem that we didn’t even plan to visit. We just stumbled on it. Here are some of our other favorite main attractions mostly from our previous trips to Paris. Plan your own 7-day itinerary around these various beautiful places.
Clockwise starting at the upper left, of course you have the Eiffel Tower. You can get some great panoramic views of the city from the tower. Next is the Galleries Lafayette, a real Hidden Gem. It is considered the best shopping mall in all of Paris. Lower right is the Musee d’Orsay (see Our Favorite Museums post) and one of its famous clocks. Next, a Paris balloon that is actually in Las Vegas, and the Basilica of Sacre Coeur de Montmartre. Again, the Paris Metro is a great way to get around. However, if you take it to the Sacre Coeur, be prepared to walk up some steep stairs. Alternatively, you can take the funicular, as the Metro stops are not too close to the Sacre Coeur Church. This is a gorgeous church with an outstanding view of Paris, well worth the effort. You can almost feel the presence of former artists who made this their neighborhood, from Monet to Matisse, from Toulouse-Lautrec, to Picasso. Incredible!
Other Great Places to See in Paris
A few other great places to visit in Paris are of course, the Notre Dame Cathedral, the Louvre Museum, and the Sainte-Chapelle. For more information about the Cathedral Notre-Dame please visit our post “50 Famous Cathedrals in Europe“. While it didn’t reopen for th Paris 2024 Olympics as promised, it is still a great place to visit as one of the truly beautiful Gothic Cathedrals. We couldn’t visit Notre-Dame when we visited Paris in 2021 or 2024, as the Cathedral we still being restored. Nevertheless, we were lucky to attend a great Vivaldi concert at Sainte-Chapelle during the evening. We took an amazing walk along the Seine River after the concert and watched the flashing lights on the Eiffel Tower; What a treat! Please see our Favorite Theaters Post for more information.
We did visit the Louvre Museum in both 2022 and 2024. We took a guided tour in 2024, which clearly made all the difference. In many ways, this tour introduced to the Louvre we had never seen! Our tour was part of our hospitality package that we arrange through CoSport in the United States. Here, are some of our favorite pictures of the museum.
And here are some of our favorite art pieces in the museum:
And, of course, here is the most famous painting from the Louvre, the Mona Lisa. Just one of many great paintings, but the one with the longest lines.
Additional Photo Places to Visit and See in Paris
Some additional pictures from Paris, France below. The first is Cos, taken from the roof of the Gallery Lafayette, perhaps the best shopping in the city, including a champagne cafe overlooking the interior of all the floors. Look closely and you will see the Eiffel Tower hidden between the “A” and the “R” in “Paris”. Everyone will recognize L’arc de Triomphe with the typical French traffic. Another Hidden Gem is the Statue of Liberty which can be viewed in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower. Who knew that there were more Statues of Liberty than the one in New York City? There are at least eight: five or six in Paris, one in Argentina, and of course NYC. Finally, the famous Moulin Rouge with its legendary somewhat racy Parisian cabaret performers.
Day 7 Optional – Plan a Day Trip to the Loire Valley in Central France or the Versailles Palace
While we were Paris we took a day trip to the Loire Valley. While in the Loire Valley, we visited the Chateau de Chambord, which is probably the most well-known. We also visited the Chateau de Chenonceau, which is actually located literally on the river Cher. We visited the Loire Valley on a full day tour from Paris. It was a long day. We recommend actually going out and staying there for a few days. You will enjoy and learn even more about this beautiful area. There are some great wine areas here as well including the regions of Muscadet on the Atlantic coast and Sancerre and Pouilly-Fume in north-central France.
The Loire Valley is located in the center of the country and is home to some of the grandest chateaus anywhere in the world. We found a tour on Get Your Guide that included two chateaus and a drive through the Loire Valley.
Another great option is to take a train to the Versailles Palace and visit an absolutely unforgettable place. During the Olympics, the equestrian events were staged here, a truly breathtaking venue.
France in 7 Days – Paris 2024 Olympics
Clearly, our Paris 2024 trip to go to the Olympics was the “piece de la resistance” of all our visits to France. It was absolutely an incredible great time, despite being “sizzling hot” during much of our visit.
We attended some wonderful events. They included Futbol, Beach Volleyball, Golf and Tennis. Below are some of our favorite pictures, including one of a focussed Scottie Scheffler, the winner of the Men’s Golf Gold Medal.
Some Favorite Paris Restaurants
We were lucky to have had lunch at Michelin one starred Apicius on 9/11/2022. It was a glorious day, just perfect to sit in this garden setting behind the Champs-Elysees. We enjoyed every single bit of it, from the wine service, to the food, to the impeccable service. The garden setting is extremely pleasing to the eye and makes for a delightful ambiance. A highlight in Paris for sure.
During our 2024 visit we were able to have dinner one evening at the La Dome Cafe, the one Paris restaurant Anthony Bourdain recommended if you go nowhere else. He was right! The Maitre d set the tone, making it feel as if your attendance was long awaited. He made sure we felt special. From there, service continued to impress us (and that was before the food arrived). Top that off with an ambiance that was both comfortable and lush and you have a winner!
Benoit Paris is a classic…everything you want in a French restaurant…a Michelin star, 100 years old and located in the center of the city. For more information about French Restaurants, please see our post Bib Gourmand vs Michelin Star.
France in 7 Days – Bordeaux & Normandy
Robin and Cos took a 14-Day River Cruise in Bordeaux and on the Seine River from Paris to Normandy and return on Uniworld in 2021. This was undoubtedly the best river cruise that we have taken, particularly the Normandy, France 7 Day journey and the service we received from Uniworld. We strongly recommend your consider Uniworld as the way to visit this region of France. For more information about river cruising and Uniworld, in particular, please see on post on cruising.
Normandy on the Coast of France
If you have been to France and never been to Normandy, you owe it to yourself to make this trip, get to the French coast and really experience the WWII memorial. In 2021 we visited the Utah and Omaha Beach memorials as well as the American Cemetery. Totally dispelling any rumors that the French don’t like Americans, the local people that we met were very friendly and made a point of letting us know their appreciation for what our American Heroes did to save their country. This visit was truly moving and very emotional for us.
We stopped for lunch (see Our Favorite Restaurants) in Sainte-Mere-Eglise. We had a wonderful ham and cheese buckwheat crepe while checking out the famous church. WWII paratrooper John Steele hung on the steeple and pretended to be dead before he was captured. See picture top right above.
Bordeaux in Southwestern France
We made two trips to Bordeaux. The first in 2021 as of part our 14-day Bordeaux and Normandy combined Uniworld cruise. Bordeaux is a wonderful place to visit, not only for the wine tasting, but also for the wonderful architecture, food and overall french culture. It is also very easy to get to Bordeaux, as a high-speed train runs regularly between Montparnasse in Paris and Bordeaux.
During our second visit in 2024, we attended two Olympic Futbol matches prior to the actual opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympics. We stayed in Bordeaux to view the opening ceremony on TV, finishing a bottle of St. Emilion we had purchased earlier. This was certainly much better than sitting in the rain in Paris.
Well known for its outstanding red wines, Bordeaux is a complex wine area as shown on the map of the Bordeaux Vintages. Perhaps even more meaningful than Paris’s Left and Right Banks, Bordeaux has its famous Medoc vintage of wine on the Left Bank and the even more famous St-Emilion vintage on the Right Bank. The smaller town of St-Emilion is protected as a UNESCO World Heritage site A very liveable city, Bordeaux has some unique food as shown by the Dunes Blanche pastry poster above which are quite tasty.
France in 7 Days – Provence and the French Riviera
We visited this area for the first time in the summer of 2022 and stayed in a number of amazing places. Nice, Marseille, Cannes, Avignon, Arles, Aix-en-Provence, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Saint-Tropez, along with Monte-Carlo in neighboring Monaco are all famous cities and towns on the mediterranean coast that make up this incredibly beautiful region. There are plenty of places to visit in this wonderful area in the South of France.
First Visit
First, we were on the beach in a small town, La Seyne-sur-Mer, just south of Toulon. Surprisingly, this was great for visiting the western wine region including Avignon. We spent a very special day touring vineyards around Châteauneuf-du-Pape with a guide from England who was intent on showing us that there were many amazing wines that challenge the throne of Châteauneuf-du-Pape.
Next, we based our location much closer to Nice, in a small hill-top town, Mougins, just north of Cannes in the Provence-Alpes-Cote d’Azur region. Mougins is a wonderful village (commune) with gourmet restaurants and a very strong art culture. Also, this was a great place to visit a number of small towns, and even take a tour of Monte-Carlo, which we did on an amazing small tour with a local guide from Get Your Guide.
Second Visit
Secondly, while on a cruise from Barcelona, we stopped in Marseille and Nice in Southern France. Arles is our favorite town. Here, we explored this beautiful ancient city and learned even more about Van Gogh’s time here (1888-1889). In Arles, Van Gogh painted over 300 of his famous paintings. This is also where he was institutionalized after he cut off his ear. We have been lucky to see his series of paintings of cypress trees at the Met in New York and olive trees in Amsterdam; all were painted at a furious pace while in Arles.
While in Arles, you must have a beer at Le Cafe van Gogh. You can’t miss this place…bright yellow, the color of sunflowers. Said to have inspired an 1888 painting by Vincent van Gogh. (Café Terrace at Night).
Here is Our Suggestion to Spend 7 days in the South of France:
- First Day #1 – Arrive at the Nice côte d’azur airport, stay in Nice or nearby in Carnes or in Mougins.
- Second Day #2 – Find a Beach resort either in Nice, East of Nice or near Antibes
- Day 3 – Spend some Beach Time on the French Riviera, and then head west to Marseille or nearby.
- Day 4 – Visit Arles – Check out Cafe Van Gogh and other Van Gogh locations
- Day 5 – Visit Avignon and Châteauneuf-du-Pape – Consider Wine Cruise
- Day 6 – Return to the NIce Area and visit additional local attractions.
- Day 7 – Visit Monte Carlo, and depart from Nice
Depending where you decide to stay, while you may want to rent a car. However, it is possible to tour this area by public transportion by taking regional trains. .
Alternative Places to Visit in Other Parts of France
Other regions that are worth visiting, but not included in our 7-day French itineraries are the Alsace Lorraine Region, and the wine regions of Burgundy and the Champagne. We visited the Alsace Region on a Rhine River Cruise while the two wine regions are still on our bucket list.
Alsace Lorraine Region of France
The Alsace Lorraine region of France sits literally next to Germany on the western bank of the Rhine River. We visited two great charming villages, Colmar and Strasbourg, both of which have a strong German influence.
Strasbourg
Traveling North to South, Strasbourg is the first French city you come to on the Rhine. The Strasbourg Cathedral (Cathedrale Notre-Dame-de-Strasbourg) is considered one of the finest examples of Gothic architecture in the world. The astronomical clock located in the south transept of the cathedral is one of the most famous features of the cathedral. People are mesmerized by the intricacy of the mechanics. To read more about the famous Strasbourg Cathedral please vist our post “50 Famous Cathedrals in Europe”.
Colmar
Colmar is the next French city we visited on the Rhine. It considers itself to be the capital of Alsatian wine. It has a strong German influence as can be seen by the traditional German guild signs. The city is known for its well-preserved old town with its narrow cobbled streets lined with pastel-hued buildings.
Burgundy and Champagne Regions
For the wine enthusiasts among us, two places that will make up another French 7 day itinerary are the combined eastern France wine regions of Burgundy and Champagne. Unfortunately, neither Robin nor Cos have visited these two regions. However, they are both high on the Bucket List, and will be visited on the next trip to France. Visiting Burgundy and Champagne in France offers a unique blend of cultural, historical, and gastronomical experiences. Here are some highlights of each region:
Burgundy
- Wine: Burgundy is world-renowned for its exceptional wines, particularly Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. You can explore vineyards, participate in wine tastings, and visit wine cellars in towns like Beaune and Dijon.
- Architecture: The region boasts stunning medieval and Renaissance architecture. Highlights include the Hospices de Beaune, a Gothic masterpiece, and the Cathédrale Saint-Lazare d’Autun.
- Scenic Beauty: Burgundy’s landscape is dotted with picturesque villages, rolling vineyards, and historic châteaux. It’s perfect for leisurely drives and scenic walks.
Champagne
- Sparkling Wine: Champagne is the birthplace of the world-famous sparkling wine. You can tour prestigious Champagne houses in Reims and Épernay, learning about the intricate production process and enjoying tastings.
- Historical Sites: The region is rich in history, with landmarks like the Reims Cathedral, where French kings were crowned, and the ancient Roman city of Reims.
- Gastronomy: Champagne offers exquisite culinary experiences, from Michelin-starred restaurants to charming local bistros, often paired with the region’s signature bubbly.
Both regions offer a delightful mix of wine, history, and scenic beauty, making them must-visit destinations for any traveler.
Conclusion:
If you been to France before, or if is this your first trip, hopefully our 7, 14 or 21-day French Itinerary will be of great help to you in planning your next trip. It you want some more additional advice on doing your own DIY travel planning, please see our DIY Travel Planning Post: Ultimate DIY Travel Guide for Couples [2024] .
Don’t forget the Statue of Liberty in Vega$.
Steve: Thanks, I will note it on our Vegas Post.