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Thank you for the suggestions everyone. Right now we are leaning towards driving from Paris to Geneva and making stops along the way (and driving through Switzerland once there).

Any recommendations for this drive?

Also, any recommendations for Paris? Unique things that I may have missed during my first trip a few years ago or little places that I probably wouldn't happen to stumble across on my own.

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21
In response to #20

Thank you for the suggestions everyone. Right now we are leaning towards driving from Paris to Geneva and making stops along the way (and driving through Switzerland once there).

Don't do it: you just don't have time to enjoy this kind of journey. And crazy to drive to Geneva: it is a long way but the trains are extremely fast. And there is no sense at all going to the country with the world's best public transport (Switzerland) and driving through it.

Difficult to make reservations for Paris since I don't know what you have already seen.

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22

I agree with #21, if you feel you have to visit Switzerland, take the train. You just don't have the time available for the drive. I still recommend with only two weeks stick to Paris and France as I mentioned above.

Spend some time here: http://anyportinastorm.proboards.com/board/46/paris There are all kinds of things to do in Paris and many with photo essays.

Here are all kinds of things to see and do in France: http://anyportinastorm.proboards.com/board/24/france


When setting out on a journey, do not seek advice from those who have never left home.
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23

I would also take the train if travelling to Switzerland - a car is too slow and there are pricy tolls en route as well. Book the train ASAP to get as cheap a price as possible. After Geneva (1 day required), the golden mountain train (which is lovely) and Luzern, you could consider spending the rest of the time in one of the villages above Interlaken such as Murren, Wengen or Grindelwald.

Also consider changing your flight back home from Paris to Geneva or Zurich to save having to go all the way back to France.

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24

Thanks everyone and thanks for posting that forum Louis!

Okay, I will look into train more as well. When I looked up drive with google maps it seemed like it was only ~5 and a half hours (8.5hrs without tolls), and I saw where other people posted that they traveled to Geneva from Paris and passed through /stopped over at places Burgundy. It is hard to gauge the amount of driving and amount that may or may not be scenic online though.

We like the "open" aspect of driving and are not hard set on arriving in Switzerland. Where would you recommend driving to/exploring?
(We will have 5 nights, 6th day/night is for traveling back to Paris.) We are flying back out of Paris because that is a company policy my dads flight.
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Edited by spacebaba
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25

To get a real idea about driving times have a look at http://www.viamichelin.com/. You not only find the time of driving, without stops, such as for sanitary purposes and a cup of coffee, but also the costs for toll and fuel.

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26

Thanks that is a good website, I routed it without tolls. Not sure if that takes me through little towns and a scenic route but it looks better than the toll route.

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27

The routes in the viamichelin-website, which have a green line along it, are scenic ones.

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28

Good to know, thank you.

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29

The more I research areas in France the more I see how many beautiful options there are. If you could pick any region of France to explore for 4-5 days (leaving from Paris), what would it be?

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