The Seine at night
PONTIRIS SAMPLE ITINERARY
6 days · sample itinerary · france

Paris, then the Loire

A city on foot, a river by car
6
DAYS
2
BASES
5
NIGHTS
1
TRAIN
Before you go

This one is a sample of a shape I get asked for often: the first trip back. Someone who used to travel, has not in a while, and wants it to feel possible again rather than impressive. So it is six days, two bases, one train, and a great deal of room. Three nights in Paris on foot, then down to the river for three more with a car and no schedule to speak of. Every evening is deliberately underbooked — that is the whole design, not a gap I forgot to fill. Two hours are marked as the ones the days are built toward; in your version the rest would be filled in around them, with your Welcome Notes for Paris and the Loire alongside. The flights, the train, the car, and the rooms are all yours to book — I tell you exactly what and when.- Richard

The route
Paris
Days 1-3
The Loire
Days 4-6
Day by day
ParisDays 1-3 · 3 nights

One neighbourhood, walked properly, rather than six of them chased — the city is easier when you stop trying to see all of it.

Day 1 · Paris Mild · 66 / 52seasonal estimate
mornLand, and into the city by train rather than a taxi — it is faster, and on a first morning it is the better introduction
1:00pDrop the bags, then lunch within three streets of the room. Nothing further than that today
aftThe neighbourhood on foot, and an early night. The trip starts properly tomorrow
A candlelit table set for dinner
Day 2 · Paris Mild · 68 / 54seasonal estimate
9:00aOne museum, booked for the opening slot, and one only — you are out by noon and the day is still ahead of you
1:00pLunch, then the long walk: the river, the islands, and the streets behind them
8:00pDinner booked properly. The one night of the six where the table is the plan
9:45pMagic hourThe walk home along the water, when the bridges are lit and the boats have thinned outThe reason dinner is booked for eight and not nine. Twenty minutes on foot along the quay, arriving at the bridge as the light on the water settles — it is the cheapest thing on the whole itinerary and the one people describe first when they get back.
Day 3 · Paris Mild · 67 / 53seasonal estimate
10:00aA market morning, and coffee sitting down rather than walking
aftHeld open. If the last two days have gone well you will already know what you want more of
eveSomewhere in the neighbourhood, no reservation, an early night before the train
The LoireDays 4-6 · 2 nights

An hour and a half south by train and the pace drops again: a car, a river, and châteaux visited at the hours nobody else does.

An empty country road running between fields
Day 4 · The Loire Mild · 68 / 50seasonal estimate
10:30aThe train south — an hour and a half, and worth doing in daylight for what is out of the window
12:30pCollect the car at the station and drive twenty minutes to the room. The car is for here, not for Paris
aftThe town on foot, the river at the bottom of it, and dinner wherever looks right
A stone gateway arch in the late afternoon
Day 5 · The Loire Mild · 70 / 50seasonal estimate
10:00aOne château in the morning, chosen for the grounds rather than the queue, and a village lunch after it
3:00pThe afternoon on the back roads — vines, a river crossing or two, and no particular destination
6:15pMagic hourThe second château's gardens in the last hour before they close, after the coaches have goneThe whole day is arranged to put you here at quarter past six. Same grounds, same ticket, a fraction of the people, and the low light doing the work — timing is most of what I am actually selling.
8:30pDinner late, back in town
Day 6 · Home
mornA slow start, the car back at the station, and the train up to the airport
aftFly home. The train times are built around your flight, with an hour of slack in them
Transportation
Home to Paris
Day 1
You book the flights — I tell you which airport and which arrival time makes day one work
FLIGHT
Paris to the Loire
Day 4
Around 90 minutes by direct train. Yours to book, and I send the service and the seats I would take
TRAIN
The car, collected at the station
Days 4-6
Booked by you, picked up on arrival and dropped on the way out. Three days is all you need it for
CAR
The Loire to home
Day 6
Train back up to the airport — the connection is built with an hour of slack
TRAIN
Accommodations
Paris
One quiet neighbourhood, chosen so that everything on this page is walkable from the door
Days 1-3 · 3 nts
The Loire
A small place outside town with parking and a garden to sit in
Days 4-5 · 2 nts
Packing notes
ESSENTIALS
Passport
Cards — contactless works nearly everywhere
Your driving licence for the Loire days
ON YOUR FEET
Shoes you can do fifteen thousand steps in
Something better for the one booked dinner
THE WEATHER
Layers — mild days, cool evenings
A light rain jacket that folds away
Useful links
SNCF Connect
French rail — tickets, live times, and platform numbers
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Bonjour RATP
Paris metro and bus, including the line from the airport
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Val de Loire tourist board
Château opening hours and closing dates, which move by season
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