Locations and Activities

These are comments from travelers collected from local users of online forums recommending specific places in addition to popular activities around France and Italy.

Paris

• Coffee beans roasted in North Marais so it smells amazing
• The Broken Arm:  12 Rue Perree, leisurely café crème facing the Square du Temple park (also Nordic fashion boutique)
• Boot Cafe:  19 Rue Du Pont aux Choux, Most characteristically charming and cozy cafe
• Cafe Loustic: 40 Rue Chapon, Coffee tastings paired with pastries and sweets
• Odette cafe:  Beautiful view of Notre Dame and great coffee
• Foundation Cafe: Local coffee shop:  16 Rue Dupetit Thouars
• Visit the Grave of Lafayette, major general of continental army in France. Lafayette presented the key to the Bastille to George Washington as a token of his appreciation to the American leader for inspiring France's revolution -- the original still hangs in Mount Vernon today. In 1781, troops in Virginia under his command blocked forces led by Cornwallis until other American and French forces could position themselves for the decisive Siege of Yorktown. Lafayette died on 20 May 1834, and is buried in Picpus Cemetery in Paris, under soil from Bunker Hill.
• Paris to Colmar by train is 2 hours and 43 minutes
• Monet Museum
• Montparnasse tower. View is amazing!
• Attach a lock at Pont des Arts Bridge in France
• Parisian Catacombs: I would say reserve the earliest possible time you can, so that you can be ahead of the crowds of people who will follow behind you. I heard it gets pretty crowded down there which I imagine would be very claustrophobic and loud. I bought them here. Click the link that says “Purchase the Tickets Online,” and that will take you to and official Paris Museum site. It’s unfortunately all in French so I had to download a browser plug-in that translated it all enough for me to understand.
• Dog walking in Paris
• Middle Ages Tour
• Rue Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre, in full Église Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre (French for Church of Saint Julian the Poor), is a Melkite Greek Catholic parish church in Paris, France, and one of the city's oldest religious buildings. North of the church, in the Square René Viviani, exists the oldest tree in Paris. It is a locust tree planted in 1602 by Jean Robin, gardener-in-chief during the reign of kings Henry III, Henry IV, and Louis XIII. Also known as the "Lucky Tree of Paris", it is thought to bring years of good luck to those who gently touch the tree's bark.
• The Paris Duperré basketball court
• Thello night train
• English subtitle movie theater
• DisneyLand:  New York the Art of Marvel Contemporary Gallery
• Musée de l'homme café:  If you want a good view of the tour Eiffel, the cafés in the Palais de Chaillot are unbeatable (one in the théatre and one in the musée de l'homme).
• Le Paradis Latin - Great show—nothing like the well known shows, i.e. Lido, Moulin, etc—the food and service are fantastic, as they don't have that 'tourist mill' sort of attitude I found at the Lido. A beautiful, historic building too.
• Eat at Pink Mamma in Paris
• Château de Montmort (Lucy):  Castle that inspired Victor Hugo
• Oberkampf:  Great for less touristy nightlife and very close to our AirBnB
• Belleville:  Nightlife
• Canal Saint Martin:  Nightlife
• Rue Mouffetard:  Nightlife
• Marche aux puces: One of the first flea markets in the world
• Tattoos
• PANIC ROOM:  Bar in Paris
• Notre Dame
• Eiffel Tower
• Champagne Region
• Moët & Chandon
• Le Grand Rex:  Amazing centuries old 3 balcony theater
• Cinémathèque française:  4D movies
• Scenes in Paris movies
• There is a shop selling vintage movie posters and gear along Rue Des Rosiers inside one of the passages
• Jerome Seydoux Pathe Foundation:  Cinema museum and school
• Arc Du Triomphe – Take a walk up the famous Champ Elysees to enjoy the approaching view of this imposing arch. Built to honour those who fought and died for France, check out the inner and outer surfaces of the Arc for the names of French war victories and generals inscribed in the stone. You can climb the steps to the top for nice views over Paris and down the avenues that run off the centre of the Arc. 
• The Louvre – Home of the famous Mona Lisa, the world’s largest and most visited museum is spread across three wings with eight different departments and around 35,000 works of art and artifacts on display. One visit is most certainly not enough to take it all in so a little forward planning about what you want to see is a must. 
• Hassan, my coworker, says to check out the Persian section of the Louvre
• Cruise the Seine – Some of Paris’s best architecture and landmarks line the Seine River making a sightseeing cruise a must do. My top tip is to hop aboard the Bateaux Mouches for a one hour cruise at night on an open top boat that will take you under all of the city’s famous bridges and past its famous sites. 
• Palace of Versailles – This grand chateau was once home to Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette and is simply spectacular inside and out. Grand rooms filled with priceless works of art, furniture and antiquities on the inside and sprawling perfectly manicured gardens on the outside make this a worthy half to full day trip from the centre of Paris.
• Loire Valley Mont Saint-Michel (Kind of out of the way, but might be worth it) 
• LYON:  Great place to stop between Chamonix and Paris, about half way
• Dijon:  Great place to stop between Chamonix and Paris, about half way
• Most charming small towns in France
• What to do in Paris at night? Just about anything you can think of. The Opera, the movies (look for movies in “V.O.,” presented in their original language with French subtitles,) a stroll by the Seine river or in the atmospheric streets of the Latin Quarter, a cruise on the Seine river, a delicious meal at a bistro or a gastronomic restaurant, une nocturne (a late night visit) at one of the great Parisian museums (Wednesdays and Fridays at le Louvre, Thursdays at le musée d’Orsay, everyday except Tuesdays at le Centre Pompidou,) a drink (or two) at a bar branché (hip bar) rubbing elbows with Parisian hipsters, a cabaret show.

Chamonix

• Cable car to top of Mont Blanc
• Aiguille du Midi mountain peak
• Le Panoramic restaurant, Mont Blanc, France
• Highly recommend the scenic ride to the glacier as a cloudy day activity
• Mer De Glace
• Annecy

Riomaggiore

• Swimming spots in Riomaggiore
• Cinque Terre trail
• In Cinque Terre, go to Il Pirata in Vernazza for the best canoli
• Cinque Terre, Billy's Trattoria & Miky Ristorante were my favorites
• Sheck out Byron's spot on the cliffs in Portovenere, which is the location you start out at when visiting the Cinque Terre.
• Plan some time to swim in Monterosso
• Plan to tour and walk around Lucca instead of Pisa, but definitely stop at Pisa for an hour or two

Tuscany/Siena/Florence

• My preferred sandy beach close to Pisa is Marina di Vecchiano
• A little further south of Livorno there are a range of beaches, many of them much nicer I find than Viareggio. My favourite of the closer beach towns is Castiglioncello (though it's mostly large rocks to dive off, rather than sand). The town is lovely, and the train station is right there in the centre so you can go anywhere by foot from there. It's about 35-40 mins from Pisa.
• Excaliber sword:  Abbazia(Abbey) of San Galgano, located in town of Chiusdino
• Mansudae, North Korean artwork in Tuscany
• Best coffee in Florence
• Mercato Centrale
• Osteria dell'Enoteca and Santarpia (higher end Osteria and neapolitan pizza)
• Duomo from the Belvedere
• Duomo:  If you are a schedule-friendly traveler, I'd recommend buying your Museo di Duomo tickets online, and reserving your time to climb the the dome at the same time. Climbing the dome at sunset provides some of the most wonderful views and pictures of Florence you can ask for. It's touristy, but wonderful, with a view to soften the most jaded of tourist hearts.
• Giotto's bell tower
• The Uffizi
• The Galileo Museum (Next to the Uffizi)
• David
• Ponte Vecchio
• The Palazzo Vecchio Museum and Tower
• Piazzale Michelangelo:  Watch the sunset from Piazza del Michelangelo. It’s the best view. Arrive early with wine and cheese and crackers and a blanket to sit on the steps. It’s a wonderful evening.
• Basilica of Santa Croce
• Make sure to check out the Trevi Fountain if you haven't already.
• Basilica of Santa Maria Novella
• Valentina's is a good choice for shoe shopping
• Piazzale Michelangelo at Sunset, and dinner at Acqua al Due (the blueberry steak is life changing)
• San Miniato al Monte
• All’antico vinaio:  Best panino in the world
• 4 Leoni in Piazza della Passera:  Try the pear pasta, That little Piazza is also adorable and remarkably hidden and a great place to grab a Gelato or a glass of wine and sit on a bench and watch the world go by.
• Vespa tour of the Tuscan Hills
• La Giostra restaurant
• Gusta pizza 
• All’antico Vinaio (recommended several times for great pizza)
• San Gimignano, southwest of Firenze
• Siena Cathedral
• Top Tuscan Wineries
• Top 10 wineries around the world
• Livernano and Casalvento winery:  Livernano is a truly ancient place. It was first inhabited by Etruscans, whose culture reached its high-point in Tuscany over 2500 years ago, around 500BC. The hamlet was later occupied by the Romans, who gave it its name. Long after the cessation of Roman rule, Livernano served as a fortified border post during the interminable wars of the two great mediaeval city states in Tuscany, Siena and Florence.
• Greve
• Castellina
• Empoli
• Cantinetta Allegri:  One of the most AMAZING restaurants I visited during my time in Florence. It is a bit out of the way, the interior is tiny, and reservations are definitely encouraged, but the food was truly some of the best I've had. I spent my time in Italy with a born-and-raised Italian, and she said the food was easily some of the best she's had as well.
• Boboli Gardens in Florence was a very cool experience! They are statue-filled Renaissance gardens with fabulous views of the city.
• La specola museum which is weird and cool, and often doesn’t have too many visitors. It’s got lots of cool gems and rocks, as well as tons of super old insects and animal taxidermy including some extinct species.
• Giardino Delle Rosa:  Rose garden with great views of Piazzale Michelangelo
• Del Fagioli: Best steakhouse in the world
• Buca di Mario: Order the Bistecca alla Fiorentina
• Tredici dei Gobbi: Order the cheesy ravioli
• If you're a bit more adventurous than most, at night you can climb over the barrier to the Arno just east of Ponte Vecchio, but before Ponte alle Grazie (closer to Uffizi). Then you can walk down to the damn/walkways that jut out of the water. I recommend sitting there with a couple bottles of wine and some friends. The view is amazing.
• Country within a country  (Hassan recommends)
• Visit Greve di Chianti if you are interested in wine tasting
• Marina De Massa (Hassan recommends)
• La Spezia (Hassan recommends)
• L'Antico Noe - amazing pressed panini, cheap and lots of tasty options, the rose sauce is to die for, my favorite panino isn't on the menu (sausage, mushrooms, pecorino, and rose sauce), also has a connected sit down restaurant with good pasta, located on Volta di San Piero
• Il Gatto e La Volpe - friendly servers, delicious pizza and pasta, try the penne bolognese/pesto/penne alla vodka/pizza or pasta Gatto e la Volpe/pizza or gnocchi with four cheeses, pretty much everything on the menu is great, and make sure you taste their delicious balsamic bread dipping concoction because it's heavenly, located on Via Ghibellina
• Ristorante Accademia - more pricey but amazing food, try the mushroom strudel, they also have a great wine and dine option, located in Piazza San Marco
• Grom - best gelato by the Duomo, tasty flavors like pear and melon, located on Via delle Oche
• Orto Botanico - Botanical Garden of the University of Siena, Via Pier Andrea Mattioli, 4, 53100 Siena SI, Italy (“Orto Botanico”) Photo hanging in office

Activities that were too far away

• French lens maker Alphonse darlot made the first projectors called magic lanterns
• Rocamadour Lot, France
• Quiberon Bretagne, France
• The sea cliffs of Etretat
• Saint Malo Bretagne, France 
• Guedelon Castle in Burgundy, France (Built with ancient tools in modern times)
• Saint tropez as seen on Amazing race s30e04, LA Tarte tropezienne-Baguettes, Annual regatta, Rondini family shoes, Place des lices, Les baux-Picasso and Van Gogh, Chateau des baux de provence, Hotel benvenguto
• Sinking castle