Brugge or Bruges Belgium is not a non touristy place, but it is off the beaten path and is like stepping back in time. It's a medieval town worth a visit. It's a three hour drive from Paris, so not too far either!

Hello Jordon! I follow your blog from Lisbon (Portugal) and I love it! I hope you came to Portugal during your stay in Paris, i'm sure that you and your family are going to love it! The sky lantern festival you talk about in your post is in fact a tradition of an important festivity: São João, 24 June (mainly in the nort of the country: Porto, Braga…). If you ever need informations about Portugal feel free to email me (madeira.teresa@gmail.com)! Bonne chance! Teresa

Hey!

I am a reader of your inspiring blog and I have a blog myself but about travel, with a few tips related to places in Europe, Paris for example!

Hope you'll drop by and don't forget to use the Google Translating tool on the left (sorry the blog is written in Spanish).

Hugs from Spain and welcome to Europe!!

Hi Jordan

I'm a San Francisco to Provence transplant, and give vintage buying tours of my area to my compatriots. I'd love to show you my secret vintage spots here when you make your way to Provence (easy to do, just a 3 hour train ride from the center of Paris). And by the way, vintage is way cheaper outside of Paris, so be sure to check out the provinces before you buy that pricey Paris stuff.

And for the nearby destinations, I can tell you about lots of great places, but the short list:

Barcelona
Bologna
Ireland
Brugge (great suggestion from another comment)
Edinburgh
Sicily

and bazillions of dreamy places within France.

Feel free to email me if I can help you with any questions about life in France for an expat.

Wishing you a wonderful year in Paris!

I follow you from France but not Paris and if ever you need some piece of advice, don't hesitate to ask. Bye. Tartangirl.

The Morgestaich parade in Basel Switzerland is one of the neatest things I did in Europe. Here's my blog post about it (scroll down towards the last third of the post):
http://harwoodgruss.blogspot.com/2007/03/fasching.html

Strasbourg France is pretty as is little Riquewihr also in the Alsace region.

Cambridge England is a charming place…take the path known as the Grantchester Grind about a mile out of Cambridge (and along the Cam river) to the village of Grantchester and have tea at the Orchard (one of my favorite places in the world!).

Another one of my favorite places ever is the Dingle Penninsula of Ireland.

And I agree the Bruges Belguim, while filled with tourists, is worth a look-see.

I kept a blog while my husband and I lived in Germany for two years here at harwoodgruss.blogspot.com and my current blog here at babyannequilts.blogspot.com (click on the Travel topic on the right margin) where you may get travel ideas!

You'll love it! My husband and I have been plotting to get back to Europe ever since we left!

Hey Jordan,

I’m from Germany but now I live in Basel/Switzerland. It’s five minutes away (no joke) from the french and the german border.
My favorite german cities are Hamburg and Cologne. Both cities are full of creative peopIe and sweet little shops plus there are always nice concerts. I think „easy jet“ offers cheap flights from Paris to Hamburg. Last week the „Hello Handmade“ Market took place in Hamburg – I’m sure you would have loved it.
Leipzig and Dresden are well worth a visit.

Switzerland is a very small country and although Basel is the third largest city in Switzerland (after Geneva and Zurich) it’s tiny. But there are a lot of houses and buildings from medival times. As a contrast in Basel and around, there is a lot of contemporary art in the museums like the Vitra Design Museum. And in june the huge art fair called „Art Basel“ takes place.
And as Heather recommended: The Morgenstraich. It’s part of a very spezial type of carnival which lasts three days.
So if you like the mountains, hiking or skiing, green grass, cows, goats and marmots, cheese and chocolate, you have to spend some time in Switzerland … maybe in the Grindelwald area….

All the best and if you want to know more about Switzerland or Basel…..
Chrissi

you used to be very expensive to ship from paris because you had to pay for a whole crate now it has been made easier because items are combined( securely with others who are doing the same) all you have to do is go to the dock and they will take care of the rest, made simpler if you go ahead of time and get the information and papers you will need!

oh you will love living in paris and the amazing finds you will find, also italy has amazing vintage markets!
i am partial to bruxelles as well!

My husband and I went to Barcelona in 2009 for our honeymoon and it was amazing. My favorite part of the trip was the day we spent in a little town about and hour's train ride north of Barcelona called Girona. http://www.girona.cat/turisme/eng/activitats.php

It's close to France, gorgeous, and definitely has the smaller village feel you're going for!

I used to live in Prague so did a bit of Europe exploring myself. Check out these places for poss visits:

Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic – a spa town and host of Czech Film Festival

Hvar, Croatia – beautiful lavender island and Hvar town is a gorgeous little harbout with shops & restaurants

One of my favorite countries while backing Europe was Prague.

Go there, and then take the 2-3 hour bus ride {or rent a car} to Chesky Krumluv. It's beautiful and has retained it's 18th century charm.

I'll be stopping by Little Winter this weekend. I'll have to introduce myself! 🙂

These aren't necessarily off the beaten path, but I consider these must-see places if you're going to be living in Europe for a year.

-Berlin
-Dresden
-Prague
-Florence

Other places I wouldn't want to miss if I was going again: Cinque Terre, Athens, Morocco, Egypt.

Venice was so so for me.

Hallstaat in Austria is more off the beaten path. It's maybe 30 minutes to an hour away from Strasbourg (another fun, smaller city); it's a super quaint Alpine village on the lake that is only accessible through a tunnel. The village is built up the side of the mountain, which is really fun. But if you aren't already in the area, I don't know that Hallstaat is worth the trip just by iteslf. Goregous countryside surrounding it, though. Great mountain vistas.

If you are a foodie or interested in that, the Spanish capital for food is San Sebastian–up North and close the the French border. Many Michelin starred restaurants, but I would just do the pintxos bar-hopping and try all the little dishes in the different bars. Very delicious gourmet-type food in relaxed settings. I'm so envious!

My sister spent some time in the Czech Republic and while she enjoyed Prague, she LOVED Cesky Krumlov which is in the south end of the country.

Have an awesome time!

We went all over Sweden and Norway when I was in college. Two stand-outs–aside from Stockholm, which is just amazing–are Mora, Sweden, where we went to a huge carnival, and Andalsnes, Norway, right in fjord country.

I'm heading to Portugal for the month of December. Do you know when or where the lantern festival is taking place?

I've shipped things both way from Europe and you just have to sign a form saying you've owned it for a certain amount of time and it's your own personal items and not for resale. Cost wise a container is pricey- I would say $8-12k realistically France-CA. We used Stevens Worldwide last time and really liked them. You could call and ask for a general estimate. I wouldn't bother with any kind of car/scooter b/c the US taxes you a lot on importing those even if they are your own and you have to have a lot of testing done on them so it ends up costing way more than it is worth.

Good luck and enjoy the adventure.

PS. I also recommend Paris to the Moon!

My favorite off-the-beaten-path destinations are Villandry (a castle with gorgeous gardens about a 15 mile bike ride from Tours, France) and Interlaken (an adventure sport paradise in Switzerland).

P.S. I tweeted at you the other day but I would love to hear your advice for getting into a creative career path! Have a wonderful weekend!

Hi Jordan – If you have any interest in visiting Ireland, I'm originally from Dublin and put a wee Ireland travel guide up on my blog earlier this year. Am happy to help if you have any questions etc. http://seenandsaid.blogspot.com/2010/08/ireland-guide.html

Jane
xx

The little village of Die in south eastern France is wonderful and charming!

Lucca, Italy. One of my favorite places ever. It's one day trip for a lot of tourists coming from Florence and the surrounding area but my husband and I spent four days there during our honeymoon and loved it. It a small walled city and you can rent bikes and ride on top of the wall. So cool. Totally charming medieval city. We are going to retire there someday.

We stayed at the coolest bed and breakfast there – http://www.laromea.com/ There was a gorgeous print shop right next to the bed and breakfast where I could have spent my life savings on lovely lovely prints.

Also, the Piedmont area of Italy is wonderful. In October they have a truffle festival in Alba and you can go truffle hunting with dogs. Fun! Asti, nearby, has its own palio – the oldest in Italy – in September.

I am SO JEALOUS!

So exciting! I recommend Ljubljana, Slovenia for somewhere a little off the beaten path… It is a stunning city that I truly fell in love with. And of course, spend every second you can in Barcelona. You will not want to leave (OK, if you get to go back to Paris, it might be easier). I cannot wait for you to get there so I can live vicariously through you!

xoxo

Oh, you should come to Copenhagen! If you ever need the non-tourist go-to-places in Copenhagen, just ask me!

BTW – think the entire moving to Paris for a year is so awesome. I just finished reading Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat, Pray, Love (a million years after everyone else, I know)and I wish I were as brave as you guys.

Carina

Hi Jordan!

I'm a graphic designer and love love love your blog. I'm working on rebranding an international relocation company based in San Francisco called Bloom International. They basically relocate your entire life overseas and to an amazing job. The entire operation is family owned and operated which I personally look for in a business. You can see more info on their site (which has not been redesigned yet btw)
http://www.bloominternational.com/
good luck!!!

There's no place on earth like budapest in the spring. They've got a great may day festival. I'd take budapest over prague aaaaaaaaaany day. But that's just me.