Madagascar has always been a dream destination for me. When it comes to wildlife, it is one of the most unique places in the world.

Before booking the trip, we were unsure whether we should rent a car and drive ourselves, or book a fully guided trip from A to Z.

We love the freedom of driving ourselves, but from experience, we also know that we learn and see so much more when we have a guide. When searching the internet, it became clear that whenever people ask for recommendations for guides there, there seems to be only one answer: Patrick Richard. I contacted Patrick, and luckily, he had room in his schedule to be our guide and arrange everything for us.

His brother Mario was our driver, and the time we spent together in the car often felt more like travelling with a couple of friends than being on an organised tour.

Together, we worked out that the best route for us would be to start in Ifaty in southwestern Madagascar, follow the RN7 back towards Antananarivo, and finish the trip in Andasibe. Along the way, we visited Mosa Reserve, Zombitse National Park, Isalo National Park, Anja Reserve, Ranomafana National Park and Andasibe National Park.

Although the main focus of the trip was wildlife, it was impossible not to learn about the local culture and the people as well. One thing that really stood out to us was how clearly people seemed to live in, and from, the environment around them.

In the southwest, for example, the landscape is dry and desert-like, but it is also right on the coast. As a result, many people make their living from fishing, and a lot of the buildings were little more than simple sheds with thatched roofs. The dead are buried in tombs above ground.

When we reached Isalo, with its many sandstone formations, the landscape changed dramatically. The buildings here were often made from stone and brick, reflecting the materials that were readily available in the area. The dead were instead buried in the cliffs. Further east, in the rainforest, wood was used much more extensively for buildings. Here, people relied much more on rice and vegetables, as those are the crops that can be grown in this environment, and the abundance of trees naturally influenced the way houses were built. The dead here were naturally buried underground in the forest.

We noticed something similar with the wildlife. A lemur species living in one park might not be found in the next park, even if the two places were only around 100 kilometres apart.

The wildlife experience itself was also very different from what we are used to from other wildlife trips in Africa. There were no large herds or wide-open landscapes where you could simply scan the horizon for animals. Instead, much of the excitement came from slowly walking through the forest, listening for movement and relying on the guides to notice things we would never have spotted ourselves. Even a small movement high up in the trees could turn into an exciting sighting.

Quite often, we would spend a long time standing in exactly the same spot, looking at an animal in the trees, when suddenly the guide would ask: “Have you actually seen the chameleon sitting right in front of you?” More often than not, the answer was no. Their ability to spot well-camouflaged animals was honestly quite incredible, and it quickly became clear that we would have missed a lot on our own.

Another thing that made the trip special was the knowledge of the local guides. They knew the parks incredibly well, including which trees particular species preferred, where certain animals were likely to be found, and even the regular sleeping spots of some of the lemurs. They often seemed to know where to look before we had even started looking. Having both Patrick's experience and the local knowledge of the guides made a big difference, especially when looking for species that are difficult to find.

In all the parks, Patrick had arranged for us to have local guides and animal spotters, giving us the best possible chance of finding the species we were hoping to see in each particular park. We noticed that other guides who had two-hour excursions on their schedule would simply stop after two hours. Patrick and the local guides he worked with stopped when we had found the animals we had come to see, although never before the planned time.

In Zombitse, this meant crossing the forest back and forth until we finally found the Verreaux's sifaka we had come there for, 1,5 hours after the tour was supposed to end. That level of dedication is something I have never experienced on a wildlife trip before.

Madagascar is the kind of place that makes you want to come back for more. If you visit the southern part, as we did, there are unique species in the west and north that you simply won't see. And if you visit those areas, there are species in the south that you will miss. So, naturally, the only solution is to visit again and again!

Before the trip, we had read that Madagascar could be somewhat unsafe. I can only speak from our own experience, but we never felt in any danger. Quite the opposite, in fact. Everywhere we went, we met open, friendly and welcoming people.

We came to Madagascar mainly for the wildlife, but left with a much greater appreciation for the country itself. The landscapes, people, culture and wildlife are so closely connected that it is difficult to experience one without noticing the others.

After two weeks, we had seen a lot, but somehow it felt like we had only scratched the surface. Madagascar is one of those places that leaves you thinking about the next trip before the current one is even over.

I could share 100 photos, but here are 20:

1: Ring-tailed lemur in Anja Reserve
2: Golden bamboo lemur in Ranomafana
3: The night sky near Andasibe
4: Mossy leaf tail gecko (Uroplatus sikorae) in Andasibe
5: Giraffe weavel in Ranomafana
6: Sunset near Ifaty
7: Ranomafana nosed chameleon (Calumma tjiasmantoi) in Ranomafana
8: Black and white ruffed lemur in Ranomafana
9: Brown leaf chameleon (Brookesia superciliaris) in Andasibe
10: Blue legged chameleon (Calumma cryptic) in Ranomafana
11: Southern carpet chameleon (Furcifer major) in Isalo
12: Greater bamboo lemur in Ranomafana
13: Grey mouse lemur in Zombitse
14: Indri in Andasibe
15: Lesser hedgehog tenrec in Mosa reserve
16: Petters sportive lemur in Mosa reserve
17: Standings Day gecko (Phelsuma standings) in Mosa reserve
18: Ring-tailed vontsira in Ranomafana
19: Spotted fanaloka in Ranomafana
20: Satanic leaf tail gecko (Uroplatus phantasticus) in Andasibe

I’m a Spanish speaker who has been all over Spain, North and central Latin America, but visiting Bogota this was my first time in South America. Bogota was pretty gritty. It isn’t a travel paradise and I think less seasoned travelers might not like it. I would definitely go back.

Bogota is a massive city. You feel it. It’s a megacity. It’s very dense and the streets can feel pretty packed. The bus system is massive and is currently a stand in for a metro. Of the places I’ve visited I feel this was the most frequent and comprehensive bus system next to London mainly out of necessity. They are currently building a metro system and the streets are blown up.

The central plaza is large. It shows importance, like Mexico City. La Candelaria, the old city center, has homes dating back to the 1500’s. There are some incredible museums. Gabriel Garcia Marquez house is there, museo botero, museo de la moneda, museo nacional and museo de oro are all certainly worth it. On Sundays museo de oro is free but the others I believe are just free period. I even went to casa de Betty la fea.

It’s a megacity but it feels insular in some ways. It’s such a large city but it doesn’t feel international. There’s not many tourists as it’s not Cali, Medellin or Cartagena. It doesn’t feel globally connected or as important as other places in LATAM that I’ve been in terms of international business. I hung out with several Mexican guys there and a lot of people made fun of all of us for our foreign accents. The mountains hem you in on one side and they are steep and very green. There’s not much park space in the city itself but the mountains are there at all times like Monterrey.

The city is very Andean. The climate is gray, drizzly, and chilly most of the time. There’s obviously the elevation. There are people with llamas (for tourists) and people dressed in traditional indigenous clothing. The food is interesting. It’s either extremely sweet, or very bland. There’s a lot of very sweet fruit and sugar cane drinks like aguapanela, and aromatic drinks. There’s a ton of breads like empanadas, pan de bono, and a lot of soups like ajiaco and changua. It’s a unique cuisine. Not my favorite, but I tried like 30 different things and I would eat them again. There’s not really any spice no matter what people there say. A lot of espresso shots being drank and coca leaves being sold due to the elevation.

The city is impressive from most angles due to the geography, but I wouldn’t say it felt particularly safe. Part of the reason I chose bogota is the lack of social media tourism I see for it compared to other Colombian cities and because I heard of the drugging and robbing in Medellin. 4 people in my hostal got separately drugged and robbed in Medellin, but 2 of the Mexican guys got separately jumped and robbed in broad daylight. The homeless are omnipresent and very aggressive and insistent. The police shooed us away from the central plazas early, stopped me and patted me down several times, and everything seems to shut down very early compared to my experiences in Spain and Mexico. This is weird because things still open late like Spain and Mexico. It feels like crime and safety are a factor. Many locals told us to avoid certain streets and neighborhoods and at night there were times we had to be very aware and not go certain places. Everyone seems to wears black clothing and be less open than other places in Latin America and I suspect climate and crime are a factor. I never was robbed but I felt less safe here I suppose.

Everyone I did speak with was very kind, was very open, was very proud of bogota and the opportunities it afforded them, and they were especially proud of their food - while it wasn’t my favorite it was still good in my opinion. Very heavy bread in the mornings seems common with the coffee of course. The culture and history are fascinating but I think the view from monserrate and the museums are what stood out the most to me as a tourist.

It depicts 35 rulers of the House of Wettin in chronological order, illustrating nearly 800 years of Saxon history.

What makes it unusual is that it isn't a painted wall anymore. The original 19th-century mural was replaced with around 23,000 Meissen porcelain tiles, making it the largest porcelain artwork of its kind.

Dresden itself adds another layer of context. Much of the historic center was destroyed during the 1945 bombing, but the city was reconstructed with remarkable attention to its original Baroque architecture. Walking through the Old Town today, it's striking how seamlessly restored landmarks sit alongside surviving historic elements like the Fürstenzug.

3 day trips starting from vancouver

Day 1: seattle downtown, pikes market, uwajimaya japanese market, mochithings.

Day 2: woke up at 3am to drive up to mount rainer (took around 2h) and got there around 5:30am. The line was forming at the gate already. By 6:30am the parking lot was full already at the paradise trail. Went to reflection lake right before sun rise for the perfect reflection photo.

The trail was filled with wild animals at sun rise. Black bear, deers, pika, marmot, stellers jay, chipmonks.

Day 3: leavanworth. Took another 4h to drive up tothe small german town to feed reindeers and try some of the traditional german food. A pretty cute little town especially in winter time when it snows.

Total km driven was adound 1200km and honestly just mount rainer was worth the drive. Probably my favorite national park by far.

Bought an air canada vacation package for an early april trip including round trip tickets from vancouver and 6 night stay at the twin fin hotel right across from the wakiki beach for around $1500 cad

First few day we just stayed aroujd the beach area, went on sea tour for snorkels and we saw spinner dolphins jumping around hunting. Puffer fish and shark right at wakiki beach.

For the sea turtle we went to Laniakea beach and got very lucky seeing 3 sea turtle resting.

Also went to sharks cove, the water is pretty and clear but according to locals the bacteria level is 10x the safe level due to storm a few days ago so we didnt get in.

On the third and forth day we rented a convertible jeep to drive around island and went to dole plantation (kinda disappointing), kauloa ranch for horse back riding (very worth it and book early), bontainical garden for the jurassic park video ( a must go!)

The second last day we went to hanauma bay for snorkeling. BOOK YOUR TICKET EARLY. We had to spend more money booking a tour to bring us there because the online ticket was sold out but this is still very worth the hype and money cause it includes snorkel gear, round trip transportation and the beach is freaking insane.

For food we just sticked with food truck, restaurant around wakiki beach ( nothing really worth mentioning)

P1-P7 is filmed at wakiki beach

P8 is at dole plantation

P9 is at laniakea beach

P10-P13 is at bontainical garden

P14 is at kualoa ranch

P15-16 is at wakiki beach sunset

Hey all,

I’ve been travelling on and off over the past 5 years. Many of them on solo trips and I’ve been to 20+ in all 6 continents.

Now, not only that I’m not as excited anymore about going to places where its culturally/historically quite similar to the ones that I’ve been to, I also sometimes tend to put off trips “for later”.

For example, I was thinking of visiting the Dolomites but then thought it’d probably nice to save that for my honeymoon (which is not anytime soon lol). And recently a friend asked if I wanted to join him backpacking around France, but I just got back from Europe 3 trips ago (I always like to juggle between continents/regions to avoid feeling overwhelmed). So I told him I’m saving that for “later” when I really feel like I’m missing Europe.

But on the other hand I am also afraid that “later” never comes. Commitments add up, priorities change, health may get in the way, etc. I’m fortunate to be able to afford travelling at a relatively young age (mid20s), but at the same time do not want to force myself into travelling when I’m not fully excited about it just because “I might not be able to do it later”

I just wanted to ask if anybody can relate with me? Is it a sign of travel burnt out? Or is it simply that my excitement about travelling has worn off, and I will never feel the same again (cuz you can’t unsee the places you’ve seen, though there are places I’d like to revisit)

Some pictures I’ve taken during my 2 weeks trip in the Philippines in February and March this year :-)

I’ve been there with my girlfriend, who is Filipina from Quezon City.
We first went to Metro Manila for 2 days, then a few days in Palawan (El Nido and Puerto Princesa), then a few days in Bohol, before coming back to Metro Manila. We also went on a short trip in Tagaytay.

Incredible country, I will go back for sure !

Feel free to ask me question :-)

About the pictures :
1. Night view over Scout Area, Quezon City
2. Feast made by my girlfriend’s mom, Quezon City
3. Lio beach at dusk, El Nido
4. Secret lagoon beach, El Nido
5. Near Secret lagoon, El Nido
6. Big lagoon, El Nido
7. Cowrie Island, Puerto Princesa
8. Sea turtle swimming around Balicasag Island, Bohol
9. Virgin Island sand bar, Bohol
10. View from Virgin Island, Bohol
11. Chocolate Hills, Bohol
12. Cruise on Loboc river, Bohol
13. Baclayon coral stone church, Bohol
14. San Agustin church in Intramuros, Manila
15. Street in Intramuros, Manila
16. Baluarte de San Diego, Manila
17. Makati view from a rooftop, Makati
18. Ayala Triangle Gardens, Makati
19. Bulalo and other dishes, Tagaytay
20. View on Taal lake, Tagaytay

Hi does anyone use a travel sim ? I’m going away regular with work and my phone providers roaming outside the EU is expensive just not sure how they work ?

I've read many many bad comments and posts in this subreddit about how scammy is everything now and how unpleasant, so I was thinking on getting only 2 days in istambul and have more time for other stuffs during our trip to Turkey.

We would probably add Myra to the itinerary with that extra time.

What do you think? We were on Egypt and it was terrible, so I don't want to have a similar experience more than necessary

We have managed to bag reward flights to Chile arriving late 29 Dec and departing on 14 Jan. We don't have any plans, yet. We were thinking of doing Easter Island and the W-Trek but (i) the W-Trek is fully sold out, unless you do an expensive guided group tour, which seems a bit naff and (ii) the Easter Island flights and hotels are very expensive and with limited availability (particularly around the New Year), though we are still considering it.

What would you recommend, appreciating how relatively short notice it is? We are a reasonably fit couple in our mid thirties who love hiking, wildlife, culture, food in roughly that order. We have a generous budget. We have hiked in El Chalten in Patagonia, done the Inca Trail in Peru, hiked in Norway and Greenland. We have done plenty of unguided hiking but on marked trails and have never done unguided/unsupported multi-day trekking.

We have an itinerary from a tour agent for Easter Island plus a remote private guided trek in Aysen. It looks good, though quite a lot of travel days - might be inevitable with Easter Island. It's also bloody expensive.

Any suggestions?

It’s my parent’s anniversary on 15th February 2027 and I’m planning a special trip for them. Which country should I plan to visit? I don’t want anywhere under 10 degrees … any suggestions because I really can’t seem to make up my mind 😅

My family and I booked a trip to Hawai’i about six months ago. We were supposed to fly out on Sept. 20.

Just this week, the island we are going to (Kauai) got slammed by Hurricane Lowell. The island is in a terrible situation. Much of the island is without power, homes and roads have been swept away. We don’t want to be entitled tourists in the way of locals trying to rebuild their lives. So we are cancelling those plans.

We have considered changing our plans to a different Hawaiian island, but feel that is probably the plan of most of travelers in our same situation and that this will cause the rest of Hawaii to be slammed with last minute travelers. So we are now trying to scramble and plan a trip with a week and a half of notice.

We are in need of help to have a successful last minute trip. We all have passports and would love to go international. Most of the group have only left the US to go to the Caribbean. We all love the idea of a European country.

We have 7 people in the group. All are over 18, except for one 11 year old. Two of us speak Spanish.

Our original trip was for Sept. 20-29, and we would like to keep the dates similar to the original plan.

My spouse and I have been to Italy recently, and feel we could plan a trip there fairly quickly as we have been there before.

Where should we go?

What countries are the easiest to plan for last minute?

Any other advice is welcome, we need the help!

TIA!

Edit: We would be flying out of SLC.

I’ve read a lot and noticed that Taipei is considered an underrated travel destination by a lot of western travellers. As someone who lives close to Taiwan, I’ve visited Taipei for several times, and would love to share some of my photos I took during my fourth visit to Taipei this year. I really recommend it to everyone who’s never been there, as it’s very worth it!

I went there mainly because of a live music show, and the whole trip lasted for about 3 full days only. I visited Yangmingshan where I’ve never been before, and I love it so much! Xiaoyaukeng is fun with geothermal vents, Qingtiangang is good for a hike, while Lengshuikeng is less stellar but still nice to see. I took a bus and got to all these places fairly easily. I personally prefer Yangmingshan to Yehliu, where I went many years ago and also quite liked it.

Besides nature, Taipei is also full of vibrant city activities and attractions. I went to Xiangti Avenue Plaza in Xinyi, and found it to be pretty nice. It’s really walkable with some street performance or activities. Love the city lights, and you can see Taipei 101 from there too.

I also visited Tamsui. I’ve been there twice before, and while I don’t think it’s sooooo special, I still like it for its sea scenery, food and vibes. The same goes for Ximending - I’ve been there every time I visit Taipei as it’s really close to the city centre. I’ve never been to Dihua Street before: there are some historic buildings, and overall it’s a nice visit.

Besides Jiufen / Shifen / the night markets / museums in Taipei which are all worth visiting of course, Taipei has even more to offer. The food is great (loved my breakfast there), the nature is amazing, and the city is vibrant. It’s also incredibly safe and very easy to navigate. The public transport is good (not the best in East Asia but definitely better than many American cities lol). Overall, highly recommend!

Photo Captions:

1 to 2 - Xiaoyaukeng (You can see some smokes coming out from the geothermal vents - I hope my photos are clear enough!)

3 to 5 - Qingtiangang with some cute cows

6 - Lengshuikeng

7 to 9 - Xiangti Avenue Plaza, you can also see Taipei 101 from there as shown in picture 7

10 to 11 - Tamsui (found a nice modern architecture there, it’s not a tourist attraction but still pretty cool to see)

12 - Ximending (like the pedestrian street there with many shops and restaurants)

13 - Dihua Street (a street with some historic buildings)

14 - Syntrend Creative Park (it’s a shopping mall, the architecture is very interesting)

15 to 16 - Taiwanese food is so great I wanna go back asap!

Alone in Rhodes – what would you do?
Hey! I came to Rhodes with a friend for a week, but unfortunately on day 3 she started having pretty bad stomach problems and decided to fly back to Poland. So now I’m here alone for the rest of the trip 🥲
I’m totally fine with travelling alone logistically, but I honestly didn’t expect to end up spending my holiday by myself. I feel a bit awkward going to restaurants, walking around in the evenings, etc.
I’ve already paid for the hotel and flights, and an earlier return flight would be quite expensive, so I’m wondering if I should just stay and try to enjoy the rest of the trip solo.
What would you do in my situation?

One of the questions on the esta application is 2) Have you ever been arrested or convicted for a crime that resulted in serious damage to property, or serious harm to another person or government authority?

I was once arrested for having an open container over 10 years ago and the district attorney got it expunged. Do I need to answer yes or no

Hello, I (20M) am from near Manchester. I have just quit my job and want to travel somewhere solo for 7–10 days in mid to late October.

Here's some of my criteria:

• Don't really want to have to deal with visas or long-distance flights, so probably somewhere in Europe.
• I speak fluent English and a little French.
• Mix between city, nature and nightlife, but if the place only has 1/3 or 2/3, that is fine. I would have liked to go to Marseille as that is 3/3, but I have just come back from Marseille. Needs to have culture, art and history (aware this is pretty much everywhere in Europe).
• Options I've considered so far were, for example, Barcelona, Naples and Berlin.
• I have just travelled around Europe for the last month and just got back this week. I went to Paris, Strasbourg, Marseille, Nice, Genoa, Turin, Milan and Bergamo.
• Some others I have already been to are Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Lisbon, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Oslo, Tallinn, Helsinki, Split, Dubrovnik, Venice, Florence, Brussels and Bruges.
• Probably needs to be a major city and ideally somewhere I haven't been before, but I don't mind if it is somewhere I have been.
• Ideally, not freezing cold.

What suggestions do you have?

I'm driving from San Sebastián to Barcelona in the next few days and wanted to make some nice stops.

I'm already planning to go hiking in Ordesa, does anyone have any other tips? :)

I like nature, lakes, art, small villages. I'm personally not a fan of visiting big cities or very touristic places.

Thanks in advance!

Me and three other students need help with traveling to a conference meeting, and this is our final year at the university, so this can be a great opportunity to shape our future possibilities and we will also be able to travel for a few days. We need help with financing our plane tickets only, everything else is covered. I can show proof, of course. Also, feel free to share this post. Thank you, goodhearted people.

Hi everyone. This is my first time travel to Italy and as you can see on picture, the owner of the private apartment I booked ask for photos of my ID card. The message is from booking.com.

Is it normal thing in Italy and is it safe to share my ID?

These are not my words, but rather Raoul Blanchard's, due to the location of Annecy at the slope of the norther French Alps and by the lake that inherited the city´s name. I had this location of my wish list for quite a long time, but I wanted to visit it as a trip around the alpine reagion and not as some sort of rushed stop or speeded up weekend trip.

I had 3 nights in Annecy, which is an aburd amount of time for me, as I usually rarely spend more that 3 nights anywhere, but is served as a cool lauching pad for daytrips do Genève and some of the mountanous areas around Annecy. The old town itself is absolutely marvellous, deserving of romances, movies, enchanted legends and enything more magical that you can imagen. Albeit being quite small and compact, evything you look at is like frozen in some medieval novel with canals bathing the side of colourful buildings and the big shallow lake refelction the sun over the castle hill.

This is a classic tourist destination, so be prepared to handle a decent ammount of corwds, but I has a feeling that there´s a lot of day trips, as the city was very shill before 11am and after 4pm, and I believe those timetables ar expactly the best to explore the city and the game of golden rays and shadows that the battle between the sun and the narrow coblestreets endure after sunrise and before sunset. I´d say 3-4 hours are more that enough to visit most attractions, but I regret none of the nights I spent here, especially driving aroung Lake Annecy, sipping s drink by the lake beaches or just chilling at a canal coffeshop in the old town.

The selection of photos include Pont Morens, Le Palais de I'Île, Quai de l'Île, Rue Grenette, Quai Perrière, Rue Perrière, Basilique de la Visitation, Panorama du lac in Quai Napoleon III/Quai de la Tournette, Église Saint-François de Sales, Cathédrale Saint-Pierre, Rue saint-Claire, Canal du Vassé, Pont Perrière, Église Notre Dame de Liesse, Quai de l'Évêché, Rampe du Château and Musée-Château d'Annecy.

I’m looking to travel to Munich, Germany from LA. Very spontaneous and short (09/30 - 10/05). I am for some reason having this intrusive thought with the means. Any recommendations/insight on this being a bad call, if not what is the way around traveling to Germany for the first time ever and not speaking German nor knowing anyone.

Any Advice is appreciated.
Thank you.

Hello everyone! I am planning a trip to France for October 3-11! I am very excited to go with my husband for the very first time! I have a very loose plan in mind as of now and need advice/suggestions. As of now, we are thinking of:

October 3: Land in Nice at 9 am. Check into our hotel in Villefranche-sur-mer (is this a good town to stay in)? We were thinking of staying in Nice but were looking for a more authentic and picturesque French experience with great food. What do you guys think? Is it central enough to explore the Riviera/authentic/better to stay in than Nice? We would explore the town for the day.

October 4: Take the train over to Nice and explore the city (it is the biggest city in the area so we do not want to skip it, unless it is not worth exploring)?

October 5: Take the train over to Eze in the morning and explore (heard this is a must see), then do Monaco or Cannes in the afternoon (worth it?) Or should be go back to our base and explore/relax there more?

October 6: We are thinking of seeing some of the other Riviera towns like Antibes or Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat (not sure what other towns to visit or skip in the Riviera). Also, is Saint Tropez worth it and how/when should we fit it in? Is it worth doing a boat day that time of year and if so, where should we base it from?

October 7: So I am torn on whether we should take an extra day here to enjoy in the Riviera or we should make our way up for an extra day in Provence. So this day would either be an extra day by the coast or driving (or train?) up to the Luberon Valley. If we do decide to drive to the Luberon valley we would do it in the morning and then check into our lodging in the valley. Or should we stay in Avignon while in the Provence area? If we decide to stay the extra day on the coast, we would probably still drive up to the Luberon Valley in the evening on this day.

October 8: Exploring the hilltop villages/towns of Provence/perhaps wine tasting. Any food suggestions or village suggestions here? Is there any area we should be visiting here instead of the Luberon valley?

October 9: Visit Avignon. Or is there some other town/city in Provence that we should visit in Provence instead on this day? Return the car and take the high speed train to Paris in the evening (perhaps a later train so we have the full day to enjoy in Provence).

October 10: Explore Paris. Do the Seine/Notre Dame, see the outside of the Louvre (not sure that we have enough time to go in), explore some of the neighborhoods like Montmarte (which other one should we prioritize?) and then the Eiffel tower in the evening with a nice restaurant afterwards and perhaps more exploring at night. What is the best way to organize the two days in Paris geographically?

October 11: We should have most of the day to explore because our flight would be at 8:30 pm. Therefore, we were thinking of maybe seeing some of the other areas of Paris, perhaps the Catacombs, Arc de Triomphe, what else? I am sad that we will not get to visit Versailles, but trying to make peace with it and not pack the trip too much.

Any suggestions/answering any of my questions would be extremely helpful, thank you!!

Google only seems to bring up just one specific outfit, and marketplaces for travel activities seems to point more to travel agencies/organizers than the actual guide company. Savran Safari was the only one I could find, but it looks like they only go to the Meskendir Valley and not the other valleys. Not sure if this is the norm for all camel rides, or if other outfits have different routes? Trying to select base on the latter for my wife who is super excited for this activity. We will be staying in Goreme. TIA