Annabel Simms

Annabel Simms was born in England, of Hungarian parentage. In 1991 she came to Paris on a year's sabbatical from her London job as a college lecturer in English, and never left. She started exploring the local countryside at weekends while working as an English teacher in Paris and her quirky guide to 20 rewarding but little-known daytrips accessible by train, An Hour From Paris, was first published in 2002. The fourth edition appeared in August 2026.

Half An Hour From Paris, 10 little-known daytrips around 30 minutes from Paris by train, was first published in 2018. The second enlarged and revised edition containing 12 trips appeared in July 2023.

10 More Trips An Hour From Paris is a set of previously unpublished daytrips available as PDF downloads from her website.

Annabel writes regularly for Bonjour Paris online magazine about new daytrips she has discovered in the Paris region, which can also be viewed on her blog. As a freelance journalist she has written on offbeat travel, Paris restaurants, sailing, dancing, bird-watching and yoga for the Financial Times, Daily Telegraph, Sunday Telegraph, Independent and Mail on Sunday.