Hi everyone what are your top recommended must-see cities in Italy and France?

Marina
Thanks for the suggestions everyone!!
I should have mentioned we are hopefully planning to do 1 week in France and 1 week in Italy and are trying to divide our time up between cities accordingly

2 in Rome allowed me to see the highlights. Those hop on hop off buses cover allot of territory.
High speed train to Florence is super easy and posh. 2-3 in Florence with a side trip to Pisa (3 hours total) then Amalfi coast for Positano: Sorrento.
If you skip Venice ... this can all be done in 6 days .
I did so on October alone without a plan.
France would be Paris and Aix -en- Provence for me.

Jo-anne Nugent Sexsmith Did you feel like you were able to see lots/enjoy the cities even being there for a short amount of time?

I saw so much! Never felt cheated.
But I did a week land and a week cruise on Norweigan Epic which was a very inexpensive way to get from one city to the next each day. I only used it as a floating hotel and transportation - didn't do any day trips through the cruise. I am healthy and can run and grab a local train or shuttle.
I have spent weeks in Paris though. That's a city you might want to allot 4-5 days

How long are you planning to go for?

1 week in Italy and 1 in France

Obviously anywhere you go in France and Italy will be fantastic and there are treasures to be found everywhere you go.
If this is your first trip to italy you are likely planning to do Rome and depending on how ambitious of a traveller you are; you could can easily spend 2-3 days in Roma, then if you head to Firenze you can see the sights there and then take in one or two driving tour days to see some of the Tuscan hill villages, and Siena and Pisa. If you do head out into Tuscany I recommend taking in a wine tasting in Montalcino of world famed Bunello wines. Another of my favorite places is San Gimognano and the roofless Abbey of San Galgano.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbey_of_San_Galgano
For France, I would spend a few days in Paris and head out north for a tour of Caen and Juno beach/town of Courseulles-sur-Mer if you are interested in war history. If you do head out that way Mont Saint- Michel is a must see, it is just so unique.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mont_Saint-Michel
Alternatively if you head west from Paris there are a plethora of castles and wineries to see in the Loire region. Our favorite castle was Chenonceau.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C3%A2teau_de_Chenonceau
You should also absolutely consider staying in aTroglodyte (basically a modenized cave) while you are in that region it is a cool experience and there is some cool history to be learned from it.
Of course I am just pulling from my own experience and like I said anywhere you go has its own treasures to take in. Enjoy.
EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG
Abbey of San Galgano - Wikipedia

Nice in France ..go up the Coast to Monaco for a night there. A must is the Casino. You need your passport to Enter Casino. Italy every city we have been to is Beautiful. Rome Sorrento, Naples, Florence,Venice.

Italy - sorrento! We loved it there and would go back in a heartbeat. Florence and Venice were beautiful too. Abs time has a ton to do! France - I loved Neice. Lots to see and do in Paris too.

A few random ones....
France: Paris (of course) Any small provencial town!
Italy: Big....Rome, Florence, Venice....Small..... Bologna, Perugia, Cortona, Cinque Terra, Fiesole, Herculaneum.

Florence: walking, shopping, art, food , architecture.
Rome: historic sights
Sorrento/Positano: breathtakingly beautiful
Provence: food, wine, historic ...totally romantic
Paris: it's Paris. It has everything....

Cinque Terre and Rome. They are two completely different options, but both bring some great things to the table. I recommend seeing the Cinque Terre via a Boat Tour, but start early so you can spend lots of time in each Cliffside town.
I also recommend seeing the Coloseum in Rome. Very touristy, but so worth it. It's unbelievable the history and so many stories in that building, so for the most bang for your buck, get a reputable guided tour for this one

I loved the little towns in Italy. So magical. I absolutely loved it and think about it almost every day and it's been 3 years since I was there!

Annecy, France is one of the most beautiful French cities. The old section has canals with swans and they've won awards for most beautiful town. It's near the French Alps on a large lake. We love it!

Here's what our itinerary looked like, it was perfect and will hopefully give you some ideas! https://passportsandpigtails.com/.../paris-and-italy-a.../
PASSPORTSANDPIGTAILS.COM
Paris and Italy: A 28 Day Itinerary

Venice! Pick a street and go get lost. You will eventually end up at water. Highlight of our day just checking every little corner out. Amazing place to see.

I totally agree with every word in this post!

We loved Paris your on the bus and Versailles was amazing
Colmar and strausberg were very nice as well more of a German feel

The Cinque Terra in Italy, Florence and sienna. I'd skip Milan if I went back

Couldn't agree more. Milan was blah. Stayed in Vernazza, Cinque Terre was my favorite stop.

Florence, Venice and Rome of course! And Taormina/Sicily. For me the most romantic city in the world.

Paris, Florence, Naples (Sorrento and Positano in that region too)

Paris and Nice (day trip to Monte Carlo-Monaco) in France.
Venice, Rome and Cinque Terre in Italy...Florence if you have time.

I have so many, but I am going to skip the obvious big ones.
Italy: Verona, Taormina, Orvieto
France: Beaune

Venice is my favourite followed by Capri and Florence. Then of course Paris!

Venice and Mont-Saint-Michel

Florence, Rome, Lake Como and Cinqe Terre

French Riviera, Florence, Venus(underwater city), and Rome

Venice Rome. Almafi coast-Capri Sorrento Positano

Portofino is very lovely as well

Cinque Terre definitely!

Florence and Siena. And Paris is a must.

Paris and Florence for sure

Arles, France. Rome, San Marino, Pompeii... Heck anywhere in Italy

Nice in France and cortona and volterra in Italy

Avignon in France

Palarmo Italy