Any good day trips out of Paris
 

Will be in Paris for business for about a week. Would like to get out of the city once. Are there any good day trips? Perhaps a English speaking tourbus trip that leaves from Paris. Or would I be better off renting a car for a day. Don't like the idea of driving back into Paris though. How about a day trip on a train? Any good ideas?

Good day trips on trains include: <BR> <BR>Chartres <BR>Giverny <BR>Fontainebleau <BR>Chantilly <BR>Senlis <BR>Compiègne <BR>Auvers-sur-Oise <BR> <BR>I'm probably forgetting a few. There's Vaux-le-Vicomte, but it's a bit more complicated than a simple train ride I think.

Jack, <BR>There's Versailles, Chartres, Fontainbleu & Giverny. You would be able to do any of these by train. At Versailles you can take an audio tour. you can also take a bus (Paris Vision, PariShuttle or France Tourisme) to Versailles. Cityrama busses offer a 5-hour excursion to Chartres. Guided tours of the Cathedral at Chartres are given my Englishman Malcolm Miller for about $6 (USD), & there are free organ concerts in the Cathedral on Sunday afternoons. Cityrama, Paris Vision & France Tourisme also bus tourists out to Giverny; the gardens are closed after October until the next April. <BR>Hope this helps & Bon Voyage, <BR>BC

Vaux le Vicomte is a great trip if you like seeing an exceptionally fine example of the blending of landscaping, architecture, engineering, and interior design and finishing. <BR>It is available on tours from Paris Vision. We took a bus tour that went first to Vaux and then to Fontainebleau. <BR>My only objection was that I did not have long enough at either place. <BR>So, I have something to look forward to the next time I visit Paris. <BR>

We took the bullet train and went to Loire Valley(2 hours) and from the train station purchased guided tour to the many castles in the area, after the tour took taxi and got to our "bed & breakfast", had dinner in a cave restaurant, walking distance, slept overnight in a bed and breakfast in a fantastic castle with peacock and beautiful forest in it's backyard for only about $130 came back on the bullet train the next morning after shopping at the local department store (cheaper than Paris prices) this was one of the hightlight of our trip 2 years ago. We did do a day trip to Mt. Saint Michelle, which was nice as well, but nothing like the luxury of the above trip.

If this is your first trip to Paris, then I would say that Versailles is probably the day trip you should take. As much as I dislike the fact that it can get very crowded, it is such a historically significant, impressive, and famous site that it is a must visit. It is very easy to do from Paris on trains via frequent RER C5 trains to Versailles-Rive-Gauche.

Don't think you should bother renting a car for the day as there are so many easy and nice day trips by train, as mentioned above. Don't think anyone's mentioned Rouen which is a good one, also. If you want to make it very easy, you can book some through Parisvision (www.parisvision.com) or Cityrama (some obvious URL); their costs are actually very reasonable, not much more than it would cost you for transportation and entrance. Their main location (office, departure) is near place de la Concorde just west of the Louvre, I believe. Some of those tours even pick up and deliver to hotels, not sure if they do that. I'd recommend Rouen or Chantilly or Giverny myself; Versailles perhaps if that does appeal to you and you're not going at some peak tourist time. Actually, those are all good for close-in day trips but I've been much farther from Paris on daytrips, that's one nice thing about the TGV fast train -- you could also go to Dijon, Lyon or Angers as 1-way travel is 2 hrs or less to each of those. If you get an early train about 8 am and return to Paris early evening, that can give you 8 hrs in a place which is good for the basics. Oh, Reims or Eparnay (champagne caves) to the east of Paris are on the train line also, and Eparnay has tours and stuff within walking distance of the station.

I too would heartily suggest Rouen, and also Reims--if you go there, try to book a champagne house tour prior to arrival. The train takes about an 1 hr and it travels through the beautiful champagne countryside. For history buffs Reims is also where they signed the treaty ending WWII, and a major stopping point for Joan D'Arc---as well as having a fantastic cathedral. <BR>

HI: <BR> <BR>Cityrama offers a 1-day trip from Paris to three castles in Loire: Chenonceau, Blois, and Chambord. It's excellent as they are the three main castles to visit and it's all in day (plus guided tours of the castles). <BR> <BR>

Jack: <BR> <BR>All great suggestions and I have a recommendation for a book that will help you plan your excursions: <BR> <BR>Out of Paris: Days out & weekend breaks by Vivienne Menkes-Ivry <BR> <BR>It provides recommendations on what to visit and provide practical information on how to get there by road or rail, which towns to stay in or lunch in. <BR> <BR>Regards .. Ger