Best way from Paris to Giverny?
 

I want to take a day trip from Paris to Giverny which will be by train.

Once I arrive in Giverny, is Monet's house within walking distance from the train station or do I take a bus?

I've been looking on the Internet and can't seem to find an answer, obviously not looking at the right sites, so here I am. :)

Also, for whoever has already done it, what's the best station to leave from in Paris? I'll be staying in the Marais.

Thanks in advance

When you exit the station at Vernon you'll see a bus parked straight ahead to the right... It will take you to, and from, Monet's house and garden. Or, rent a bike at the cafe you 'll see.

You could walk it but it will take about an hour.

Giverny's website has all the info you need. (Far right side of screen, "How to come to Giverny".)

http://giverny.org/gardens/fcm/visitgb.htm

While Paris has several train stations, one doesn't pick which one to leave from. Typically trains to a specific city leave from only one the of the stations. The ones to Giverny leave from Gare St Lazare.

Thank you everyone.
Nytraveler, that's what I meant, which station to leave from... Just goes to show that I shouldn't write anything after a hard day at work :). Thanks for the info

When I went, the ticket clerk at St Lazare was obviously used to hordes of visitors taking the 8.22 to Vernon, as he passed over a leaflet in English as soon as I asked for the ticket. At Vernon, the bus was packed and it was obviously taking a time for all the people to pay the driver, so try and make sure you have some small change for the bus.

In fact it was so crowded, I walked, and was glad I did - Vernon is quite a pleasant small town in its own right, and the path to Giverny (when you find it) is laid along the line of an old railway track and runs through fields and past cottage gardens. It might be easier to take the bus to Giverny and walk back (just follow the path beyond the church, and when you get to Vernon, turn left and walk back up over the river to the station).

Thanks for your walking suggestion Patrick, I am doing this later this month and am apprehensive about crowds.

You will take a train from Gare Saint-Lazare to Vernon. Use the website www.voyages-sncf.com to look at train schedules. The website is in French but it's easy to enter times and dates. The tickets cost 13.90€ each way and the journey takes 45 minutes. You can buy your train tickets ahead of time if you're worried about long lines the day of your trip.

When you arrive in Vernon there will be a bus in front of the train station to go to Giverny. You can buy a ticket on the bus and I believe the round trip fare is around 5 euros. If you don't want to take the bus there are two cafés across from the train station where you can rent bikes. Once you ride through Vernon and across the river there is a 3.5km bike trail to Giverny.

Here are the tourist office websites for Monet's house and gardens and also for the towns of Vernon and Giverny:

http://fondation-monet.com/en/
http://giverny.org/giverny/
http://giverny.org/gardens/index.htm
http://www.vernon-visite.org/index.shtml

I should mention that at some point soon there is going to be work being done on the tracks between Paris and Vernon that will disrupt service. If you mention the dates you'll be here I can tell you if the works will be occurring during your visit.

The only tricky bit about walking TO Giverny from Vernon is finding the way into the old railway path. Essentially you walk down the main road and across the river; there's a traffic roundabout where the bus would turn right to go up to Giverny, but pedestrians and cyclists should just go fifty-odd yards further on and turn right beside (if I recall correctly) a garage/workshop place. I don't recall any very clear signage, and it looks as though you might be walking through someone's back yard, but persevere and the path opens out - from then on it's all plain sailing, just follow your nose and you come into Giverny village.

But, as noted above, if you walk there, you might well find that everyone else has already got there. But if the weather's nice you could always get an early train.

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Frencjh Mystique,

Thank you for the info, I'll be going the first week of September this year

The train schedules aren't available more than 3 months in advance but the works on the track will be over by then so you shouldn't have any problem. Just check the schedule before you go.

Thank you everyone

Thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread. I was hoping to visit Giverny when I'm in Paris this November 2014 , but it appears it will be closed by November 1 :-(. Excuse for another trip.

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I know this is not the question you asked but...

Giverny on my bucket list and went 2 years ago and travel info is all correct. But when you get there the tendency is to stroll in, tour the house and head to the Gardens.

STOP! Go immediately to Gardens, tour them while everyone else is at the house. Enjoy and savor with as few people as possible.

One must remember to read the date of the OP; this one is 2 years old.

Appears as though it was brought up to date by someone directing to a specific website. Seems as though all posts by the poster are to the same website.

Both the gardens and the house get super crowded within an hour of opening. When I saw a huge big bus parking lot below the garden, I knew why.

I also took the the early morning train. But I saw a lone taxi sitting at the Vernon station, so I took it to Giverny. I toured the house practically at the opening time without the bus crowd from the station or tour buses and made a bee line to the gardens, also with little crowd. I then spent rest of the time looking around the garden. I thought of going through the house again before leaving, but the queue was so long I would have missed the next train back to Paris. The premise was a zoo by the time I left.