Castles day trip from Paris
 

We are planning a trip to Europe in June. Can anyone recommend any castles nearby Paris that coud be done in a day trip? We have 6 days in Paris and would like to experience the trains and some country side with a castle if possible.

Clea

We really enjoyed our day trip to St Germain-en-laye...the "castle"is now a museum but we loved walking around the town..and it was market day to boot.

There is always versailles..you cannot get any "castleier" than that!@

I'm not sure what you mean by castle. Versailles is a classic palace and should not be missed. But is in no way a castle (midieval fortified dwelling/town with a moat) - these are much more common in england (Windsor, Warwick etc.). Some of the chateaux of the Loire started out as castles and might interest you (Amboise I believe - but I'm not an expert and most of them are more recent).

Vaux le Vicomte, Chantilly and Fontainbleau are all great. I think by train Senlis is the closest train stop to Chantilly.

Here's just one of many previous posts on this subject
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34433662

For more type any of these names or Paris day trips in the text search.

NYtraveler has it right about castles' being fortified structures; most of the châteaux in the Loire Valley are essentially elaborate houses. However, Azay-le-Rideau would fit the bill, moat and all, as would Langeais and Angers (which has the marvelous Acopalypse Tapestries). But if you want to see what's left (and that's a fair amount) of one of the largest castles of Europe, you could pay a visit to Brittany and visit Fougères. For that matter, the TGV goes to Rennes and you could rent a car there and see Josselin Castle, not far from Rennes, which is intact and very impressive; it sits on a hill high above a river and is open for visits. So that trip would give you the train AND a castle, although in one day with a car you could visit Fougères as well.

Does depend how much time you want to spend, but I would recommend Chantilly. It is a very close and easy trip, and there are several things of interest. The train goes right to Chantilly.

Vaux le Vicomte isn't that easy to get to. I liked both Chantilly and Fontainebleau much better myself. Chantilly does look more like the typical sleeping beauty-type castle.

Chantilly, Fontanbleau, and of course Versailles are are good for a day trip from Paris. Versilles is the most famous, and certainly worth a visit if you have never been there before. There are also lovely little restaurants to have a nice lunch at on one of the little side streets between the Palace and the Train Station off of the hill that leads up to the Palace.
I have been to the Loire Valley chateaus and castles(Chambord, Cheninceau, Amboise, which are wonderful to see, but I think that is just too far for a day trip.

Clea I have visited all of the Chateau's mentiomed above. My favorite is Vaux Le Vicomte. Take a train then a taxi to get there. It's a simple proposition. My first trip to Paris was also 6 days and I had planned a Versailles trip but found I had more than enough to see in the city. By not going to Versailles my first trip I had an excuse to go back.

Good to hear about Vaux Le Vicomte. I will have to visit that on the next day trip out of Paris.

Just a heads up: if you want to visit Vaux le Vicomte you really need a car, as the nearest train station is far enough away that you would need a taxi. But there are a number of tours that visit the château.

Thanks Underhill for the info. The odds of me renting a car would be slim to none. However, I will investigate before I would plan that excusion, perhaps there is a car service that is available. The day trips such as Versaille, Fontanbleau are a "no brainer" with train transportation.

Hopefully RonZ will see this. He has a file that he can send to you with pertinent information regarding day-trips culled from many posts here and elsewhere. If he doesn't post soon contact me via email.
Oftentimes circumstance may colour our perceptions of a particular time, place, or event. This may be why I didn't care for Chantilly. I was having a bad day and as a result my impression of Chantilly was clouded. However, I found Fontainebleau to be marvelous, both the town and the chateau. That evening we drove to Vaux le Vicomte for the Candlelight visit and thoroughly enjoyed it. If you were planning to visit Vicomte, I would recommend a rental car, as getting a cab from the station may be costly.

You can actually see a castle, more or less IN Paris - - chateau de Vincennes, right by Bois de Vincennes (the 12th?)

Search also Pierrefonds, here on this forum.

Best wishes,

Rex

If you want to see one of the Loire chateaux, Blois is an easy day trip from Paris. Be sure they show you Catherine de Medici's poison cabinet. It is a secret panel in the wall.

Thanks, for all the info. I think we will try Chantilly it looks close enough on a map and looks interesting.

Clea

The château at Chantilly has the library of my dreams.