Chantilly or Fontainebleau
 

We've been to Versailles (more than once for me), If you prefer Chantilly or Fontainebleau, please tell me why.

I prefer Fountainebleau. Lots of stuff to see there, and a there is a tremendous amount of history involved. Chantilly is nice - but the interior seemed more like an art museum than a place where someone really lived.



Stu Dudley

I agree with Stu. BUT if you visit Chantilly (and it does have the most magnificent gallery of miniature portraits I've ever seen), it's only a hop, skip, and a jump down the road to Senlis, which is magical.

Fountainebleu - Versailles light.

Chantilly is neat though - especially the stables, some of largest in Europe and equestrian practice sessions often in chateau's horse arena. So if interested in horse shows along with a neat chateau check out the equestrian shows and stables:

Horse show at Chantilly - Horse - Leisure - Tourism in Chantilly

I visited both and recommend both. I agree that Chantilly is more a museum than a residency but it is beautiful and very interesting. There is a guided tour only to the private chambers only in french but though my french is very good it was a bit difficult to understand everything. The guide warmly recommended to see the stables but I didn't have enough time for it.

Fontainbleau is hardly lavish or crowded as Versailles but beautiful in itself. I remember some very interesting rooms. I do intend to revisit there, perhaps on my upcoming Parisian tour in May.

Could you please elaborate more about Senlis?

I would also be interested in how to connect these two in a day from Paris. I've been reading conflicting information and would like to hear from someone who has done this.

Senlis is a marvelously preserved medieval town - perfect for wandering around for a couple of hours or more along the ramparts or through the warren of narrow old streets. There are Gallo-Roman ruins, a cathedral, a royal palace, and an abbey. The tourist office has free maps with suggested walking tours.

I have driven there from Paris a couple of times, and that was easy, but the one time I took public transportation I bought a ticket to Senlis at the Gare du Nord. The train from the Gare du Nord goes through Chantilly (get off at Gouvieux); then you take a bus to Senlis. If I recall correctly, you can buy a through ticket from the Gare du Nord to Senlis and get off at Chantilly, then continue later on a bus to Senlis. To get back to Paris, you do the reverse, making sure you know the bus and train schedules.

I've done both in a day each time I've gone - it's not a particularly long or tiring day and the variety of things to see is considerable. I only once managed to catch the horse show at the stables in Chantilly, but that time I was driving so did not need to mind schedules.

I think they are just different, I couldn't rank them with the goal that you should see this one but not that one, or that one is "better".

They are having an interesting exhibition at CHantilly until June, items re Franco-American relationships in the 19th Century.

Thank you all. St Cirq, that information is valuable.

Chantilly and Senlis (yes wondrous old town) trumps Fontainebleu IMO - never was overly awed by Fotainebleau or at least did not live up to perhaps too high expectations.

I vote for Chantilly. Not only is the ch teau one of the most amazing art museums in France, but you can also visit the horse museum (don't laugh) which is one of the most incredible sights in the region. I would have never gone there except for the fact that my sister-in-law is a horse enthusiast and she scoped out all of the information before visiting Paris with my brother. I have absolutely no interest in horses, but it was an incredible visit. In fact, I returned this summer with a friend, and it was better than ever since it has just been renovated.

Fontainebleau is fine if you want to see something that sort of looks like Versailles but which is not overrun by tourists.

Fontainebleau could also be combined with a look at nearby Barbizon, a former artists' village:

https://www.google.com/search?q=barb...iw=547&bih=526

A bus tour from Paris may include both - on your own take a taxi to Barbizon and then taxi back to nearest train station with trains to Paris.

I prefer art to luxury/opulence and I think Chantilly and Senlis might be better for us. I will now have to work out the connections, as a bus tour from Paris doesn't appeal to us.

I had wanted to visit Auxerre but the train ride is longish for a daytrip. Now I'm thinking Rouen, but it's not much quicker. Too many options!

The train to Chantilly from Paris is easy. Once you arrive in Chantilly there is a bus to the chateau. This summer I preferred to walk with my friend -- it was a nice walk but long. (With my brother and sister-in-law we had a car.) To go back, we waited for the bus (free). There is one at least every 15 minutes I think.

Well the interior of Chantilly seems like a museum ... because it IS a museum. The Conde Museum is amazing..

I also love the grounds of Chantilly.. its a must to have a strawberry and Chantilly cream desert in the garden cafe.

I am not a horse person and I found the Horse Museum and seeing the Royal Stables interesting..

And the upscale (to me at least) town of Chantilly is a typical French town with lots of cafes to sample yes creme chantilly, the sweet treat presumably created her and usual shopping street - nothing really exceptional but nice to walk thru en route to the chateau - an easy walk of about a mile if I recall correctly.

https://www.google.com/search?q=chan...w=1097&bih=536

This is great. We will probably go on March 1, so there won't be that much outdoor activity for us, but it still sounds lovely.

FWIW, we found Senlis a mehhhh experience. Nice enough but there are plenty of other places equally nice or (in our view) much better, although not so close to Chantilly.

If you have a car, a stop in Senlis is fine, but it is not worth the effort if you have to take the bus. (Senlis is one of quite a few bourgeois towns surrounding Paris that decided that they did not want a train station when rail travel first began to be the rage. They did not want those hoodlums from Paris coming to their town. And now they are paying the price.)