Day trip around Paris
 

We will be in Paris in June. As recommended by the employee of the SNCF agency in Canada, we bought a 4 days train pass ( it was cheaper than the round-trip ticket to Aix-en-Provence for the dates we picked) .

We'll be using 2 days for the round-trip Paris/Aix. I would like some advice how to use the remaining 2 days. I thought we could make 2 one-day trips not too far from Paris (leaving early in the morning, returning at night). We thought about Orléans or Reims. Any other suggestion? Train station should be at a walking distance...

Please excuse my poor english.. et Merci beaucoup!

As I read your post, you don't need to use the other two days of your tickets to make them a worthwhile purchase and therefore you don't have to use those days. That said Rheims is an easy and enjoyable day trip by train from Paris. There is a beautiful gothic cathedral and many champagne caves to visit. Also there are some Roman ruins and some WW2 historical sights. IMHO Tours would be a better destination than Orleans and perhaps you could go from there to Chenonceau, the most beautiful chateau of all and a short distance from Tours. The Normandy area is another interesting choice and Le Mans has the 24 hour race in June.

How long will you be in Paris itself? Unless it is very extended, just stay in Paris rather than another trip.

I would recommend Rouen for a daytrip - wonderful city with plenty to capture your imagination for a full day. Rouen would be another good choice, as you've mentioned. I assume you are obligated now to use 2 SNCF tickets for trips outside Paris?

Sorry, I meant Reims would be another good choice.

DougP: You are right, we don t need to use the other 2 days of our tickets but I think since we have the pass, why not take advantage of it! We already visited Normandy and also Chenonceau a few years ago.

Gretchen: We will be in Paris for 10 days, our 7th time there. We love to visit a different region of France each time we go and always keep at least a week in Paris. Last year was Région de la Loire. This year, La Provence.

StCirq: Our train pass must be used within 1 month, in a period of 6 months of the date of purchase. I don t know if that is clear? So it has to be now or never because we won t go back to France this year!

I think Reims and Rouen will definitively be our choice.

Thank you very much to all for the good advices.

Michelle
Québec

I would second Rouen also--we really enjoyed a day there. There is also Chartres if you haven't been there.
And as long as I'm posting, I would prefer somewhere else than Aix. Arles, or even Avignon.

All suggestions already made are very good trips. You don't mention if you have been to Giverny--a place I would make my #1 day trip from Paris.
You take a local train to a nearby town, where the bus is always waiting to take you to Giverny. Monet's home and garden are one of the loveliest sites you can imagine. But most tourists fail to visit the American Impressionist museum just steps away, which has a great restaurant looking out onto a garden, as well as excellent works on exhibit.
Summer is a crowded time to visit, especially on week-ends, but it is well worth it.

Hi miche,

It's about 2 1/2 hr to Beaune, under 2 hr to Dijon.

Miche, you have gotten good advice. Enjoy yourself!

By the way, how much did the pass cost?
Are there any distance limits?

salut, Miche.

There are plenty of short day trips you can take from Paris, but since you have that railpass, I personally might take advantage of it for the unlimited travel and do a day trip that would be relatively expensive on its own (such as a TGV). Even though I guess it's no-cost at this point, I wouldn't use it for such cheap train trips as Giverny, Chartres, etc (although you could).

YOu might consider going to/from Lyon for the day as that is a fairly expensive RT TGV ticket on its own. I know because I paid for one. You can get there by TGV in 2 hrs (by 10-11 am) take a return TGV around 7 pm, and have quite a full day there. Central Lyon is a very nice city with a variety of things to do, and is easy to get around. As I recall, it takes about 1:40 to get to Reims, and probably the same for Orleans as that's not a fast train. Reims would be a good idea, also, though, at least that is worth more than very close day trips. YOu could also visit Angers to the west for its chateau, tapestry, etc and that is farther by TGV than Tours, so another way to get good value from your pass.

Hello everybody!

Gretchen: The hotel il already booked in Aix but will be visiting Arles and Avignon on day trips. Went to Chartres in 2001...

Aleta: Giverny seems a good choice too. Thanks for info about American Museum. Definitly on my list!

Chat Noir: The France Saverpass costs 186$ US. It offers the same features as the France Railpass but at a group discount (2 being a group!) Any 4 days unlimited train travel in a one month period anywhere in France (by TGV or any other train).

http://www.raileurope.com/us/rail/pa..._saverpass.htm

Christina: Also thought about more expensive trip to make it profitable! Have been to Angers last year and to Lyon in 1976! So would be nice to go back to Lyon...

So many interesting places...makes it hard to decide!

Thanks everybody for your help. Highly appreciated.

Miche
Québec

My choice for short-ish train trip from Paris (Gare Montparnasse) is Chartres.

Hi Ira!

Thanks for the tip. I did'nt think about Beaune. Google gave me a few sites where I learned all about this beautiful historic city. I've already been to Dijon years ago. Will have to go back to Bourgogne some day... so many beautiful places I haven't seen yet!

Miche

Hello Aleta!

About Giverny you wrote: "You take a local train to a nearby town"...Which one would you recommend?

Miche

Aleta: I mean which town!

Miche

bonjour Miche...

I didn't notice when I suggested Lyon that you would be going up to Paris from Aix, and probably going through Lyon, so that would be kind of funny to go back. On the other hand, given the train time, it isn't necessarily as I've taken day trips just to avoid moving hotels, etc.

IN any case, I am also looking into a day trip to Beaune from Paris this summer, as I don't want to travel much. It is a bit longer than some of these other trips, but do-able. Most routes to Beaune involve taking the TGV to Dijon, and then changing trains, and take up about 3:15-3:45 hrs one way. So you might not want to do that. There are a couple express runs with no stop at Dijon but the only one possible for a day trip is at 7:14 am (arrive 9:26 am), as far as I can see. There is a return train that takes 2:38 (transferring in Dijon) which leaves Beaune at 17:23 pm (arrives Paris 8 pm). Those are probably the trains I will take. They cost about 50-100 euro each way for that trip.

As for Giverny, there is only one town to go to -- that is Vernon which is a several km away.

Bonjour Christina,

I don't think that we'll go as far as Beaune this time even if this town seems very interesting.

Just been informed that some friends from Beauvais will join us in Paris for a couple of days. That will leave less time to make the day trips we were planning.

We chose Giverny (through Vernon with a couple free hours in Mantes la Jolie between trains).

Thanks for your interest.

Michelle