DAY TRIPS FROM PARIS
 

Hi all:

I will be traveling to Paris for 8 days the end of June. I was thinking of taking one or 2 days trips (2 hours or less). Does anyone have any recommendations? What is the cost?

Thanks

Allen

Allen,

What sort of trips are you thinking of? An organized bus trip? A self-organized trip, say a train ride to ...? A rented car drive to...? More info please.

Look at these web pages:

http://www.cityrama.com/

http://www.parisvision.com/fr/index.cfm


Mike

Hi,

Consider day trips to Versailles, Chantilly, Giverny.

I was thinking of a train trip...Self organized

Agree with Ira. Those would be the best choices. Note that there are probably no 2 hr or less bus tours. I would think a 1/2 day or more would be reasonable. Plus, some of these tours leave at 10Am and back by 2/3, so they would eat up the better part of a day.

I've done Versailles by train. You catch the RER from central Paris (I took it from St Michel) and get off at Versailled Rive Gauche. About a 20 minute ride. It is then a 5-10 minute walk to the Chateau. Not very expensive to train it. If you go early enough you can avoid the tour busses and crowds, and can then spend as much time as you like in the Chateau and the impressive grounds. They have English tours.

The most wonderful day I ever spent was the day I went to Giverny from Paris. I had a taxi take me, which was a mistake, very, very expensive. There is definitely public transportation to go there and it is definitely worth it. I was there in August, all the flowers in the garden were in bloom, and to stand on the famous bridge is not to be missed! A magical day.

I would suggest Rouen and Reims, both very easy by train (around 1 1/2hr), lots to see, interesting historical buildings, churches etc. And I also enjoyed the views of the passing countryside which included small towns, vinyards, pastoral scenes etc. I don't remember the exact cost, but it was pretty inexpensive (around $18 r/t??).

I loved Chartres. It was an extremely easy day trip by train.

Ditto for Reims. Interesting town and cathedral, champagne cellar visits (I liked Taitinger). Take train from Gare de l'Est. About 19E one way, takes 1:30 mins. Can walk form train station to town centre.

Rouen was my favorite. About 45 min. via train. 3 cathedrals, half-timbered bldgs, walk along the river, museums. I have a trip report on my day in Rouen if you're interested. [email protected]

I have a pretty good day trip file I will be happy to e amil. The chateau Vaux-le-Vicomte has been our favorite so far.

I've taken lots of day trips from Paris but by far my favorite is Rouen. One hour and five minutes from Gare Saint Lazare and costs 12.70 euros each way for seniors over 60. This is the non-stop express train. Get off at Rive Droite Station. The cathederal is breathtaking inside and out, lots of half-timbered houses, very nice old city area, site of St. Joan of Arc's execution, nice river area etc etc. Just made the trip two weeks ago.

Larry J

Here's a handy URL for rail travel in the Paris region.

http://idf.sncf.fr/GB/default.htm

Bigal,

I can only vouch for Versailles, since I was there a couple of weeks ago. (If you're interested in the juicy details, see my trip report hereabouts...) Only advice re RER trains: note that there are several stations with "Versailles" in the name. You want "Versailles - Rive Gauche." In the RER stations you'll see multilingual signs that make it easy. "If you want to go to...," "Take train marked..." Just give yourself a minute to read and it'll be easy. Have fun!

Hello! My favorite day trips when we went to Paris in September 2001:

Loire Valley - we went on a bus tour for this (we went to the Tourist Info office near the Arch de Triomphe - they have several bus tours available). Our bus tour covered Chenonceau, Cheverny and Chambord. We went on a bus tour because we didnt want to drive and I found it hard to make the train schedule work. We were on our own once we arrived at the castles and we were given sufficient time to tour each one.

Versailles - go on a weekend if you can. The fountains are turned on.

Giverny - go if you're a Monet fan

Chartres Cathedral - go if you love Architecture

'Hope that helps!

I have to add my vote in for Giverny. I went in early April and was amazed at the place. Although not all of the flowers were in bloom, the ones I saw were simply gorgeous. I found it was quite easy to take the train and then the shuttle from the Vernon station.

Enjoy!!