My wife and I will be staying in Bayeux in late August and will have a rental car so we can easily get to Mont St Michel in the morning. Most of the posted tours of Mont St Michel that I have seen originate in Paris or are quite pricy if only the two of us show up. If the price is worth it, I would like to find a well rated guide. Any suggestions?

No need for a guide unless that's your preference. I thought the audio guide quite good; YMMV.

Unless you are intensely interested in MSM there is no need for a guide. It's a tiny island and most people are content with wandering around and then doing a visit of the abbey, where they will give you audioguides. If you really want a guide there is info about that on the official website, along with any other info you'd need about visiting MSM:

http://www.ot-montsaintmichel.com/index.htm?lang=en

You really only need a guide for the Abbey precincts, which are a bit of a maze in parts. The regular guided tours are quite good.

Could you clarify this comment a bit, Underhill? As I recall, once you make it to the Abbey, there's only ONE route one can take, and basically anything outside the Abbey leads to it....

Sure. After you go through the Merveille area, there is a long, somewhat dark hallway with steps going down and doors leading off. It's easy to lose your way at that point, as someone in our tour did and had to be hunted up.

In the three times I've been to the Mont finding the abbey was no problem - just follow the elbow-elbow at times crowd there.

Yes no guide needed the indluded guide is good enough. Get a Michelin Green Guide and read all about it on your own.

It seems that a tour guide is more than we need. Thank you all for your help.

Thanks for the explanation, Underhill! IIRC, all the doors in that hallway were closed when I went through it, and there were frequent signs pointing ahead -- I have a vague recollection of wondering why so many signs when all the doors were shut. But I could be wrong -- and I sympathize with anyone who ended up lost in the abbey.

Some precisions : they do not "give" audioguides in the abbey, it is in addition to your ticket. Both in the abbey and in town, of course it is possible to orient, but like anywhere else, it is another thing to hear about the local history. There are some guided tours in the abbey, when you arrive. It is also possible to book tours to discover the town. Some prefer to wander themselves, some prefer to read, and some want to learn more with a guide, it is just a matter of taste.