Normandy--I'm going nuts
 

Because of certain time and planning constraints we are going down to Rennes by TGV arriving at about 5 p.m. Is St. Michel worth visiting and/or spending the night? I hear how busy and congested it is. Is it better to stay in St. Michel or not? We will leave by 11 the next day.And if not St. Michel, where would be a nice area to stay? I have serious positives and negatives aroud St. Marlo. Or is someplace else better? We are headed to Bayeux the following day.

What time of year? You have lots of hours of daylight left during much of the year. Even WITH heavy tourist traffic, it's a very special place, and though I have never stayed overnight ON the Mont, most people report that it becomes particularly enchanted at night when the number of tourists drops by 90%.

Best wishes,

Rex

Le Mont St-Michel is certainly worth seeing--it's the #1 tourist destination in France! It can be congested and busy because there's really just one narrow street leading up from the village to the Abbey, but you'll manage.

With an arrival at Rennes at 5 p.m. you'll have just enough time to reach Mont St-Michel and have a quick look around. Staying the night would be very nice and allow you to see everything again the next morning, when tourist traffic is less--although the early evening will also be fine.

As for St-Malo, we never found it especially interesting, although we enjoyed our time in Dinard, just across the bay. But since you're heading to Bayeux the day after Le Mont St-Michel, there's no point backtracking.

Is it really? Number one, I mean. <b>tour-eiffel.fr</b> says they had 6,230,050 visitors last year. Did MSM have more?

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But Robespierre, 5.6 million of those people were already spending time in Paris. The people made a point of going to Le Mont:-)

Seriously, is is worth visitng and your time is perfect. You will get there after most of the visitors have left, be there for the evening (which I and many others think is the best time) and be able to visit visit the abbey in the morning.

The abbey does not get near as many tourists as the base of Le Mont and you will be there before the day tripping crowds arrive.

Keith

Well, I have messed up on my train connections, and won't get into Rennes until almost 7, and so wouldn't even get to MSM until about 8. Is this still a good idea? Or should I just get in there the following morning and fight the crowds at about 11?

Um, I don't get how the location of the visitors affects the popularity of an attraction. &quot;Most visited&quot; means that more people went to a place, without regard to how hard they had to travel to get to it.

How about if we say that MSM is the most visited sight in provincial France? Will that do?