Paris - Day trip to Mont St michel
 

Is it worth visiting/ I know it will be a very long day. What do fodorites suggest?

It will be a very long day. We loved it. We rented a var in Paris drove to Mont St. Michel and the =n stayed overnight in Saint Malo before heading to the Loire. I'd recommemd that.

Worthiness is subjective. It will be a long day. It will be very crowded. Upon entering the Mont, there is a narrow, steep cobbled street leading to the abbey. Once at the Abbey there are numerous stairs. Once you leave the abbey to return to the parking lot a suggestion is to walk along the ramparts that circle the perimeter, it's less crowded. I had a life long desire to see it and early in the morning it didn't disappoint. Once the crowds arrived it seemed a bit of a religious Disneyland. I would recommend staying the night so that you can see the Mont from a distance lit up and more importantly, so you can be there at the start of the morning before the crowds. Then, you can have lunch and be on your way by 2:00.

I second the suggestion that you stay overnight one night. It is entirely different when the crowds get back on their busses and go back to Paris. But don't miss it in any case. It is a not-to-be-missed place IMHO. Just SO beautiful to look at -- and seeing the tides come and go is a great experience.

We are looking for a day trip to Mont St Michel from Paris in May. I ran across

http://www.westcapades.com/pgb_day_trip.htm

and it seems like a very reasonable schedule. 7:30AM TGV to St Malo; they pick you up in a mini bus, give you a short tour of St Malo and Dinans and then on to MSM then back to the train and you get back to Paris at ~9PM.

Has anyone taken this trip?

ESLamberson, Charleston, SC

I have not taken this tour, but it gives you only two hours at MSM. Considering how busy and crowded it can be in the late afternoon (when you would be there) I think you might be disappointed. Unless, of course, you really want to see St. Malo and Dinan also. Then perhaps it would work for you. As I indicated earlier in this thread an overnight on MSM is really priceless IMHO.

Depending on the time of year, two hours will not give you enough time to see much of anything. Given the crowds, you could take a good hour just getting up the main street of the village, and unless your tour package includes a guide you would have to wait for a tour. The abbey complex can be very confusing; best not to do it on your own. The registered tour guides are very knowledgeable, and I strongly recommend using one of them.