pegprescott

Earlier posters have suggested staying over night on MSM to fully enjoy it. We couldn't find a hotel on the mont and those on the mainline didn't look appealing. Should we still stop there for a mid-morning visit or will the crowds still be overwhelming in late Sept.? Any recommendations for lunch or are they all pretty touristy?

monpetit

Hotels I'll recommend in le Mont saint Michel are :
1?)Hotel saint Pierre, for me the best(for 5 years, everytime we go there with
our daughters we choose this one : quiet,comfortable and very good breakfast...only 21 rooms...) :
phone 33 (0)2 33 60 14 03 if you phone from out of France, 02 33 60 14 03 if you phone from France. They are on the
Logis de France
web site : http://www.logis-de-france.fr
you go to the carte, choose Basse Normandie and click on le Mont Saint Michel.
2?) Du Guesclin, also on logis de France
33 (0) 2 33 60 14 10

3?) Le Saint Michel ridel
33 (0) 2 33 60 14 37

NB others logis de France are out of Mont saint Michel.

4?) La croix blanche : 33 (0) 2 33 60 14 08.

I avoid "la mère Poulard" both hotel and
restaurant too expensive and who lives on his reputation, far far from what it was...

Other restaurants are generally equal in quality and the best to do is to choose one with a regional menu...
Generally, the logis de france made it...
A night here is somewhat magical...
Erik.

jody

I don't know about September..but late last October it's the ONLY place in Brittany and Normandy that we emcountered crowds during the day. We couldn't even get into the parking area!

monpetit

For the crowd, september till mid october is not too busy.
The last week of october is crowdy, because this is "la Toussaint" which is a christian feast in France ,with 10
days of scholar holidays(this year from
october the 22nd to november the 3rd):
period to avoid...
From september the 10th. till october the 20th., no problem.
For exemple, last year we have been there for my daughter's birthday, on the 19th. of october and it was perfect.
The Mont saint Michel on a early sunday morning without crowd is perfect.
NB : if you have booked a room in a hotel IN the Mt st Michel, you have a special parking lot...
At the time of checkin they give you a
"pass" to open the door and you can so
park your car in one of the reserved
emplacement.
Erik.

TuckH

One of the many pleasant experiences of a visit to the Mont is the long lead-up (walk) to it - seeing it from a distance and then coming closer and closer along the causeway!

So, even if parking far off, enjoy the approach. However I can't imagine it being THAT crowded in late September.

As for lunch, there are splendid opportunities for a picnic halfway up.

Furthermore, don't be put off by it being 'touristy'. Afterall this was (and still is) a major pilgrimage site. That was its raison d'etre; 'tourists' have been flocking to Le Mont St Michel from its very beginning.

Kristinelaine

Just don't miss it. It is an absolute don't-miss site.

jody

Erik..that is probably the reason it was so crowded as we were there around the 28th!

We'll have to remember that for next time.

Curt

A very good choice in the village is the Relais St Michel, web page at
http://www.relais-st-michel.com/htgb/0001.htm

Very nice rooms, excellent dining, great views of the mount from the dining room and from guest rooms. We stayed here in November, which is really the off season, and most of the village hotels were closed for the winter. We got a really good rate but it might be more expensive in September.

Enjoy.

pegprescott

Thank you posters for the information. Unfortunately we have tried all the hotels you all suggested and all were full on the night we wanted. But we will still see MSM as day trippers - getting there as early in the morning as we can. Glad to know that although "touristy" it hasn't lost its appeal.

jacksonjr

I found the crowds overwhelming last September 22th. I stayed at The Hotel de la Digue last hotel on the left side of the causeway. I enjoyed viewing the Mont from the 2nd floor dining room and then driving over the causeway to explore the deserted MSM. For me the magic was in the evening when the tour buses left. I would recommend an overnight stay even if you have to stay on the mainland. Plus as was mentioned by Monpetit you have the morning to explore before the crowd returns. Spending an evening on msm changed my intial reaction of whats all the fuss about to a memorable experience

Michael

La Mère Poulard omelet is outrageous in size, taste and price. Once is enough, but it should be eaten once.

welltraveledbrit

We went to Mont St Michel in early January a couple of years ago (staying at a B&B nearby)and I won't be going back.

The mass in the crypt was wonderful but the approach to the church...even though it wasn't too crowded was ghastly...it just feels like a religous Disneyland. The view from afar is wonderful but prepare yourself for a very touristy ambiance... we thought we would escape the worst of it by going in January but even without the throngs of people your senses are still under constant assault from the endless shops selling tack.

From what everyone else has said here perhaps staying the night transforms the experience.

I understand the argument that you shouldn't be put off by so many tourists at a major pilgrimage site but there are some places where, for me, the crowds (myself included!) make it impossible to enjoy the place...I feel this way about Assisi and I was there off season too!

TuckH

We were there in late June of this year, on a Saturday, arriving at 11 am.

Alot of people? Yes,I guess so. Unpleasant? Definitely not! Worth the visit? Absolutely.

To welltraveledbrit:

We've been to The Tower and Westminster Abbey and I offer the same responses. And we'd surely go back...

P.S. It's the only town below the Abbey Precinct that has this 'touristy' aspect and it's the latter that is the reason to go Mont St Michel.