Auvers-sur-Oise, Chantilly or Chartres for day trip from Paris?

I know all 3 towns fairly well but I think that you need to decide for yourself which most interests you and base your decision on that. You go to Auvers for Van Gogh/Impressionism, you go to Chantilly for its château and you go to Chartres for its cathedral.

In terms of public transport Chartres is the easiest as you take a train from Gare Montparnasse to Chartres and the train station there is only a 6-7 minute walk from the medieval downtown/cathedral. See sncf-connect.com for train schedules and prices. The journey takes 1 hour to 1-1/4 hours and the one way fare is €18.40, or €36.80 round trip (cheaper if you buy train tickets in advance).

https://www.chartres-tourisme.com/en

For Auvers you take a train from Gare du Nord and will need to make a transfer along the way at one of 3 different stations. The journey takes a bit over an hour and the one way fare is €5 but is covered by Navigo Découvrete if you might have that pass. The only direct train is on weekends and holidays departing at 9:38AM with the return train at 6:15PM. See ratp.fr, transilien.com or https://www.iledefrance-mobilites.fr/ for train info.

https://tourisme-auverssuroise.fr/

For Chantilly you take a train from Gare du Nord and the one way fare is €8.70 (€17.40 round trip) and the journey takes 25 minutes. See sncf-connect.com for train schedules and prices. When you arrive at the train station the château is 2km from there and you can walk or check the schedule for the shuttle bus/navette. With a bit of planning and checking the bus schedule you can combine a visit to Chantilly with a visit to the lovely medieval town of Senlis.

https://www.chantilly-senlis-tourisme.com/en/

https://chateaudechantilly.fr/en/

Thank you so much, Mystique, for your very informative answer. It will definitely help me with my decision.

I've been to all three and would rank them: Chartres, Auvers, Chantilly on my must see list. But they are distinctive so it depends on your personal interests. Chartres is the magnificent Cathedral and stained glass, Auvers, the Van Gogh connection and a lovely small city -- the Van Gogh sites are moving and easy to find and of course Chantilly is a chateau with very nice grounds -- but IMHO just another chateau.

And Janet, thank you!

It takes an hour with the train from Paris Montparnasse to Chartres, but stops in Versailles, Rambouillet and Maintenon too. Château de Maintenon, once the home of Louis XIV’th second wife Madame de Maintenon is not so big as the one in Chantilly and the one of her husband, but very charming (can easily compete with Chantilly in this respect) and certainly worth a visit. Entrance 1.4km from the railway station (walk or taxi?).

Château de Rambouillet is lesser charming, nevertheless nice and has an interesting history. Following a tour there (French only as far as I know) you visit the milk house and a cottage of Marie Antoinette in the park too.

But as already said it depends on your interests.

Thank you, Wil, for the new-to-me info! Very much appreciated.

Of the 3 you listed, I’ve done Chartres and Chantilly. Chartres is by far the easiest to get to and from for me which is why I’ve not done Auvers-sur-Oise, lol.

I always feel sort of like a Medieval pilgrim when I get off the train in Chartres (well, if those pulgrims had trains, lol. The tall Cathedral spire beckons me and I can more or less find my way to it without a map! If you are interested in the labyrinth that is built into the nave floor they remove the chairs on Fridays and allow people to walk it. The stained glass is exceptional and there are tours given in English most days. The renowned glass scholar, Malcolm Miller, is quite old but has I believe trained a new person to give the talks. They were at noon. Might have to book ahead but I’m not sure.

Chantilly is quite interesting though if you are not into churches. I took a cab from the station to the chateau then when I was leaving the small shuttle bus happened to be there waiting so took that back to the station (pre-covid).

Whatever you choose will be wonderful!!

The Chantilly is not just another chateau .. it actually houses the second largest collection of painting of the era next to only the Louvre..

Ive been there three times and loved it.. but then I like art and museums, but the grounds are lovely .. and there is the Royal Stables to tour and the Horse museum..

Thanks, all!

AND none of them need train tickets booked ahead (doubt Chantilly needs advanced timed entry but I did not check??) so you can decide after you arrive and see what you are in the mood for!

There are deals for train tickets to both Chartres and Chantilly (and pretty much any train that goes beyond the Ile-de-France) if you buy in advance though not on all days and usually limited to certain trains throughout the day. You may find a one way fare to Chantilly for as little €2 (instead of €8.70) and for Chartres a one way fare could be €10 (instead of €18.40). But, it locks you into a certain day and a certain time and if the weather is bad on that day then you are stuck. However, sometimes these deals can still be available one or two days before your travel date so if you're in Paris and know you want to do a day trip in a day or two and you know the weather will be good then it doesn't hurt to check the SNCF site to see if you can get a deal.

And as Wil mentioned, the train to Chartres stops in Versailles, Maintenon and Rambouillet so any of those places can potentially be combined with a visit to Chartres. The train stops at Versailles-Chantiers, which is a 1.7km walk from the château, in Maintenon the train station is a 1.5km walk from the château and in Rambouillet the train station is just over a 1km walk from the château.