Bayeux transportation to Mont ST Michel for a day trip

There is really no easy way to MSM from Bayeux other than a tour or renting a car. Your best bet is to rent a car either at Bayeux or in Caen, depending on how you get to Bayeux, and drive to MSM. We drove from our B&B south of Bayeux, about 90 miles on the motorway, arriving well before the hordes on the tour buses. We had the place practically to ourselves, saw all we wanted to see, and departed as the swarms of tours charged up the walkway. If you can rent a car for the balance of your stay, you will be way ahead in terms of MSM and the D Day beaches. Tours of the beaches are worthwhile if you don't know any history but with any tour, we skipped over many spots. We used our car the next day to spend the entire day at places we barely skimmed on the tour, stopped where and when we wanted and bought food and wine from the little villages we passed through. Best advice -- rent a car for 6.

Thanks for the info. I can only find 4 to 5 passenger cars in Bayeux through auto europe. We are traveling by train from Switzerland. Do you know of a 6 passenger mini van rental outfit in Bayeux?

Just get the train from Gare St Lazaire straight to Bayeux,all very easy.
We did this after being in northern France and took train from Arras to Gare du Nord and taxi to St Lazaire.
Easy walk into town even with bags.
We had ore booked a car from the petrol station/ agency just south if the town; I just walked down and even if language differed there was no problem.
Drove to Mont St Michel, around beaches and down to Falaise.
First time driving on the right and a manual and it took a bit mind adjusting but all ok though I did swap original car for something with some power! And always check where reverse is BEFORE you drive away.

I would not do a trip with a total time of 3.5 hours; you need more time there. Check out the MSM van trip that the hotel Churchill offers. It is not limited to their guests although it books up early. It runs at 9 and returns at 3 giving 3 or 4 hours at the site. It also costs 65$. The van takes 8 people so you would have to book early to get space for 6. I believe the charge is just for the transport.

Go to Autoeurope or similar sites to search for a van rental. You might find slim pickings in Bayeux or even Caen. You might have to make the drive from Paris to get a van that size. Consider just renting a couple of cars if you need to.

It was a year ago - but we booked on Viators and they are a consolidator, ended up that they
booked us with "Normandy Sightseeing Tours"
There were 8 in our group and we did one day to see the beaches of Normandy (including American Cemetery) and another
day to tour Mount St. Michel. ( he customized to some specific things we wanted to see)
Our guide was a young man named Adrian (he had studied in the US) and was an absolutely
charming and very knowledgeable guide. We had him for a full day each day and
I would highly recommend the company and this guide.
Since we were in Feb, the rates were a bit lower - but still in the $80 or 80Euro???? range
and well worth it.
Large modern passenger van - very comfortable - he recommended and joined us for lunch each day and the lunches were wonderful.

I used Bayeux Shuttle twice last July with 2 different groups of visitors to my apartment in Paris (which I had rented for the month). The Mont St. Michel day trip starts at 8:45am and returns by 6pm so the driver can drop off passengers at the train station who may be headed back to Paris. We had about 3 1/2 hrs. at the Mont which I thought was plenty of time to see everything even though it was crowded. The biggest advantage was the "fast pass" into the abbey. The individual lines were long but we zipped right in on the tour line. The other advantage, of course, was you are leaving the driving to someone else. Our driver, on the way back, also stopped for a few minutes to allow us to take pictures of the iconic view of the abbey across the fields and marshes with the cows and sheep grazing in the foreground. It happened on one of the trips there was only five of us in a 16 passenger van so everyone could stretch out and have a window seat! I would recommend, if you are going to use Bayeux Shuttle or some other tour company, to go to their web site and make reservations before you leave the States. Bon voyage!

3.5 hours on site is a very adequate amount of time for the visit -- 3.5 hours total as stated by the OP was not. It was probably a confusion and not the actual schedule.

There's a direct train from Bayeux to Pontorson-MSM. It takes about 90 minutes and then you take a quick cab or bus ride to the Mont. The ticket was about 25 euros, plus a couple more for the bus. I did this going the opposite way last summer and it was easy. That said, if you're only going to the Mont for one day, will be competing with crowds, and don't mind the extra expense, an organized bus group with a "fast pass" might make the day a lot less stressful.

Caroline

You might be able to hire a private driver with a van that would hold 8. Rental cars usually will hold 5, but when you get to 6 you usually have to go to the passenger van for 8 or 9. It's a bit of a pain to drive those around as parking can become difficult, but it is not impossible... I have done it a few times, and often there are special places to park vans or buses, so sometimes it is a benefit. The only thing I would say is that it is really an amazing experience to spend the night on Mont St. Michel if possible...