Castles one hour from paris

I recommend Vieux le Vicomte chateau. It was the model for Versailles, but is small and very nice. I don't know if it is within the Navigo zones though.

Vaux le Vicomte is my favorite:
https://janettravels.wordpress.com/2010/09/20/vaux-le-vicomte-our-last-chateau/
Malmaison is small but charming. Ecouen houses the French Renaissance Museum;
https://janettravels.wordpress.com/2010/06/01/an-hour-from-paris-ecouen-rambouillet/
Chantilly has lovely grounds and horse stables (I think it is outside the ND zone); Rambouillet used to be the summer house of the French President but I think no longer is and has a lovely grounds/park.
https://janettravels.wordpress.com/2011/07/02/rambouillet-summer-palace-for-the-president-of-france/

Check out Chantilly about an hr out of Paris by train. We enjoyed it very much.

Vaux-le-Vicomte is my favorite too, highly recommend it. Malmaison is another favorite. Not a castle, but the home and estate of Josephine. The garden and grounds are lovely. I recommend taking a picnic there with you.

While you can take the RER to Chantilly, a Navigo fare will not get you there as the required Chantilly Gouvieux station is three stops beyond the zone 5 limit of a Navigo zone 1-5, or zone 4-5, fare. Zone 6 was eliminated some years ago. Survilliers Fosses is the last station accessible within the Ile de France using a Navigo on the RER D line.

A TER train from Gare du Nord can take you to Chantilly Gouvieux in about 25 minutes. You can walk from the train station to the château, about 20 minutes, or take the free DUC bus, #15 (direction Senlis) to the château.

There is a special ticket available called PAC TER Domaine de Chantilly which includes a round trip train ticket from Gare du Nord and château entrance. Cost is 25€ for those 12 and older.

Within an hour, but outside the ND zone I can recommend Château de Compiègne. Not so attractive as the already suggested châteaux, nevertheless to my opinion certainly worth a place somewhere on your list. It’s huge, much overlooked and with a bit of luck you have the whole place (outside the weekends I guess) almost for yourself. There is also a lovely carriage museum inside, alas closed during my visit last April and a tiny car museum too.

Btw Compiègne itself is also worth hanging around for a few hours.

Further: not so big, but lovely and within the ND zone is 18th century Château de Champs-sur-Marne worth a visit. To reach with RER A to Disneyland Paris. http://www.chateau-champs-sur-marne.fr/en/

Vaux le Vicomte is reachable by Navigo Decouverte; there is a shuttle from this train station; the stop is on the line to Provins which is also reachable with the ND.

http://vaux-le-vicomte.com/en/prepare-your-visit/access/

when we went we used a different station and had to take a cab, but this has supposedly improved with the new shuttle access.

If you want an actual fortified castle there's the one at Vincennes, at the end of Metro line 1. Well within the Paris suburbs, but it has a very large park as well.

I went to Vincennes and was disappointed. Most of it is used to store archives and not available to the public. There is an original keep where you can see a handful of sparse rooms. After that a small chapel, a ticket office, gift shop and some river view at the far end are about all you will see. Some people like it for the Marquis de Sade connection, but there's nothing there that capitalizes on the connection. My French friend suggested I skip it and later said I told you so.

janet, it’s possible to take a train from Gare de l’Est for free with a Navigo Découverte?

Edit: I just Googled and it seems the answer is yes. I never knew you could take a train with a Navigo! Thank you janet!

Well, the RER is a train system. In addition, suburban trains, not part of the RER, since they do not cut through Paris and run from the various main line stations, have letter designations. Download the system schematic diagram at https://www.transilien.com/en/page-editoriale/network-maps

It shows where these trains leave the zone system with the words "Tarification hors Ile-de-France". Inside that area, the Navigo Decouverte is valid.

Thanks Sam. I’ll definitely get educated about it for next trip.
And yes, I’m aware the RER is a train.
I just thought trains from a train station were not covered and have never read anything that said otherwise.
Thanks to janet, I now know better.

The local type trains other than the RERs that run in the Ile de France are also usable with the ND. We have taken regular regional trains often using the pass sometimes within Paris e.g. We have picked up the train at the station in the 17th and ridden it in to St. Lazare. Obviously TGVs where you reserve seats are not included, but the open seating regional trains are usable with the ND.