day trip from Paris to Chartres

Chartres is an easy day trip to do on your own. Rick's France or Paris guidebooks have a good self-guided tour of the cathedral and old town. There are trains leaving hourly from the Paris Montparnasse station, taking about an hour. Tickets are €16 each way and you can just buy them on the spot at the station in Paris. See www.sncf.com/en/passengers for schedules.

Thank you Rich!

I agree about taking the train. The town of Chartres is quite walkable. It has a helpful tourist info office and historic main street a few blocks away from the cathedral.

When we were there (spring 2015) ongoing cathedral restoration made the upper lofts and organ inaccessible, but that may be finished by now. There's an English-language audio guide available in the gift shop inside the cathedral. At another location within the nave itself is another audio guide rental, cheaper (I think church sponsored), but I believe it's in French only.

One regional food item we enjoyed in Chartres is the buckwheat crepes -- made a nice lunch, accompanied by local cider.

We were just there mid-Sep. Actually stayed in Chartres for three nights before moving on to Paris. Train is easy and quick to do. Once you are there you cannot miss the cathedral since it looms over the city. The train station is a mess with lots of construction to weave through. We did the tour with the old English man that you meet inside the cathedral. There is a light show outside in each evening but could be over by now.

As I recall it is just over an hour each way by train, plenty of trains into Paris from there.

As of last summer, Malcolm Miller was still giving his lecture tours, worth planning your day trip around if possible. He answers emails.

Thanks to everyone for the infro, especially re train and walkability. Judy

Judy, I used to live in Chartres right after college. It's one of my most favorite cities in France. Everyone is right---it's extremely walkable and definitely worth a visit. Make sure you see the city above and below the cathedral and take a walk along the Eure. If you would like some restaurant recommendations, let me know what your tastes are and I'll give some suggestions.

Generally the trains leave Montparnasse to the very right of the platform. The train's terminus will either be Chartres, Nogent-le-Rotrou, or Le Mans. Pretty simple to get there. You pass some excellent cities to get there: Versailles, Rambouillet, Maintenon.

I would suggest leaving around 9 AM and pick up some breakfast at the PAUL bakery in Montparnasse. Within an hour you'll arrive in Chartres. When you exit the train station look up and to the right---you won't be able to miss the Cathedral. Heck, on the train ride you'll notice it as well. There's a fantastic Musee-des-Beaux-Arts right behind the cathedral (to the right) and a cool park behind the cathedral with a labyrinth maze. One of my favorite places to while away the day. There's also a stained glass museum right near the cathedral, another science-related museum nearby, and a cool little place called Maison Picassiette (a bit of a distance from the cathedral).

Merci, Alexander!