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Day trip(s) from Paris

Posted by (St. Louis, MO USA) on

I'm thinking about day trips from Paris and have a few in mind. I'm interested in visiting Rouen and Beauvais in one day, OR Rouen for one day, OR Bayeux for one day.

I'd like to go to Rouen to see medieval churches and a Jewish site (a Romanesque building that burned down and is believed to be the oldest Jewish building in France) and to Beauvais only to see the cathedral. It is feasible to visit both towns in a day?

And should I buy train tickets in advance, or do they cost the same on the day of purchase?

Posted by
10344 posts

We visited Rouen in one day last year and it was good. The high speed train from Paris to Rouen, and back, is the transportation key. You need to buy advance tickets online for that one.

Posted by
8552 posts

Rouen is a great day trip from Paris and is quite different in architecture from Paris. It can easily be managed in a day and its key sites are very close together. we were disappointed to find two of the churches we particularly wanted to visit closed to visitors although they were officially open when we went. they just had hand lettered signs saying they were closed taped on te official signs indicating that it was visiting hours. That was in November. Be sure you check web sites of the things you want to see and pick a day when they are expected to be open and we'll hope you had better luck than we did.

Small towns are mostly closed up on Mondays so avoid that day for other visits.

There are literally dozens of great day trips close to Paris. I don't think Bayeux is one of those -- it really takes more time. Here are a few places we have gone: https://janettravels.wordpress.com/category/day-trips-from-paris/
And there are many many more. Of particular interest are Versailles, Fontainebleau, Vaux le Vicomte, Auvers sur Oise where Van Gogh lived his last days and Chartres with its stunning Cathedral.

Posted by
1976 posts

Thank you both. If I wanted to go from Paris to Rouen to Beauvais and back to Paris, would that be two advance one-way tickets on the TGV (Paris - Rouen and Beauvais - Paris) and one regional/local ticket (Rouen - Beauvais), bought the day of at the Rouen train station?

Posted by
1641 posts

We really enjoyed Chantilly for the day. It's the only horse stable you'll ever see that looks like a Gentleman's Chateau with real horse shows. We actually watched a trainer with six horses doing "circus" type moves. The art collection in the "people" Chateau is second in size after the Louve.

Domaine Chantilly

Posted by
14980 posts

Going to Beauvais is done from Paris Nord by regional train, very frequent and convenient connections, takes a bit over one hour. You won't see any tourists in Beauvais, definitely no North Americans. I went there in 2012.

If you do both Rouen and Beauvais is one day, it can be done. You still have to go through Paris to change train stations, ie from Gare St Lazare to Gare du Nord. You can take the bus to connect the two train stations, so conceivably you arrive in Beauvais by 15:00, the cathedral is ca 30 mins walk, maybe less.

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