Day Trips from Paris

Chartres is an easy train ride - the cathedral is magnificent.

Which RS tour are you on?

depends on your interests. If you're into architecture and art, I suggest Chartres, Amiens, Rouen, and Reims. All are easily accessible by train. I visited one each day 2 months ago.

Another vote for Chartres! The Chateau de Fountainebleau?

The city of Chartres is lovely, especially the historic center. If you end up going there, I would plan on spending the entire day. If you are willing to spend the night or stay late, there is a wonderful light show on the cathedral and many of the other buildings in town, especially along the river. It should start at about 9:30pm in August.

https://www.chartresenlumieres.com/en/

https://www.travelawaits.com/2548814/how-to-spend-a-day-in-chartres-france/

Reims would be another good choice. See the historic cathedral. There is an excellent TI across from the cathedral where we picked up a map for a walking tour. They also gave us great suggestions for tasting champagne within the city center. We enjoyed a brief visit to the art deco Carnegie library quite close to the cathedral. https://worldcitytrail.com/2025/02/04/reims-carnegie-library/

Monet's Garden and House would be doable from Paris. We had a car so I can't provide details. There is a quick train ride to Vernon from Paris, and then a few options for transportation to Giverny (3-4 miles). Lately, I've been hearing that the garden is very busy.

Giverny is a very easy day trip.

Download the SNCF-connect train app. Check the schedule for the direct trains to Vernon. I took the one that left at 10:11 last October. You don’t need to buy this ahead of time. My friends bought theirs from machines at the station at the time. I bought mine from the app that morning. I bought a return trip and caught the 4:30 or so train back to Paris.

When you arrive at the Vernon train station follow the herd to the shuttle buses to Giverny. Pay the driver at the time. I used ApplePay. Cash is not needed

Do purchase your Monet house admission ahead of time from the official website. I think I purchased a couple of days ahead. I went fir a 1:30 admission and had lunch first at Les Nympheas which is just outside the gate to Monet’s home.

Reverse the process in the afternoon. You get back on the shuttle where it left you off.

Its been 5 years since we've been to Giverny. At that time, it worked for us, to enter the gate in the back between the two gardens that the tours usually enter thru. We got to the gate before opening and walked around the gardens for a good hour before cruise and tour groups got there. Like I said, its been a good amount of time since we've been there, but if you do decide to give it a try, you'd have to leave Paris quite early, and I can't tell you when the shuttle buses start at Vernon train station.

We stayed in a B&B in Giverny, and another couple told us they went to Monet's garden/house, later in the afternoon and found it less crowded.

We walked around Giverny a bit. There is a museum that we didn't enter, but we did enjoy walking about.

It might help folks if you'd share which tour you will be on. Though since you do know you are going to Versailles, you probably have a good sense of the venues you will be visiting.

I have no idea if my post will be deleted for linking to a tripadvisor thread but I'm not trying to promote another forum and am just trying to help answer a "day trip from Paris" question and I happen to be one of the world's leading experts on day trips from Paris so have a look:

See reply #8 in the following thread for my list of two dozen of the most popular and easy to do day trips from Paris. It has links to relevant websites for each destination as well as info regarding train tickets and train stations. A word of caution, I created this list several years ago and in early January 2025 public transport fares changed for some destinations. Also, some of the links may no longer be active but you can use google to find the new/active links. The most important thing is to be sure to research the tourist office websites for any destination you consider and then visit the tourist office in person once you arrive as there is all kinds of free info on offer (maps, brochures, etc.):

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g187147-i14-k13728230-Day_Trip_Ideas-Paris_Ile_de_France.html

For transport info about any of the above destinations that are within the Ile-de-France region (the area around Paris) see https://www.ratp.fr/en, https://www.transilien.com/en or https://www.iledefrance-mobilites.fr/en

For those destinations that I mentioned that are within the Ile-de-France region the one way train fare will be €2.50. Convenient passes for public transport are the Navigo Easy or the Navigo Découverte weekly pass:

https://www.iledefrance-mobilites.fr/en/titres-et-tarifs/supports

https://www.iledefrance-mobilites.fr/en/titres-et-tarifs/supports

A useful website to learn how to use public transport in the Paris region is https://parisbytrain.com/

It is not really a full day, but Cathedral of Saint-Denis is a lot of fun.

One of the world's leading experts? Wow.

Rick does cover this in his guidebook, which you should have already.

"One of the world's leading experts? Wow.

Rick does cover this in his guidebook, which you should have already."

Well phred. I'm pretty sure you know me...personally....so you should have known better than to criticize my knowledge of day trips from Paris. I don't need to read Rick's book nor do I need to read the day trip books written by Annabel Simms, Ina Caro, Earl Steinbicker because I've been doing day trips from Paris since 2011 and I continue to do them all the time, constantly exploring new areas in the vicinity of the Paris region. I know way more than what is in any of their books concerning day trips from Paris. Their books are like beginner exercises for me.

Further, when I see them recommend day trips from Paris to places in Burgundy, the Loire or (seriously) Marseille etc. they have obviously neglected to inform the reader that such places require TGV/Intercités train travel and these tickets need to be purchased up to 3 months in advance for the cheapest prices. It's one thing to tell a reader that you can get from Paris to Dijon in 1-1/2 hours but if you don't also mention that a ONE WAY ticket between Paris and Dijon could "possibly" cost anywhere between €40 and €78 (or more) if purchased at the last minute then that's not good advice. Sure, depending on the time of year that you are travelling you might get a one way fare from Paris to Dijon for as low as €15 but this is why I never suggest day trips from Paris that require TGV/Intercités trains unless people ask for this and then I am sure to explain the train fare structure for such trains. A one way train ticket from Paris to anywhere within the Ile-de-France region will never cost more than €2.50 so for anyone suggesting far flung regions from Paris as day trips please be sure to mention train ticket costs when making suggestions.

Certainly I have day trip suggestions beyond the Ile-de-France region that cost more than €2.50 but they are accessed by the local TER trains and these have fixed prices and thus the train tickets don't need to be purchased in advance (so you can check the weather at the last minute before you make a choice).

So if you want to criticize me then you better be ready to know what you're talking about. I know about several dozens more day trips from Paris than what's written about in these books but you may not care because my knowledge isn't in a book. Sorry about that. And I am only talking about places close to Paris (Ile-de-France and close by) and not long distance journeys using Intercités or TGV trains and the above authors will recommend such trips without explaining in detail the price you could be paying for train tickets. So yes, I'm definitely one of the world's "unknown" leading experts on day trips from Paris.

Here, why don't you figure out how to get to this place:

https://jardin-lepointdujour.com/jardin/

But of course, that's difficult to get to so I'm sure you know all about taking the train to Crépy-en-Valois:

https://crepyenvalois.fr/bouger-sortir-decouvrir/tourisme/office-de-tourisme-du-pays-de-valois/

And of course near there you can see the Donjon de Vez: https://www.oisetourisme.com/activite/donjon-de-vez/

Or perhaps the gallo-roman ruins at Champlieu: https://www.paysdevalois-tourisme.fr/decouvrir/patrimoine/ruines-de-champlieu/

Or even the Abbaye de Lieu Restauré: https://abbayedelieurestaure.com/decouvrez-les-realisations-et-projets/

Oh but wait, those places are difficult to get to and haven't been written about in travel books. OK, maybe if visiting the Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte you could afterwards visit the Château de Blandy-les-Tours: https://www.chateau-blandy.fr/fr

So yeah, I know more about day trips from Paris than Rick Steves or these other authors (though I acknowledge they offer good advice) and just because I don't have a published book is no reason to question my knowledge about day trips from Paris. ;)

Also, if you are the phred who I know personally (you should know me phred because we actually like each other) and helped move stuff out of your Paris apartment years ago then you now know who I am and I am ready to graciously accept your apology at any time. :)

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/france/recommended-side-trips-in-france-with-no-car

Well these are ones I’ve done - over many years of visits of course . Last visit was 2 yrs ago - but sites don’t change just costs lol

Versailles of course - many many times lol

-Monets Garden / Giverny ( bike tour super fun )

Chartres ( last visit - it was so hot in Paris we just needed out of the city and this one is fast and easy ) yes the cathedral is great but walking around the town and along the river was awesome

Rouen ( I’m a Joan of arc fan ) beautiful little city

Provins ( medieval world heritage site )

Fontainebleau Chateau

St Denis ( won’t take a full day )

Chantilly chateau ( the Horse Museum and gardens too )

And some of the most fun day trips were in fact bike tours with Mystic - and yes he is by far the most knowledgeable about day trips - regardless of it being a bike tour or not .
We’ve enjoyed his tours out in the countryside and in smaller towns ! But he is a wealth of knowledge of many good day trips .

As the other users have suggested, Paris has a plethora of nearby day-trips.

Where are you going on your Rick Steves trip?

Reims could be a wonderful option, as could Lille.

For day drips that are geographically in closer proximity to Paris, I think Giverny is a wonderful option if you are a huge fan of Monet.

There is also Chartres as other users suggested, Fontainebleau which makes a nice pairing seeing as you will visit Versailles, Chantilly, or Vaux-le-Vicomte!

Best of luck to you.

The cathedral in Chartres is nice but the back garden was closed when I was there a couple months back. The Museum of Fine Arts needs a major restoration and has a small exhibit on Labyrinths ongoing. There are some excellent patisseries, and they have one of the nicest post offices I've seen anywhere. The tourist Info office is actually interesting.

Reims is good if you like Champagne. The Cathedral is where Joan d'Arc had the French King crowned. there's also a very interesting French Auto Museum.

I prefer Rouen to both Chartres and Reims, although I could easily spend more time in any of them. Reims is a day trip for me, and I always find something new there. Rouen has a great Cathedral, excellent art museum, the spot where Joan d'Arc was burned at the stake, excellent food, and really good antique shops.

A bit further out from Paris is Metz, and it's much nicer than Reims. It's 1.5 hours by train from Gare le Est. Excellent cathedral, WWII American monuments, really good markets, very pretty, and one of the best museums in Europe, Museum of La Cour d'Or, which is free.