Please sign in to post.

Driving from Paris to Mont Saint Michel the day before Ascension day

Will be visiting France with family in May. We plan to rent a car in Paris, drive to Pontorson and stay for two nights so we can have a full day in Mont Saint Michel. The problem is that for our itinerary to work, we need to drive to Pontorson the day before Ascension day. I hear this is a day with heavy traffic to get out of Paris. We still wanted to do some sightseeing in the morning and start our drive after lunch. Does anyone know how bad traffic should be? What would be the expected time to get to Portonson from Paris if leaving around 1 PM? Would it be better to get the train to Rennes and drive from there?

I get a bit anxious with the idea of renting a car in Rennes. We have two small kids and will need two car seats, so I always wonder if we'll have issues with that in a smaller city. Also there's the extra expanse of the train for 4 people.

Thank you!

Posted by
11691 posts

If you leave Wednesday morning, you should be okay. I wouldn't wait until 1 pm the day before a four-day weekend.

Posted by
2601 posts

With kids and traffic, and road construction, 5-6 hours drive. And I'd take the route via Chartres and LeMans before going via Caens.

Posted by
7831 posts

I would leave before lunch, less risk of traffic issues that way.
And contrary to the post above, I do not recommend going via Rennes; it is more expensive, longer, and more boring. Just don't forget to pay the tolls on A13, it's a pay-by-plate system with stiff penalties if you don't pay within 48 hours!

Posted by
5 posts

If we do leave early to beat the traffic, does it seem reasonable to go through Rennes and make a stop there? Our hotel isn't available until 5PM and we'll be back through the Caen route later to visit the landing beaches. Any other ideas of quick stops in the way?

Posted by
1738 posts

The train station in Rennes is far larger than I expected. There was every rental agency at the station. And it was all very convenient.
Not trying to sway you, but just say I'd be shocked if you couldn't get car seats (reserved in advance) at this very large, modern station. Now Pontorson; that's a cute tiny little town!

Posted by
7831 posts

I wouldn't go anywhere near Rennes. If you do take a southern route, stop by Fougères maybe, then cross-country straight to Mont St Michel.

Posted by
2346 posts

Fougères as Balso suggests is a good idea, Vitré is lovely too.

I don't want to repeat the above advice unnecessary, as well as the experience I had four years ago. It's indead wise to leave early if driving out of Paris the day before Ascension day. Thought being okay it took early afternoon more than 3 long boring hours from CDG to the other end of the city. Complete chaos, never seen so much traffic together, lesson learned!

Posted by
5 posts

Thank you for sharing your experience. I'm really making up my mind to leave early morning. We knew we had the holiday right in the middle of our trip when we started our planning, but I wasn't expecting the worst of the traffic to be the day before the actual holiday!

Posted by
7831 posts

Traffic will also be atrocious on the Sunday (May 17), by the way. It is the heaviest traffic day in the whole year, usually.

Posted by
3019 posts

damyle,
Alas, just as in the US, everyone likes to start the long holiday weekend the day before the actual holiday. (I never understood why so many people had that day off. At my job we had to be at work on the holiday "eve".) Working in a retail bank, there were no four day weekends. (It goes back to a law that derived from solutions to the bank closures after the 1929 crash.) The banks had to be open the day after Thanksgiving, even back in the day when they were never open on weekends.

Best of luck in your travels and have fun!

Posted by
5 posts

Yeah, I thought that would be the case with May 17 too, but thankfully we'll not be driving anywhere that day.