giverny day trip

This was an all day trip for us. We took the train from Gare St. Lazare. It was nice to be able to stay on after the bus tour groups had left - the village took on a totally different atmosphere.

Welcome to the RS Travel Forum.

Bob....thank you. Did you have to buy a ticket then to tour Monet's home and gardens separately?

I agree...an all day trip. I've usually timed it so I arrived before Monet's home opened for the day and left to come back to Paris on the 3:30 or so train.

editing to add: No, the ticket is for the house and gardens.

I bought my advance tickets online here: http://giverny.org/gardens/fcm/ticket/
The ticket is for both the gardens and Monet's home. Online tickets cannot be purchased on the day you want to go. However, my B&B host said that you can also buy the tickets at the Museum of Impressionism Giverny which is a 2 minute walk from the entrance to Monet's Gardens. Note that if you have advance tickets, you go through the Group ticket entrance which is to the right and before the main entrance. They preferred a printed ticket, however, they were finally able to get the ticket number off of my smartphone. Go early and spend the day there. So worth it.

Thank you for your reply to my Giverny question. This is helpful as I plan my trip.

We did it as a morning trip - trained in from Paris, caught the connecting shuttle, saw and photographed the lily ponds, purchased a ticket on-site to the art museum and toured that for about 60 minutes, then toured the gardens behind Monet's house and then toured inside his house. Ate lunch and then caught shuttle back to train station and then spent afternoon and early evening in Rouen. Felt like we covered all we needed to in Giverny and didn't feel like we rushed through anything - we just made sure we got there as soon as it opened. I will say it was extremely crowded there and it got crowded very quickly, so we were completely fine with leaving after lunch and getting away from the masses. I didn't particularly care for touring inside Monet's house as it was so crowded that you just sort of got herded and pushed along with the crowds.

What I didn't feel like we had enough of was time in Rouen. But if you don't think you'd want to spend an entire day in Giverny, you can squeeze in something else or even just head back to Paris.

Thank you for all of this helpful information. I will be in Paris for one week with my college age granddaughter. I have been to Paris once before and have a handle on our plans for the week. The trip to Giverny was tossed in at the last moment at the end of our stay. Any suggestions you might have for Paris would be welcome....anything that is beyond the usual tourist stops?
We are staying on the left bank within walking distance of many places of interest but want the true Paris experience.

We visited Giverny in May last year. Not at all crowded, but the roses were still only in bud. Lots of spring bulbs still blooming. Loved his house, too--it seemed to be full of joy. We stopped at a local cafe and had the best tarte aux pommes (apple tart).
The Musee d'Orsay is a must-see, I think--its focus is 19th-Century art, and if you love Impressionism, look for those rooms! Also, the Orangerie has the Lily pond paintings by Monet, so if you go to Giverny first, you will have an even better experience seeing the paintings.

there is a temporary exhibit at the Petit Palais that we recommend; it runs thru Oct 2018. It's of the French impressionists during their exile in London in late 1800/early 1900s. Unique and well-explained, worth the visit. Wander the rest of the Palais if you have time (it's free, the exhibit is 13 euro). After, have a coffee or glass of wine at the Palais cafe, grab a table in the lovely open courtyard.

We just went to Giverny three days ago. Easy to get to by train and bus (there's also a little putt-putt people mover). Lock in your brain where the busses drop you off.

We got there around 10 a.m. The place was jammed packed . . .not surprised, as it's peak season. Perhaps if we had gone in the late afternoon it would have been less crowded.

We usually buy tickets in advanced. We didn't, and it cost us at least 30 min.

Walked over to the church where he is buried. Takes at most ten minutes.

Even though the place was swamped, we are so glad that we got to see where Monet lived and worked, and the beautiful garden he created. Have a wonderful trip.