How would you spend a day trip from Paris by train?

For me, Chartres, because I love gothic architecture and it's among the best, about an hour from Gare Montparnasse. Nice surrounding town too.

For you, perhaps one of the trips in this book, but check the routes and schedules because the book is ten years old.

I would go to Giverny since I like Monet and seeing houses where famous artists I like lived.

For my next trip, I have chosen Chartres. Why? Station is an easy walk to the sites in town. It’s a pretty quick ride from Paris. There is the stained glass in the cathedral and I’m crazy for stained glass.

There are many that i really like:

Vaux-le-Vicomte… an chateau with a fascinating history, a moat, beautiful gardens
Senlis: a charming medieval village
Sceaux: a lovely town with a beautiful, small chateau along the lines of a Stately Home, and impressive grounds
Malmaison: home of Napoleon and Josephine
Fontainebleau: for it’s history and stunning interiors
St Germain-en-Laye: a lovely town and a chateau full of history (although you can only tour a small portion), home of Alexander Dumas that you can tour, easy to get to on the RER
Giverny: on everyone’s list

What are YOU interested in seeing or doing?

I like Annabelle Sims’ book on day trips. Based on your other post you might like some hiking? I love some of her walks but personally wouldn’t be comfortable on them alone as an older solo woman traveler. I’m sure their safe, just wouldn’t trust my way-finding skills!

Meanwhile, I’ve enjoyed Chartres, Chantilly and Giverny. On my “to-do list” are Auvers-sur-Oise, the American Cemetery at Suresnes, Fountainbleau and Chateau Vaux le Vicomte.

About Chartres (which I really like as a - small - city), you might want to know the following... (thought I'd mention it as it comes very handy and it's not generally known by tourists/visitors!)

I've often read/heard from visitors, in particular older ones, that the walk back up the lower town (basse-ville) to the upper town is a bit of a PITA, esp. for people with mobility problems (such as my wife), as it's steep, whether you take the 3 or 4 tertres (staircases linking the 2 levels as it were) or just walk up to the upper town on the pavement.

For over ten years now, there's been a small and free HOHO shuttle (no ticket/card needed) that will take you back up to the upper town, they call it locally the "Navette Filibus" (navette = shuttle and Filibus being the name of the local transportation authority, http://www.filibus.fr/. This is the map of the whole transport network for Chartres & suburbs:

http://www.filibus.fr/ftp/FR_document/web-Chartres%20SCHEMATIQUE%202022%20210x210%20mm%20(2).pdf

The new (electric) shuttle looks like this:

https://www.chartres.fr/fileadmin/user_upload/actualite/2021/filibus-c-la-navette-chartres-metropole.jpg

Its official name is "Relais des Portes", as the shuttle goes from "porte" to "porte" in the old town (in the upper town too, goes to the railway station, to the start of the pedestrian area on Place des Épars, it has a stop close to the cathedral etc.), so it takes in the ancient gateways to the medieval town (those gateways were destroyed during WWII, only Porte Guillaume has vestiges. You might know that Porte Guillaume area of Chartres for its beautiful half-timbered houses and lovely mews, bridges etc. There's a few locally famous restaurants too. L'Estocade for instance, it has a terrace on the banks of the River Eure. So does the superb riverside Moulin de Ponceau, next door practically - that one's posher though but has a good-value three-course menu for €33 https://www.restaurant-moulin-ponceau.fr/).

There are plans to rebuild the Porte Guillaume identically, but it's been in the offing since 2015 and not much has happened since then (Chartres Métropole isn't massive in terms of population, only about 120,000, but has had an ambitious mayor for over a decade and invests massively, meaning that secondary/non urgent projects have had to take a back seat - major recent investments include the Odyssey swimming & aquatic complex - Europe's largest apparently - and Chartres en Lumières. and as a result the municipality of Chartres is a little broke,m although they derive quite a lot of € from the many big companies that have settled within the intercommunalité limits, particularly well-known ones internationally are the cosmetics & perfume ones, Guerlain & co, they have a big R&D unit there... Chartres is at the heart of the so-called Cosmetic Valley, there's an international cosmetic centre in Chartres etc.

You can see what Porte Guillaume looked like in medieval times here: http://www.lesportesdutemps.com/archives/2020/02/03/37996707.html

Anyway, this HOHO shuttle stops at the various "portes" and in other places too in the upper town. They added two new routes last year. It's dead handy!

Every 20 minutes, from 6.40 am to 23.30 (every day except Sundays and bank holidays).

This is its route: http://www.filibus.fr/ftp/FR_document/RELAIS%20DES%20PORTES.pdf

Bollix... I posted a long post about a good tip I have for visitors to Chartres (a town I know quite well, a friend of mine lives there) but for some reason, the post vanished as I was editing it, about two hours ago (not sure where it is but maybe it hasn't completely vanished. It was to be my first post, I can't find it but my post account read "2 posts" and I can only see one. A bit of a mystery to me I must say and I wonder if there is a way to retrieve that first post on Chartres).

Never mind, I'll try to post it again later. It was a mobility tip, for those people (like my wife) who have mobility problems and/or who sometimes tire easily. The municipality of Chartres did something quite good a few years ago, to make easier the "trek" from the basse-ville (lower town, along the Eure River) to the regular town (the haute-ville), or vice-versa (the "haute-ville" being the main town, where the lovely pedestrianised areas, the cathedral etc. are).

I'll check with the RS community first: would anyone be interested in that sort of info or should I not bother?

So many. For a first timer the obvious ones are Versailles and Giverny. Our favorite chateau is Vaux le Vicomte but we also enjoyed the lovely garden view at Maintenon and the charm of Malmaison. And we had a really lovely time at a Guinguette (Auvergnate) on the Seine one Sunday afternoon.

But we particularly love small towns such as Moret sur Loing, Senlis, Crecy la Chapelle. Here are a few day trips we have done: https://janettravels.wordpress.com/category/day-trips-from-paris/

Rouen is a nice town and easy to get to by direct train from Paris (same train that stops near Giverny) but I'm not sure it quite meets the 1.5 hour travel time constraint, don't remember. I did Giverny and Rouen in one day this way and it worked fine for me.

You're right Janet, lots.

Moret-sur-Loing is now called, or rather part of a new commune called Moret-Loing-et-Orvanne.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moret-sur-Loing

Worth mentioning I suppose as it does no longer appear on maps as Moret-sur-Loing, but as Moret-Loing-et-Orvanne (although Moret-sur-Loing is still used for various reasons, and the name remains for historical purposes, “Donjon de Moret-sur-Loing” etc.).

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@48.3699773,2.8253136,13.79z

The train to get there is the R line of the Transilien (from Gare de Lyon), goes to and through Fontainebleau. From Gare de Lyon it's about 50 mns to Moret-sur-Loing/ Moret-Loing-et-Orvanne (the stop is Montigny-sur-Loing, 2 miles from Moret).

Famous for Alfred Sisley of course, https://www.itravelwithart.com/alfred-sisley-art-of-moret-sur-loing/

Man Ray, your tip about an easy way to navigate Chartres would be really helpful. It's quite a steep climb from the Eure, where we parked, to the cathedral.

Dom, one of the greatest things about Chartres is the evening illuminations around the old town. They start at dusk and you'd want to spend an hour or more seeing as many of them as you can. They run from May through the following mid-January. The question is, is there a train that will get you back to Paris after you've seen the illuminations?

OK Crumbs, I'll rewrite it later.

Does anyone know what could have happened to my post perchance? It's still counted as a post in my "post account" but has gone awol...

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

Definitely Chartres. Easy train ride, an wonderful medieval center, and of course the Cathedral itself. Plus we had some of the best crepes of our trip.

Man Ray, I would greatly appreciate your post about Chartres which my husband and I plan to visit in mid-December--but only if it's not a pain for you. I had a similar experience with a post of mine and alerted an admin. It was there the next day. Fingers crossed for you. You've also piqued my interest in Moret-Loing-et-Orvanne, but it appears that it is @ a 6-hour train ride if Google Maps is correct. We won't have a car and it looks like neither will the OP.

Heather, would you mind sharing the "best crepes of our trip" restaurant's name?!

"You've also piqued my interest in Moret-Loing-et-Orvanne, but it appears that it is @ a 6-hour train ride if Google Maps is correct."

Good grief Lindy, Moret 6 hours from Paris! It's only about 70-80 kms south-east of Paris, tops.

https://www.viamichelin.fr/web/Itineraires/Itineraire-Moret_sur_Loing-77250-Seine_et_Marne-France-vers-Paris-75000-Ville_de_Paris-France

What did you google exactly? (I have a sneaky suspicion that whatever you inputted in your search engine was interpreted as being in the Morvan, or there was "Morvan" in the mix, a fairly remote hilly area in Burgundy which would be 5-6 hrs away by train from Paris...).

Janet and I wouldn't have mentioned Moret if it'd been 6 hours away from Paris, voyons voyons :-)

In fact, in my post of 12.41 PM, I wrote:

"The train to get there is the R line of the Transilien (from Gare de Lyon), goes to and through Fontainebleau. From Gare de Lyon it's about 50 mns to Moret-sur-Loing/ Moret-Loing-et-Orvanne (the stop is Montigny-sur-Loing, 2 miles from Moret)."

This is the Transilien R Line: https://www.transilien.com/en/page-lignes/ligne-r, and as I wrote it's about 50 mns from Gare de Lyon.

@ Lindy.

"Man Ray, I would greatly appreciate your post about Chartres which my husband and I plan to visit in mid-December--but only if it's not a pain for you. I had a similar experience with a post of mine and alerted an admin. It was there the next day. Fingers crossed for you."

Thanks, I'll try tomorrow or within 48 hrs. But even if admin cannot retrieve my post, I will rewrite it and post it (tomorrow or Tuesday), as I think it's a good tip for people with mobility problems or just people who are tired after a whole day out.

I agree with Chartres and in case you have enough time Le Mans with it’s very lovely historic centre is certainly worth to visit too. Between the two the local TER train takes about 1h15. From Le Mans on the way back to Paris takes 1h24 with the TGV. Maintenon is a stop on the TER line between Chartres and Paris and the château there as already mentioned is worth considering too. Likely all three places is too much in one day, but two are to my idea easy to combine, depending the pace you prefer.

Troyes is like Le Mans much overlooked but to my opinion one of the most beautiful cities within the range from Paris you are looking for.

Man Ray's reply from earlier- I retrieved it from my email notification!

About Chartres (which I really like as a - small - city), you might
want to know the following...

I've often read (and heard) from visitors, and in particular older
ones, that the walk back up the lower town (basse-ville) to the upper
town is a bit of a PITA, especially for people with mobility problems
(such as my wife), as it's steep, whether you take the 3 or 4 tertres
(staircases linking the two levels as it were) or just walk up using
the pavement.

For over ten years now, there's been a small and free HOHO shuttle (no
ticket/card needed either) that will take you back up to the upper
town, they call it locally the "navette Filibus" (Filibus being the
name of the local transportation authority, http://www.filibus.fr/.
The map of the whole transport network for Chartres & suburbs:
http://www.filibus.fr/ftp/FR_document/web-Chartres%20SCHEMATIQUE%202022%20210x210%20mm%20(2).pdf). The new (electric) shuttle looks like this:

https://www.chartres.fr/fileadmin/user_upload/actualite/2021/filibus-c-la-navette-chartres-metropole.jpg

Its official name is "Relais des Portes", as the shuttle goes "porte"
to "porte" in the old town, so the lower town (other places to,
railway station, pedestrian area, close to the cathedral etc.), so the
ancient gateways to the town, destroyed during WWII, Porte Guillaume
has vestiges. You might know that area of Chartres for its beautiful
half-timbered houses, there's a couple of locally famous restaurants,
not posh one, just lovely ones! L'Estocade in particular, it has a
terrace on the banks of the River Eure. So does the superb Moulin de
Ponceau, next door practically - that one's much posher though,
https://www.restaurant-moulin-ponceau.fr/).

There are plans to rebuild the Porte Guillaume identically, but it's
been in the offing since 2015 and not much has happened since then
(Chartres invests massively - the Odyssey swimming/aquatic complex -
Europe's largest - Chartres en Lumières, etc. and as a result, it's a
little broke...). You can see what it looked like in medieval times
here,
http://www.lesportesdutemps.com/archives/2020/02/03/37996707.html).

Anyway, this free HOHO shuttle stops at the various "portes" and in
other places too in the upper town. They added two new routes last
year. It's dead handy!

Every 20 minutes, from 6.40 am to 23.30 (every day except Sundays and
bank holidays).

This is its route:
http://www.filibus.fr/ftp/FR_document/RELAIS%20DES%20PORTES.pdf

Anyway, I thought I'd mention it as it does come very handy and it's
not generally known by tourists/visitors!

Moret su Loing is about an hour from Paris -- it does involve about a two km walk from the station to the town.

We're going to Paris in two weeks and are planning a day trip to Reims. The main purpose is to honor my grandfather: he visited there between D-Day and the Battle of the Bulge, and one of the few things he would speak about post-war was how stunning the cathedral was. We'll visit the cathedral, the surrender museum, and try some of the famous pink biscuits. If weather allows, we'd also love to fit in a bike ride in the countryside.

Thanks Dom... So that's where my post was, how odd!

I've just posted to help a poster called watercolorwiz (in the "blah-blah-bus-pain" thread) but again my post has disappeared... I really need to contact admin to understand what the friggin heck is happening with my posts.

I can't find their email address though, has anyone on here got it?

So, anyway, going back to my mobility tip when in Chartres, to go from the upper town to the lower (old) town or vice-versa, use the Hop On Hop Off Filibus "Relais des Portes" navette (shuttle), it'll make your life much simpler. You can take it from any Relais des Portes stop (near the cathedral, railway station etc.). It's free and dead handy. This is the route:

http://www.filibus.fr/ftp/FR_document/RELAIS%20DES%20PORTES.pdf

(everyday except Sundays and bank holidays, every 20 mns, from 6.38 am to nearly midnight).

(R E L A I S D E S P O R T E S... fonctionne toute l’année (sauf dimanches et jours fériés) du lundi au samedi (passage toutes les 20 min. environ) Horaires au départ de la Gare SNCF : - Circuit intérieur de 6h57 à 23h35*- Circuit extérieur de 6h38 à 23h35)

The "Relais des Portes" bus stop for that free shuttle looks like this:

https://www.chartres-metropole.fr/fileadmin/_processed_/e/a/csm_Deplacements_navettesgratuites_bf0bb62ffe.jpg

And the (new and electric) shuttle looks like this:

https://www.chartres-metropole.fr/fileadmin/_processed_/5/8/csm_transports-c-la-navette-chartres-metropole_f0cccc36db.jpg

https://www.chartres.fr/fileadmin/user_upload/actualite/2021/filibus-c-la-navette-chartres-metropole.jpg

Under those circumstances, by train, max 1.5 hours, day trip from Paris ?

Number 1:....emotionally, historically, psychologically......Chateau de Fontainebleau. My first time there in Aug 1977, having the feeling of" I can't believe I am actually here" and made it. Always on return trips....positive.

Number 2.....Amiens...likewise but less so.