Mont Saint Michel

I read the guide book and managed to do it myself. From Paris it takes 4 hours 30 minutes each way by one train and one bus.
However I had all the time in the world.
You take Gare de Montparnasse Train TGV to Dol de Bretagne and then catch a bus.
Here is the bus schedule
http://www.destination-montsaintmichel.com/userfiles/file/dep%20final.pdf

or you take the longer way about 6 hours 2 trains and a bus
Paris Gare St Lazare to Caen to Pontoroson and catch a bus.

There are a lot of tourists who go to Paris that can't afford a tour company that do it this way.

Thanks for the info!

If you would like to treat yourself to a tour, there are day tours that leave Paris early AM and go to Mont St. Michel. Just do a google search for day trip Paris to Mont St. Michel - there is more than one company that does this.
Then you can relax and enjoy the day with someone else doing all the planning.
Here is a link to just one of the companies that do this type of tour.
Tour to Mont St. Michel

Another solution is to take a train from Paris Montparnasse to Rennes on your own, and from there take a tour to Mont Saint Michel. In the evening you may take a train in Rennes back to Paris.
You may even take a direct TGV train to Saint Malo (instead of Rennes), if you want to enjoy this place at the same time, and from there take a tour to Mont Saint Michel (loop to Rennes for the train in the evening).

Thanks, I'm still trying to plan this

We visited Mont St Michel in May 2017. Our personal feeling is that a day trip is not long enough to explorer satisfactorily. I suggest you investigate possibilities for having at least an entire day there.

Hi
I am considering driving out in the afternoon spending the night (recommendations welcome) seeing the Abby in the am and driving back to Paris, anyone have any input?

glennlorrainer you must have been there at low tide. It's really something to watch the tide come in!

IMHO - the best way to experience it is spending the night on the Mont. It's deserted in the evening and early morning and really magical.

We have a 1/2 day tour scheduled through Bayeux Shuttle in September: http://www.bayeuxshuttle.com/mont-st-michel-services.htm. We are starting from Bayeux so we don't have to worry about taking the train to / from Paris on the same day. Perhaps a short overnight in Bayeux would be a fun extra while going to Mont St. Michel. Take the train in the day before, do the morning tour of MSM, then the train back to Paris in the afternoon / evening?

We did it on our own and only spent half a day there. It would have been nice to have a few more hours, but half a day is do-able. Loved it there.

So I took the plunge

I am leaving Paris at 2:56 to Rennes and Getting the Bus to MSM getting in at 17:55
We are staying on the mainland we have a hotel double room reserved for the night
Question how late can we access MSM can we go over in the evening just to walk the island?

We plan to do the Abby first thing the next morning
We will get the bus to Rennes at 2:05 and be back to Paris at 5:04

http://www.destination-montsaintmichel.com/en/mont-saint-michel-timetables-valid-from-first-of-july-to-27th-of-aug-p0-C61.html

We are paying $85 per person round trip for the rail and $120 for the double room with breakfast. Based on what I could find it seems like both were a good rate.

Any other tips are welcome :)

Thanks

You can definitely visit the Mont in the evening. We stayed on the mainland and also arrived about dinner time. We went and walked the ramparts and then had dinner, then returned in the morning as you have planned. Such a magical place! Rent the audio guide for lots of historical information when visiting the Abbey.

I am so glad you are spending the night. It is such a magical place. Enjoy

We are down to 60 days before the trip

WE spend a night there on the island. So worth it. Very awesome watching the sun rise over the sea.

There is a special shuttle bus service between the large parking on the mainland and the entrance of the island. Before leaving the mainland it stops in the hotel area and at the beginning of the bridge footpath. Have no idea how close the bus from Rennes stops near the stops of the shuttle. With the new bridge I think the island is also accessible during high tide, but not if weather conditions are too extreme, your hotel can say ofcourse more.

http://www.bienvenueaumontsaintmichel.com/en/accessing-the-site/using-the-passeur-shuttle_bus