Visting Mt. Saint Michel

My experience is I did not go directly from Paris, I went to St Malo and did a day trip to Mont St Michel. This required a train and then a bus in Pontoroson to Mont St Michel. It got crowded after noon even on a January 2nd the day I went. It is a vertical experience meaning there are a lot of stairs to the top. It has been said that the benefit of staying on the Island is that you get to see it at night (which I plan to experience someday) while the day trippers from everywhere are gone.

I figure since it in the top 10 most visited sites in France, and you are planning travel there at the height of the season, you should book your hotel asap.

Staying on the island is quite expensive so we decided to stay on the mainland at La Caserne Arnevon. The shuttle bus stopped right outside our hotel (Le Relais du Roy, in case you're curious) and it was about a 5 minute ride over the causeway to the foot of MSM. I followed advice from our fellow forum peeps and went on the island in the evening and then the next morning to avoid the daytripper crowd. The island in the evening was quite empty, as they said. We made our way to the island around 830 pm and although the restaurants were crowded, the streets were pretty empty so we wandered about in peace. We stayed a couple of hours, took the shuttle back to our hotel and then got back on the island around 9 am and made our way to the top to tour the abbey. It was quite a difference from the night before as the main drag was wall to wall people. Seeing the island as the sun went down and get all lit up was quite an experience, as well as watching that tide roll in. The shuttles run till midnight. And sorry to ramble on but to answer your question, we actually had a car since we spent a few days in Normandy. I hope you can find accommodations since you'e going so soon.

Good advice from Claudette and Jazz. This was not on my list of French must sees, but since it was there . . .I did a day trip from Saint-Malo and was done in by the crowds. Baby strollers up the steps, absolute mobs. And this wasn't even summer. My favorite view of the Mt. was from Cancale as I ate piles of fresh oysters.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/france/mint-st-michel-questions

Mine was part of a loop starting with a train to Rouen, car around Normandie - including MSM, then a loop through Brittany, then to Loire Valley where I traded the car for a bike and finally a train back into Paris.

I got there later in the day in September and it wasn't bad at all, plenty of people but not a mob.

Years ago I took a bus tour from Caen. Several hours ride. Enough free time for a sit-down lunch and a good stroll around, or at least it was enough for me. Caen is a good Normandy base, with plenty of train service from Paris. The "peace" museum gets good reviews and runs tours of the Normandy WW2 beaches. William the Conqueror's castle/fort in the centre of the city is worth a look too. Bayeux is a quick train commute.

You can get from Paris to Mont St Michel in 4 hours with one connection. Schedule results will be different whether you search for Mont St Michel (finds one train and one bus) or Pontorson (finds two trains, then you also take a short, local shuttle bus). Most of these include a reserved TGV train, which is cheaper to book ahead and can sell out.

I love Mont St Michel, been going since I was young, magical place for me. But as some have said, nowadays, Mont St Michel is only worthwhile after 5 pm and before 10:30-11:00 am.

I have found a place to stay on Airbnb. The host is going to drive me to Mt. Saint Michel. Just have to take care of the train and bus.

I followed RS' advice and arrived at the end of the day (5p) from Bayeux. I was in a rental car so this is different than your situation (though took a train from Paris to Bayeux). I write only to say, go at 5p or later! I think it closes at 7. As we approached the abbey from the nearly empty parking lot, people were coming in hordes toward us, as in, leaving the abbey. I swear there were 40 people in the entire place when we were inside, and we were there late June. I decided this after reading several accounts of people going during the day and having a bad time bc of the crowds. I feel like going at 5 is the best secret so shh. We walked around the abbey for 2 hours, ate dinner on the island at 7 (when the restaurants opened btw), and left by 8. We were back in Bayeux by 9:30p. No rushing, no crowds. Wonderful experience.