What’s there to see in Chartres?

You should visit the Saint-Pierre church since it's a masterpiece of gothic art.
Built on the initiative of Queen Bathilde, wife of Clovis II, in the 7th century, it was destroyed and rebuilt several times throughout its history. Once used as a saltpeter factory and a cavalry barracks, it became Saint-Pierre Church in 1803. It has been classified as a Historic Monument since 1840.
The church features a collection of 27 stained-glass windows from the 13th and 14th centuries. Renowned for their colors (particularly silver yellow and grisaille) and their iconography, these windows make the church a prime venue for studying the art of Chartres stained glass.
Unfortunately, it seems that no one on site is able to remove the enormous amounts of crumbling plaster, bird droppings on the chairs from the pigeons flying around , and cobwebs.

I have done this as a day trip from Paris and can recommend it. The cathedral is the main draw, but I found the town itself to be very pleasant. The old town area was very lively with cafes and shops, and we enjoyed strolling through town to the St Aignan and St Pierre churches, the picturesque area around the river, and had a picnic in the park in front of the Musée des Beaux-Arts.

We went in a daytrip from Chartres years ago and honestly the nicest thing was just walking through the Old Town and people watching. It’s a nice walk from the OT to the cathedral on a hill. We were fortunate enough to visit on a Friday when the labyrinth was uncovered and that was probably the highlight of our visit. Seeing everyone following the lines and concentrating with talking. We also went to a crepes shop that Rick had in his book at the time and were treated like royalty when we mentioned him. The owner actually grabbed the letter and picture with Rick and showed us. Funniest thing is when he asked us if we had ever met RS.

But we had a lovely little side trip

We enjoyed Chartres in 2023 - two nights and a day, but even a single night would add to your experience. Chartres en Lumière at the cathedral after nightfall was spectacular. It plays out on other buildings around town too, but the detailed animation across the cathedral, playing with the architectural details fascinated us. I had first learned of this through this forum. We also stumbled onto an amazing public library there, Médiathèque L'Apostrophe, which was in a remarkable and fascinating building, designed by Gustave Eiffel’s firm. There was an interesting exhibit/collection of old books upstairs and special exhibit on early French cinema in the lobby.

Our dinner at Le Moulin de Ponceau was one of our two or three best during the four weeks that we were in France … and the setting on the river was wonderful.

LATE NOTE - For us, Chartres was not a side trip, but a stop along the way from the Loire (Touraine) to Versailles and then Paris.

having the labyrinth uncovered is nice. Climbing the tower. Being there overnight so you can see the illuminations all over town. The town is a pleasant stroll. We like to eat at: https://restaurant-moulin-ponceau.fr/en/. We had both an excellent meal and a beautiful view table on the little river.
and then end after dark and stroll back up towards the Cathedral seeing the illuminations on bridges and other parts of the town. While the Cathedral has two complete interesting long illuminations -- there are lots of other spots with projected video and lighting.

I think the Cathedral is the big draw, but I found it dirty and poorly lit; and that was on a bright day. The Museum Beau Arts, which is right next door, also needs a huge amount of work. The collection is quite limited and the building is in poor repair. The Post Office was a nice surprise; very elegant. And the iron work at the covered vegetable market was also interesting.

We spent 3 nights in Chartres in 2017, and it was well-worth the time. The sites (cathedral, etc) during the day are very nice. After dark, there were 15 or so "son-et-lumiere" displays - the cathedral, the Marie, several bridges, a secondary church. We enjoyed wandering around and finding these little night-time gems.

KGC

When were you there? In 2023, the interior of the cathedral was being cleaned. So parts were dark, other parts quite light, and part of the Transept was part of the Great Scaffolds of Europe 2023 edition. Restoration of the Chartres Cathedral apparently began in 2009.

Does anyone know the current status of the interior restoration? As I hunt around the internet, I see one stunning photo of the completed Transept … at least one side of it.

As for the “post office,” the Mediatheque l’Apostrophe is most likely the same building. Originally built as La Poste.

We were just there in May and I sort of remember some scaffolding or construction, maybe some dark corners. ??? But looking at my photos they are all well-lit. We did have a gloriously sunny day though.

As a day trip, Chartres was really chill and pleasant. The train journey from Gare Montparnasse was straight forward, the walk from the train station in Chartres was easy, the cathedral was impressive, the old town was especially quaint and we had a nice lunch at a bakery.

We found the Musée des Beaux Arts to be a bit tired however, we really enjoyed the small collection of modern art located all the way in the back of the museum, especially the paintings by fauvist, Maurice Vlamink. The walkway and garden between the cathedral and the museum were charming and a nice human-scaled counterpoint to the huge cathedral.

On our way back to the Chartres station we walked through the Place des Espars, past the fountains and enjoyed people and dog watching.

Thanks very much everyone for these really interesting, helpful contributions. I had no knowledge at all about the Chartres en Lumiere lightshows, which clearly are wonderful, and I’m now seeing if I can be in Chartres late enough to view them. My visit day will now be on the Friday of my stay in France so as to catch Chartres cathedral’s labyrinth uncovered. I’ll also give time for general wandering round Chartres Old Town which repeatedly has been praised and I’ve studied the menu at that Moulin Ponceau watermill restaurant. And if I've any spare time I now know some other places in Chartres to look at. Many thanks to you all.