My wife and I will be in a Paris apartment for three weeks in June, 2010 and are interested in day trips. A priority is a train trip to Brugges. What is the cost? We will be traveling with our 11 yo granddtr. We understand that we will have to leave from Gare du Nord. What other day trips do folks recommend that we can do trains on our own (we are not really interested in guided tours). Certainly Monet's gardens, Versailles, Fountainbleau, Chartes are important. Do folks think that basing ourselves in Paris for 3 weeks and taking day trips is a good idea. We spend 4 weeks in the Benelux countries, Normandy, Loire Valley and Paris in April-May touring and scouting out possible locations that might interest our granddaughter. Would we be better off purchasing a train (Brugges)/drive rail ticket in France only and stay in Chinon and Ambroise (drive)? Chloe is interested in some history, but my wife and I want to also include fun things for an eleven year old. Recommendations will be appreciated. Thanks, Dorsey
Posted by
US Pacific Northwest
10344 posts
The main source of costs for trains going there
you can find on this website
It's roughly 2 and 1/2 hours station to station time each way, thus 5 hrs train time and add the time to get to the train stations, wait for the trains, etc--will give you a total travel time of about 6 to 7 hours out of your day. That's a lot of travel time for a day trip, you'll have to decide if it's worth it--I don't have data but am guessing most travelers don't do it as a day trip due to the travel time.
For general travel planning for Europe trains, including France (travel times, etc), including France, this website may be easier to use than the French rail website given above
Posted by
Danville, VT
12040 posts
Wouldn't recommend Bruges as a daytrip from Paris. You'll simply spend too much time in transit and have very little time to actually see the city. Bruges-lite is a reasonable daytrip from Brussels, but not all the way from Paris. To make your time worthwhile, you may consider a quick overnight trip instead.
A daytrip from Paris to the Loire Valley is a little more managable. The best way to do it would be to take a train to Tours, then rent a car for the day. Plan on seeing two chateaux, or even a third if you arrive early enough.
"Normandy" as a daytrip: Depends on what you mean by "Normandy". Many travelers use the term to refer to the D-Day beaches, instead of the larger region as a whole. In this case, a daytrip is generally not recommended, as you have to cover too much territory. A popular option for many on this site is to book a guided tour, although many of these require that you spend the night locally. It is also possible to self-tour by car, but very difficult, if not impossible, by public transit.
Individual destinations in Normandy are more feasible as daytrips from Paris, such as Mont St. Michel, Caen, Honfleur or Bayeaux, but you would need to take a separate trip for each one.
Posted by
washington
837 posts
We took two day trips which we really enjoyed. One was train to Reims. After exploring Reims, we rented a car and drove to Laon. Bought take away dinner which we ate on the return train trip Reims to Paris. The second was to Chartres. In addition to the cathedral, the town is very charming. Actually, Brugges reminded us a bit of Chartres. Of course, Brugges is on a much larger scale and it is the residentially lined canal "feel" that is similar.