A friend and I are signed up to go on Rick's Paris in 7 Days trip in March. We would really like to see Chartres while there. Can we do this in a 1/2 day time frame? There are a couple of free afternoons on the tour, one of them in Versailles...any ideas or suggestions?
Posted by
Minneapolis, MN, USA
8700 posts
Yes, you can easily take an afternoon trip to Chartres. You can make good use of your travel time by packing a picnic lunch to eat on the train. Regional trains run frequently from Gare Montparnasse, the trip takes just over an hour, and the fare is €12.90. See the timetables at www.voyages-sncf.com. click on the British flag in the lower left-hand corner.
Posted by
OP
Tacoma, WA, USA
11 posts
Thank you! Is Gare Montparnasse in Paris? We have not been there before so just learning the geography of the country/city! Is there a cost for the tour of Chartres Cathedral? Open/Close times/days?
Posted by
Minneapolis, MN, USA
8700 posts
Gare Montparnasse is one of the six mainline train stations in Paris. It's south of the Seine and west of the RER B line. It's easy to find on a Metro/RER map of central Paris. Go to www.ratp.fr and click on the British flag in the upper right-hand corner. Then click on "Metro maps" in the upper right-hand corner. Then click on "download the map" and print it.
Posted by
Danbury, CT, USA
18 posts
I travel 24 hours early so that if thre are any travel problems or delays, I'm still there to start the tour. In 2001 we used the extra time to go to Chartres. We left a message for our guide that we had gone to Chartres and planned to be back for the first meeting. We met up with several tour members and had a group of six traveling to Chartres. Malcolm Miller has tours at noon and 2:45 PM according to About.com
http://goeurope.about.com/od/chartresfrance/a/chartres.htm
Barbara
Posted by
Tucson, AZ, USA
57 posts
Easy to get to Chartres by train and metro. Metro lines 6, 12 and 13 all take you to the train station. You can buy yuor tickets at machines or at the windows. There are pictures of flags by each window which let you know what language is spoken. There are also lots of people in red jackets who can help you get where you are going. If you can, try and go in the morning on a Friday and you can walk the labyrinth. No charge to get into the Cathedral.