Daytrips from Paris

My favorites are Vaux-le-Vicomte, Fontainbleau, Giverny, Versailles and Malmaison.

Giverny, assuming you're going between April and October.

Thanks for the kind replies. I've already been to Versailles & Giverny.

Larue,, I enjoyed a daytrip to Rouen two summers ago,, first of all I enjoyed the "Joan of Arc" connection( but found the church not what I expected) ,, and I also really enjoyed the half timbered old town area BUT, as I said, I went in the summer.. don"t know if I would enjoy it the same if it had been rainy or cold.. so where you go may depend on when you go..
The ride itself is only 1.5 hours by train, I bought tickets months in advance and paid 25 euros return,, ( non refundable prems ) . Also, if going in summer, consider Provins, I thought if was a lovely day wandering around there. And not exactly far out, but have you been to St Denis,, that was and is one of my favorites so far,, it doesn,t take up whole day ,, but its worth it( be early as crypts close by 2pm)

I have done the Paris-Amsterdam day trip on Thalys. From Gard du nord right to Amsterdam Centraal puts you into a different city altogether. Take a canal ride boarding right across from the train station to see the city architecture. I booked and printed train tickets from home. It is best to do this on a day the trains have a full schedule, Monday - Friday. I am planning a Rotterdam-Paris day trip this summer.

My absolute favorite is Chartres. There are a lot of cathedrals in Europe and this is one of the special ones, not to be missed. is Malcolm Miller still there? (he was just a few years ago and I've heard him talk about Chartres more than once - unforgettable).

Looks like Malcolm is still doing tours of the cathedral. Starting to lean towards Chartres. Great suggestion on Amsterdam. Going to spend a couple days in Admsterdam and Brugge before Paris. Thanks for the suggestions.

We just did Laon (which seems to be pronounced "Lawn") as a day trip from the Gare de Nord. It's a pleasant ride, which I think could be combined with Reims, if you wanted to have a two cathedral day. The train leaves you at the bottom of a real hilltown with the cathedral and some ramparts stretched along the spine of a hill way above. A Poma lift right outside the train station whisks you up to the citadel, where you head left up a gentler hill to the cathedral just out of sight at the top. It's magical, nearly empty the day we were there, with beautiful rose windows, even one in the unusually flattened east end. Try for a sunny day to appreciate the high white arches and lovely stained glass as much as possible. Outside and from cafes across the parvis, you can appreciate the famous oxen carved in and extending their heads out from the cathedral.