Giverny to Chartres - bus??

Probably not since they're out different spokes on a wheel - - you'd have to go to the hub (Paris?) and back out. Whatever it is would have a bunch of stops. You can do it by train from Vernon with a couple of changes in about three hours, maybe a tad less.

Thanks. I was hoping to find some sort of local bus like a market bus or a postal bus. In Switzerland you can take a postal bus anywhere that letters are delivered. But this may not exist in France. The trip would take me from Vernon to Dreux (where a bunch of ancient kings are buried) and then a straight shot to Chartres. The Vernon to Dreux part could be a real adventure. If I rented a car I could do it but not sure that I want to do that.

Maybe somebody else will have a better answer, I obviously don't know squat about buses. The whole drive is less than two hours and you can dump the car in Chartres and take the train to Paris easily enough. There's a car rental place in Vernon, about a mile southeast of the train station. The problem is, a one-day rental would probably stiff you a hundred bucks. Congrats on Dreux, most people don't know it exists. Good luck.

As Ed points out, public transit is oriented to Paris. Giverny and Chartres are like 10 and 7 on a clock with Paris in the center. Your best hope without a car is rail from Vernon into Paris and then back out to Chartres.

No, not in and out of Paris by train - - that would involve a metro from St Lazare to Montparnasse as well and be a bummer. One of the train people can figure it out, but there's a way to go from Vernon to Mantes to Versailles to Chartres that's pretty quick. There's also another combination that skips Paris but I've forgotten what it is. The big thing, however, has become the Dreux problem.

Train: You can leave Vernon at 06:44, connect at Mantes la Jolie and Plaisir Grignon, and arrive in Dreux at 08:47. Or you can go via Paris. Leave at 07:25 and arrive at Gare Saint-Lazare at 08:15. Take metro line 12 directly from Saint-Lazare to Montparnasse-Bienvenue. Leave Gare Montparnasse at 09:20 and arrive in Dreux at 10:07. Bus: On weekdays SNCF (French National Rail) offers regular bus service between Dreux and Chartres (less frequent on weekends). Buses depart at 10:00, 12:10, 13:10, and 16:30 (and later). The ride takes 35 minutes. On Saturdays buses depart at 12:10 and 17:25. On Sundays they depart at 14:15 and 17:15.

Bless Tim.

Thank you Tim! I'll leave Giverny early in morning and park my bags at the hotel in Paris (I leave for home next day - sob). Then metro to Montparnasse for trip to Chartres. If I have time I will take bus to Dreux. But am thinking that Dreux will have to wait for the next trip. Have been wanting to see the Chartres rose window since high school. We had a teacher who spent her summers in the cathedrals and gave us the beautiful benefits in history class. Chartres was a mecca.

Alice, hope you have time to wander around the town a bit. Chartres is quite small, but very pretty. Coming up from the train station, with the cathedral in front of you, the town is to the right.