long day trips from paris

Two well known and well established big bus ( although they also offer more expensive van tours also) are Cityrama and Parisvisions. both do all sorts of daytrips.. yes, long days, and not cheap at all!! Perhaps consider taking the train to Tours, then getting a local tour company( AccoDispo) is one, and visiting the Loire Valley Chateaus,, will likely be cheaper for you and the area is lovely. You can google all these tour companies and see what they offer. Another easy and fun daytrip, which I did on my own was Rouen,, buying my train ticket well in advance got me a round trip for under 25 euros, plus its only 1.5 hours by train from Paris. Rouens old town ( besides the Joan of Arc thing) is a lovely area to wander in and have a nice lunch,, all those old half timbered buildings,, plus the Notre Dame Cathederal to visit. For the money you will spend on visiting D Day Beaches and MSM on a bus tour( its hundreds of euros for the four of you)you really should see if you can do an overnight, by taking the train, staying in a hotel etc,, you will only end up spending a little bit more and enjoy it a lot more.

Mary: You can catch a train from paris to Bayeaux to visit the DDay Beaches and have a private driver take you around then catch the late train back to Paris. I actually did the DDay Beaches one day and had the driver take us to Mt.San Michel the 2nd day then drive us back to the train station in Caen. I used Normandy Sightseeing Tours
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If you like cathedrals, Chartres is one of the best in Europe and an easy day trip from Paris (gare Montparnasse). Reims could be another option in the other direction (gare de l'Est). I agree with others that MSM and the Normandy beaches would be too much for one day, though doable in two. (But then there's the Bayeux Tapestry, and Rouen Cathedral, and and and....).

We are a group of 8 women also planning a similar trip from Paris. We do want to stay overnight possibly in bayeux. Our question is what to do about the big heavy bags until we get back to Paris area. It is too difficult to take them on the train. We plan to return to the airport area and fly out the next day from CDG.

Luanne One solution is to not have big heavy bags to weigh you down. I see that you are a new guest here on the Helpline -Welcome. If you scout around, or have a look at Rick Steves' magnificent book Europe Through The Back Door which is available at many libraries and most good bookstores, you will find many hints to help you cut down. Heavy luggage can really cause problems. If you have to move it yourself you may strain something. Its hard to lift up and down, and, as you say, it means you can't do what you want to do. There are loads of people on this Helpline who can help you pack everything you need to pack, in a size that works, which allows you to do what you want to do. Remember that if you are in a museum nobody there (except your travel buddies who will, hopefully, taking the same advice) will know that you wore the same outfit 2 days before. Good luck planning, and welcome.

Chartres is one of my favorite day trips from Paris. Then there's Giverny. Are you going in summer? You could spend a whole day in the Bois de Boulogne - and not even have to go very far.

thanks all your your thoughts. we are going to arrive in mid april. my son in law saw a picture of mont san michele and fell in love with the fairytale look. he also wants to see the countryside and a small town. i want to see the normandy ww2 sites...so, we are trying to be everything to everybody...never a great idea :)

First of all, Welcome Luann! If you're staying in Paris before your daytrip, ask (in advance/in writing!) your hotel in Paris if you can store your larger bags there after you check out. Most allow this, and may charge a € or two per bag - well worth it! Don't forget to pick them up! Not sure what 'heavy bags' are; I second Nigel's great advice to read "ETBD", too. Try to keep that bag size and weight down, especially if you're planning on buying anything besides magnets. Mary, I'm the wet blanket on your Mont St Michel trip, unless you take an all-day bus tour from Paris. Unless you rent a car (from Paris or Caen, directly across from Caen train stn), the travel connections can be a real mess - where they exist. I'd devote two days and a rental car for MSM, myself. Plus, you can visit off-hours and not with the other 846 tour buses. Having been to the Normandy area, I can't imagine attempting it with less than 2 full days and a night (Bayeux?). I would, instead, see Giverny, the cathedrale in St Denis, Chartres, Versailles, Reims, even Bruges, before going to Normandy. If you want to see a beautiful American war cemetery, there's one way up in the hills overlooking Paris. It's a short and cheap train ride; unfortunately, the name escapes me, but it's easy enough to find or PM me if no one else comes up with it.

OK: http://www.abmc.gov/cemeteries/cemeteries/su.php

OK: http://www.abmc.gov/cemeteries/cemeteries/su.php

Going to MSM as a day trip from Paris is very doable and you can even do more than just MSM if you make the right transportation choices. Take a TGV Train in Paris Montparnasse to Rennes. The first one leaves around 7:00, but you can take a later one if you want. You will arrive in Rennes around 9:15. Rent a car at the train station and drive to MSM. It will take you 45/50 minutes, so you can be in MSM before 10:30, ie. before most of the tourist buses arrive. If you get tired of MSM after a few hours, just drive to another nearby interesting place like Cancale, Saint-Malo, Dinan or Fougères before returning to Rennes in the evening. The last TGV Train to Paris leaves around 19:00 arriving in Montparnasse around 21:00. It's a long day for sure, but nothing exceptional, and you can sleep on the TGV on the way back.

You can take day trips to Mount St. Michael and to the D-Day Beaches. We did just that and used Citirama Tours. Mount St. Michael was a disappointment. It was such a long way to drive in the comfortable bus and return. We were there in June and it was hot and we had to do so much climbing to get inside. Post cards look better than it actually is. The D-Day Beaches was sad, as it was raining the whole day. It was memorable though. We wouldn't recommend Mount St. Michael, as far as my husband and are are concerned. Then that is just us. We really enjoyed going out to see Monet's Garden though. It was beautiful. That was anohter half day tour out of Paris. We also visited Versailles for half a day. Elaine

I do reccommend Mont St Michel, it is a long climb, but beautiful and worth it. I haven't been to Normandy, but most of the folks on this board have great things to say about the sites.