Mont Saint Michel

It is actually the "Churchill" and I took this shuttle about 2 years ago. Trying to get to Mont St. Michel from Bayeux would have been challenging on our own, as we had not rented a car... which we will absolutely be doing on our next visit. The shuttle was an excellent choice as the driver had knowledge of Mont St Michel and provided us with information on the way there. Also we arrived early enough to avoid the crowds. We were also given brochures to guide us through as the driver was not permitted to guide us.

I did a tour of Normandy & the Loire a few years ago. We had hired a car so drove from Bayeux to MSM. I personally would recommend spending a night on the Mont as we did. It is such a different experience when all the day tourists leave, very magical, and like having the place all to yourself. Some hotels face the water and have a connecting walk way around the outside of the walls, which was brilliant to walk around.

Spend the night there if you can. It is incredible. If not, the tour from the Churchill is a good option.

We had a rental car, so we didn't use a shuttle, and stayed slightly out of town, rather than at the Churchill. You can't beat Bayeux for a location, especially if you don't have a car. I would expect smaller crowds in April than our July visit. Do you have Rick's France book? If you do, I don't think you need to take a guided tour to MSM-a shuttle is fine. (D-Day beaches require more planning without a car.) Rick has all the advice you need. For a few more Euros, you get a good audioguide for the Abbey part of the tour. Rick mentions that you can avoid the jammed retail street by taking the wall-walk that another poster referred to. (I don't object to the hard-sell retail of the street, it's the elbows and delays of groups blocking the way that sent us to the ramparts!) I hope someone who took the Churchill shuttle IN 2012 will tell us where it ped them off. Did it get any closer than the new parking lots? Did it go to the outbound shuttle platform? Unless you're disabled, that's not good or bad, it's just worth knowing. For example, it would mean that you have to walk by the supermarket on the mainland and could buy lunch makings right from the coolers. (We found the pre-made sandwich prices on MSM perfectly fair. We didn't sit down in a restaurant for time reasons, not to save money.) Mainly because so many TripAdvisor hotel reviews describe the hotels on the island as older, cramped and possibly noisy, I question the need to spend the night there. I would think you'd know in advance whether it's important to you to walk on the mud flats or to see the island at both high and low tides. For us, that wasn't crucial. It is convenient to come at lower water because you can detour 30 feet on the sandy mud to avoid pedestrian jams on the small boardwalk from the paved causeway to the ticket booth plaza.

Thanks Tim for your info. This helps very much. I too would like to find out where the Churchill shuttle has their drop off. I will e-mail them. Thanks again! Sharon