Mont Saint Michel

I stayed at Auberge St. Pierre, but all the hotels looked pretty interchangeable to me. Almost all of the restaurants seem to be owned by the same company, and they all serve the same equally lack-luster menu... with one exception, Restaurant St. Michel. Pretty good and hearty Normand cuisine here, especially the seafood dishes.

on the island there are hotels with nice rooms and view, but expensive. or you can find cheaper hotels about the same price with boring rooms right before the walkway connecting the island. if you have a car you can find better rooms with locals. i stayed at a farmer's place next to the road runs along the coast. the rooms are new with a view of msm, it's only a couple of min from msm so if you drive you have more options. i didn't find any particular good restaurant - mostly are overpriced offering the same kind of food not very tasty. I had my my best Normandy food in bayeux.

Whatever the other posters think of the hotels and restaurants, visiting the island is a treat. be sure to spend some time in the Abbey and Cloisters. Then stay and eat where you feel comfortable. (PS"everyone" has been to MSM, some of us love it, others try to rush it and cant see the appeal)

I liked Mont St Michel the two or three hours I was there, but if I had stayed a second longer I would have hated it. I enjoyed seeing the abbey, but that was about it. The food is terrible and overpriced. I recommend just visiting as a day trip, but maybe its better at night after everyone leaves. I was perfectly happy with my short visit though.

Like so many "must see" places in Europe, MSM is sooooooooo much better after all the day-trippers leave, and before the next crowds show up the next day. I can imagine how much I would hate the place if all I had experienced was the crush of tourists in the street in the middle of the day. But spend the night on the Mont....and it is a completely different world. Magical. The same is true of so many places that are overrun with busloads of day-trippers. Arrive mid-day, enjoy the afternoon and evening when you have the place pretty much to yourself, spend the night, savor the morning, and then get outta town when the crowds roll in. Works great.

We visited MSM for a few hours on a late June afternoon, after the tour buses left. We found it interesting, but were not "blown away" by the place. (The lower parts of the mound are occupied by a lot of pretty ordinary shops.)........In retrospect, I think you need to check the tide tables before you visit so you can see MSM surrounded by sea water and not by mud flats.

What David said...

"But spend the night on the Mont....and it is a completely different world. Magical." I absolutely agree! I love MSM, and have been there several times. When all the crowds are gone it is very magical, as David said. There's a bit more than just the main street up to the Abbey. There's at least one "back way" up or down and we enjoyed exploring along that route. There's an old cemetary that was fascinating as well.

We are thinking about driving there from Paris on a Friday morning, exploring, spending the night Friday, then spending a little time in the morning exploring then driving back to Paris. Doable?

thank you all for your responses!

That's very do-able, and very enjoyable.