Paris Day Trips

My favorites are Vaux le Vicomte, Fontainebleau and Giverny, in that order.

I thought Provins and Alexander Dumas' Estate in Saint Germain-en-Laye were good, and Chantilly and Rouen just ok.

Chartres is a pretty town with a fabulous Gothic cathedral (visible from the train station), if you're interested in that kind of thing. It's an hour train ride from Paris.

I really enjoyed Giverny. I was silly and went on one of the May long weekends so the lines were crazy. It was still great though, even the way to the gardens from the Gare is beautiful (I walked the 5k, I recommend biking though)

I also recommend Rouen, a beautiful city with a great church made famous in Monets paintings.

I can't say it if it worth it or not, but this Septemebr I am going to Reims, and doing a few champagne tours.

I love Giverny, not only Monet's house and gardens but the village of Giverny. I recommend going in the morning. Someone on this board said that Mondays may be less crowded if you're still there on Monday.

If you want a half-day trip from the city, consider Chateau Malmaison, the favourite abode of Empress Josephine and accessible by bus from La Defense in about 20 minutes.

'The place was the inspiration for Versailles' has been claimed by just about every big joint that predates Versailles by a couple of years. (Vicomte does by three years.) They both had the same architect, however (Le Vau).

For me, it would have to be either Chartres or Fountaibleau, in that order.

The Chartres cathedral is argueably the best of the notre dame style and puts the Paris cathedral to shame. The town is interesting enough to wander for a couple of hours and have a meal, a plus.

Fountainbleau has more history and is more impressive than Versailles. If you want to see one grand chateau, this is it.

I really like Rouen, but it's hard to do in a day since you can go off on so many tangents. Two items of interest there are Richard I's heart in a coffin in the cathedral and the spot where St Joan was burned a couple of hundred yards away.

Giverny ain't worth a plugged nickle. (Flack and disagreement expected.)

Hehe, I will stand up for Giverny, but only really because I used to live nearby! It's true that if you're coming from Paris, it's a lot of work to see pretty flowers, especially if you're not a huge Impressionism fan. September is late in the season for the showiest stuff too.

I think that other people's suggestion of Rouen is good. You get a different architecture style and it's fairly compact. The sites tend to be a little gruesome now that I think about it - not only do you have Joan of Arc, there's also the courtyard of the Fine Arts school; it used to be where they buried people way back when and the wood has lots of carved skulls and bones, and there's a petrified cat enshrined in a display case.

I have enjoyed all my daytrips so far,, Giverny included,, which I did on a Fat Tire Bike tour which basically made it for me.. biking along the river,, picnicing ,, was great fun. I don't really care for Monet( yes, amazing I know) but enjoyed the outing alot.

I loved Chantilly, I have been several times, its never crowded, which for me is a huge plus, and I love the museum inside. I loved Fountainbleu,, but found the grounds a tad dissappointing.. but loved the town. I loved loved loved Rouen,, but was dissappointed I had done it as a daytrip, it definately deserved an overnight at least. It was easy to do as a daytrip however, only 1.5 hrs by train.

Provins I just did this past June, and loved it, felt I should have stayed overnight to really be able to relax and see it all,, but oh well, next time.

I have also done Pierrefonds, which I really enjoyed, but did it by car,, don't know how it would be by public transport.

Alot depends on your own personal tastes and how you like to do things.

I really liked Giverny, even though it was very crowded when I went. I loved Chantilly and Vaux-le-Vicomte. If you're considering cathedrals, in addition to Chartres, I like Amiens. Rouen can be a good day trip to though, you can visit the cathedral, art museum, and the town is pleasant to walk around.