Romantic Day trips from Paris

Pierrefonds,, about an hour out of Paris. Restored castle , beside a little lake lined with a few cafes, I love it. Chantilly,, beautiful Chateau, Horse Museum and Royal Stables across street, and a cafe on the chateau grounds ( which I prefer to Versailles, they are smaller, but not small and have more natural areas , little streams etc) which sells of course the special Chantilly Cream on various delish strawberrie desserts, plus other light lunch items. Look it up, Chantilly will NEVER be crowded either, I have gone four times, always in summer, its a great day out of the city!

Then I'd avoid Giverny and Versailles, which are usually very crowded. Chartres is nice - lovely cathedral and a charming little town. Or you could pack a picnic lunch, rent bikes, and spend the day in Paris in the huge, lush Bois de Boulogne. But really all of Paris is romantic. The best part of being there is walking through the quaint streets, enjoying a drink at a sidewalk cafe and people-watching.

Thank you! I have been researching these places, really charming..but I don't see a lot of tours being offered. Is this something best done independently? What do you think of the champagne or loire valley tours?

I second Pat's suggestion for Chantilly. It was one of the highlights of our Paris stay, and like she said, it won't be busy.

The Loire Valley is really nice, and so is the Champagne region, but neither one is a nice, relaxing day trip from Paris. And in regards to tours, if you really want romantic, I think you need to do it on your own rather than in a big bus full of strangers being shuttled from one sight to the next.

Ok thanks! That's what I wanted to find out as I was a little bit worried about the bus thing too. So these places chantilly , Chartres, pierrefond we can do by train or car? Would cars be reasonable? The bus tours are pricey too so I figure renting a car couldn't be worse.

Take the train line at Gare Montparnasse of: Paris - Versailles - Chartres - Nogent le Rotrou - Le Mans and stop at Maintenon and see their quaint, beautiful chateau and aquaducts. then get back on and take the train either to Chartres or Nogent-le-Rotrou. Chartres has a small-town feel but also feels metropolitan. Nogent-le-Rotrou has a quaint, small-town feel and NO foreigners. Their Chateau-Saint-Jean is extraordinary.

I took a day tour with Paris Vision last May that included Fontainebleau, a short stop at the artist's village of Barbizon and the Vieux le Vicomte chateau. It included lunch at Vieux le Vicomte. They use Mercedes vans which seat 6 or 8 and the guide was fabulous. I would highly recommend it, but don't know how romantic you would find it.