Independent Day Tour to Honfluer, St. Malo, and Mont St. Michel Vendor?

Posted by ionaceltic on 10/31/14 04:30 PM

My husband and I are planning to take the south of France, Loire trip this spring. We've been to Paris 3 times so we are comfortable traveling on our own. I have studied French for two years so I can navigate signs, etc but adds work to a vacation. We would like to see a bit of Normandy before joining the tour in Chartres. My daughter and friends took the train to St. Malo and a bus to Mont St. Michel so I know it can be done from Paris but I am thinking take a regional plane to Honfleur, spend the night. Morning take a small van to through the area and take the train to Paris in the evening. Any suggestions???

Sherri from Spokane

Posted by Elizabeth

L'Occitanie, France

10/31/14 04:54 PM

10621 posts

Are you talking about renting a van or finding a tour that rides in someone else's van?
You can pick up a car and drive to Honfleur faster than catching a plane. From there you can drive to Mont St. Michel, St. Malo, and drop the vehicle in Chartres, unless you were planning on spending time in Paris before meeting in Chartres.

Posted by Chris F

Basel, Switzerland

10/31/14 05:07 PM

8889 posts

Sherri
"regional plane to Honfleur" - you won't get a plane to Honfleur, it hasn't got an airport and is much to near to Paris anyway
It hasn't even got a railway station, it is a small town with a population of 8000. Youw ould need to get a train, then a bus.

Not sure what you eman by "take a small van", are you planning to hire a car?
Maybe the best idea is to take a train to somewhere in Normandy (Le Havre, Caen) and hire a car for two days touring.

Posted by SUSAN

DALTON, MA, USA

10/31/14 07:39 PM

178 posts

My husband, adult son, and I rented a car at Charles De Gaulle and drove to Honfleur and spent two nights. From there went to Bayeux and took a Normandy tour (Overlord) for an entire day. We then went to Mt. St. Michel for the day and then drove back to Paris and left the car just inside the peripherque road. The trip to Honfleur from CDG is an easy one and three quarters to 2 hour trip with a couple of tolls. So easy...driving is just like U.S. driving. We stayed in a B&B called le Fond De La Cour, and we had a full bedroom/bath down, and a full bedroom bath up with kitchen. The people who own the B&B and extremely nice and the breakfast were terrific. I wouldn't be afraid to drive to Honfleur (which is so beautiful by the way). If you have time, Deauville and Trouville are about a 15 minute drive from Honfleur and are right on the ocean. We loved Deauville. We rented from Hertz-they upgraded us w/no charge, and it was very easily done. Maybe you can drop off car at Chartres, which would make your trip very easy. Hope this helps in some way.

Posted by Laura

Rick Steves' Europe

10/31/14 08:59 PM

16895 posts

If your plan is to take a guided van tour of the D-Day beaches, most of those recommended in Rick Steves' France guidebook (included with your tour) leave from Caen or Bayeaux, rather than Honfleur.

Posted by ionaceltic OP

11/01/14 01:02 AM

4 posts

Thank you for the information about the airport. We are planning extended time in Paris before going to Chartres. Picking up a car and returning at CDG might be the easiest. I know MSM has guided audio tours. We hope to spend the night on the island so that would give us flexibility and we could see Honfleur.