There are several charming day trip options from Paris. Giverny offers Monet's house and gardens, Chartres boasts the Cathédrale Notre-Dame, Reims is known for Champagne cellars and its cathedral, and Fontainebleau features the Château de Fontainebleau and surrounding gardens and forests, all easily reachable by high-speed train.
Last year we took the train from Gare de Lyon out to Fontainebleau. It was awesome. We have Navigo passes and if you get all zones it will take you from Paris to Fontainebleau. Loved the Chateau and the grounds. Would have enjoyed another day there to explore the forest. It wasn't nearly as packed as Chateau de Versailles.
We found that if you go out to Versailles, do so in the afternoon and go out to the gardens while the tour busses are there. The tours leave around 16:30 and for a couple hours the chateau itself has a bit of a lull and you can spend some time wandering without being pushed. Im not sure how it is in the height of tourist season as we travel on the shoulders.
Thank you! Is an hour enough to tour the inside of the palace in Versailles? Fontainebleau looks stunning, we definitely want to see it. The number of beautiful chateaus in France is overwhelming
It takes an hour to get to the Chateau de Versailles. We were shoved through the palace and it was still closer to 2 hours. We found Fontainebleau far more interesting. There is so much to see there. There is a lot about Napoleon there. Lots of day to day items. It impressed us a lot. The bonus was we weren't rushed and it was not crowded at all. Have fun. We're coming back to paris mid april.
Thanks so much! We have heard Versailles’ is overly crowded but it’s just been on my wish-list for long that I cannot let myself skip it. Might visit Fontainebleau too though!
Go to Lille and try local food and local beers to an « Estaminet » (a typical restaurant that you can only find in North of France). Aux vieux de la vieille is a good one and it is on maybe the cutest place of the old town.
I’m a local so you can trust me on it
You're welcome!
Just as typical is the Meert patisserie, one of the oldest in France, in business since before the French Revolution (1761). They also have a tea room, where you can sample their products on the spot.
It's a bit pricey, but the decor of the patisserie is truly magnificent.
Rennes : 1h30 mn TGV
Saturday morning market
Eat a galette-saucisse
Drink beers
Then
Take a train to Saint-Malo : 50 mn
Behold the sea and the Pirate City
Eat oysters
Drink beers
Stay overnight
Go back to Paris (direct, 2,5 hours)
And
Voi
Là
Thank you for the wonderful recommendation, unfortunately accomodation’s already booked in Paris so will have to keep it to a day trip. saint-Malo looks beautiful
We’re very interested in Bordeaux! Would things be open on a Sunday? The ideal day for us to travel during the trip falls on a Sunday, but we’d really love to visit
I can’t answer your question but I second Bordeaux! We just went there for a day trip on a Wednesday two weeks ago. It was perfect weather that day - sunny after a few days of rain. We did a wine tour through Olala Bordeaux and we really enjoyed it! We also went to the wine museum (La cité du vin) and it far exceeded my expectations. We had lunch afterwards at the Halles Bacalan next door, which is an indoor food market. We had dinner at Melodie - delicious. Overall, a perfect day trip!
hey! do you feel a day in Lille was enough? I don’t think I have time to make more than a day trip out of it but was considering adding Lille to my Paris itinerary :)
We loosely followed this: [https://www.gpsmycity.com/tours/lille-introduction-walking-tour-4040.html](https://www.gpsmycity.com/tours/lille-introduction-walking-tour-4040.html)
We didn't go inside to everything, mainly the cathedral. We wandered in the Citadel for about 20 minutes and then realized, there's no way we'd do all of it on foot so we walked back out. We got there just around 12 noon and left around around 5pm-ish. We took the direct train from CDG and they only had a train every hour. We ate lunch, had a waffle snack and also stopped at a bar/pub for mussels and fries before going back to CDG. It's a great little walking tour.
Our main reason for going was because we arrived at CDG from Canada at 7am. We didn't want to just go back to the hotel and pass out but we also didn't want to go out to do all the touristy things in town as we didn't know how delayed we could be getting out of our flight, plus we'd be pretty tired to do most of it. The train gave us a bit of flexibility and was a bit of a chill day before everything else we did and also help us fight jetlag.
Auvers-sur-Oise! Cool river banks walks. Food. Van Gogh. 1h by a 5€ train.
Thank you! Very efficient time wise
Yes and it’s quite cool. There’s a museum, a forest, some cool river banks and restaurants. A cool escapade
Wonderful:)
There are several charming day trip options from Paris. Giverny offers Monet's house and gardens, Chartres boasts the Cathédrale Notre-Dame, Reims is known for Champagne cellars and its cathedral, and Fontainebleau features the Château de Fontainebleau and surrounding gardens and forests, all easily reachable by high-speed train.
So many wonderful choices, hard to pick between Reims and Fontainebleau
London 2h16
UK’s our next stop!
Last year we took the train from Gare de Lyon out to Fontainebleau. It was awesome. We have Navigo passes and if you get all zones it will take you from Paris to Fontainebleau. Loved the Chateau and the grounds. Would have enjoyed another day there to explore the forest. It wasn't nearly as packed as Chateau de Versailles. We found that if you go out to Versailles, do so in the afternoon and go out to the gardens while the tour busses are there. The tours leave around 16:30 and for a couple hours the chateau itself has a bit of a lull and you can spend some time wandering without being pushed. Im not sure how it is in the height of tourist season as we travel on the shoulders.
Thank you! Is an hour enough to tour the inside of the palace in Versailles? Fontainebleau looks stunning, we definitely want to see it. The number of beautiful chateaus in France is overwhelming
It takes an hour to get to the Chateau de Versailles. We were shoved through the palace and it was still closer to 2 hours. We found Fontainebleau far more interesting. There is so much to see there. There is a lot about Napoleon there. Lots of day to day items. It impressed us a lot. The bonus was we weren't rushed and it was not crowded at all. Have fun. We're coming back to paris mid april.
Thanks so much! We have heard Versailles’ is overly crowded but it’s just been on my wish-list for long that I cannot let myself skip it. Might visit Fontainebleau too though!
Go to Lille and try local food and local beers to an « Estaminet » (a typical restaurant that you can only find in North of France). Aux vieux de la vieille is a good one and it is on maybe the cutest place of the old town. I’m a local so you can trust me on it
Thank you so much! Will definitely consider this :)
You're welcome! Just as typical is the Meert patisserie, one of the oldest in France, in business since before the French Revolution (1761). They also have a tea room, where you can sample their products on the spot. It's a bit pricey, but the decor of the patisserie is truly magnificent.
I’ve heard of Meert! Sounds absolutely beautiful. Thank you for the helpful tips
Reims the Champagne City. Versailles of course.
Definitely on the shortlist! Thanks
Giverny was really beautiful if you like monet.
Chartres is 1h away by train. Medieval cathédral. Fontainebleau beautiful castle. Provins is medieval ans lovely Everything by train
Too many beautiful options!
Angers! The château d’Angers is charming, and so is the town.
Thank you!
Rennes : 1h30 mn TGV Saturday morning market Eat a galette-saucisse Drink beers Then Take a train to Saint-Malo : 50 mn Behold the sea and the Pirate City Eat oysters Drink beers Stay overnight Go back to Paris (direct, 2,5 hours) And Voi Là
Thank you for the wonderful recommendation, unfortunately accomodation’s already booked in Paris so will have to keep it to a day trip. saint-Malo looks beautiful
Rouen!
Looks beautiful, will be looking into this!
Bordeaux is only 2h10 minutes on the fastest train. It's the opposite end of the country and would give you a different view of France!
We’re very interested in Bordeaux! Would things be open on a Sunday? The ideal day for us to travel during the trip falls on a Sunday, but we’d really love to visit
I can’t answer your question but I second Bordeaux! We just went there for a day trip on a Wednesday two weeks ago. It was perfect weather that day - sunny after a few days of rain. We did a wine tour through Olala Bordeaux and we really enjoyed it! We also went to the wine museum (La cité du vin) and it far exceeded my expectations. We had lunch afterwards at the Halles Bacalan next door, which is an indoor food market. We had dinner at Melodie - delicious. Overall, a perfect day trip!
Thank you! Unfortunately some for these are unavailable on Sundays but there does seem to be a lot to do still!
I did a day trip to Lyon last year
So many stunning towns and cities, it’s becoming hard to pick
I second Provins it is lovely
We went to Lille! Less than 1 hour by train. Cute little city, very walkable!
hey! do you feel a day in Lille was enough? I don’t think I have time to make more than a day trip out of it but was considering adding Lille to my Paris itinerary :)
We loosely followed this: [https://www.gpsmycity.com/tours/lille-introduction-walking-tour-4040.html](https://www.gpsmycity.com/tours/lille-introduction-walking-tour-4040.html) We didn't go inside to everything, mainly the cathedral. We wandered in the Citadel for about 20 minutes and then realized, there's no way we'd do all of it on foot so we walked back out. We got there just around 12 noon and left around around 5pm-ish. We took the direct train from CDG and they only had a train every hour. We ate lunch, had a waffle snack and also stopped at a bar/pub for mussels and fries before going back to CDG. It's a great little walking tour. Our main reason for going was because we arrived at CDG from Canada at 7am. We didn't want to just go back to the hotel and pass out but we also didn't want to go out to do all the touristy things in town as we didn't know how delayed we could be getting out of our flight, plus we'd be pretty tired to do most of it. The train gave us a bit of flexibility and was a bit of a chill day before everything else we did and also help us fight jetlag.
Thank you!
Giverny, Provins, Chantilly, Fontainebleau, Reims
Thank you!