Tired of Paris? Seriously? Do you need a day off from the stressful pace of the French capital? Or do you simply want to discover some of the most interesting places in the surroundings, which are a stone's throw from Paris? Below we propose different alternatives with the best excursions and day trips from Paris. Perfect for multi-day trips or for those who already know the center of Paris and prefer to explore other areas. Go for it!
No matter if you are 10, 25 or 40 years old, Disneyland is one of those places that make young and old alike dream, and that allow us, for a few hours, to take out that child that we carry inside. Although obviously if you travel with children you will enjoy it even more. Without a doubt, the one in Disneyland is the best day trip from Paris!
→ More information on how to prepare the visit to Disneyland
For free
If you want to approach the most famous amusement park in Europe for free, but prefer not to rent a car, the ideal is to arrive by train. You will have to take Line A of the RER in the direction Marne la Vallee - Chessy. This is the stop next to the main entrance of Disneyland. The trip takes about 40 minutes and the ticket costs € 7.60 (more info on the RATP website)
And how much do the tickets for the Park cost? It depends, if you just want to visit Disneyland, the price is € 48 for the normal ticket, and € 69 for the skip the line ticket. If you also want to include the entrance to Walt Disney Studios the price is € 92.
On tour
There is the option to hire a package that includes 1 hour panoramic bus from Paris to Disneyland and entrance to one of the two parks or both (Disneyland or Walt Disney Studios). You arrive in the morning and they leave you all day free to tour the park or parks. At 19 you have to stay in the parking lot to return back to the city. The price is interesting considering that you forget to look for transportation and buy tickets. It costs € 92 (1 park) or € 102 (2 parks). More info and reservations.
Declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO for over thirty years, the Palace of Versailles is one of the most important in France. And not only for its impressive architecture, for its superbly decorated interiors and for its huge and beautiful gardens. This palace constitutes an important part of the history of France and is a symbol of its monarchy, here resided the most important kings of the glorious time of the country, until the fall of the regime with the French Revolution in 1789.
It is located in the town of Versailles, west of Paris and at a relatively short distance, which makes it a perfect getaway for half or a whole day.
For free
How to get to the Palace of Versailles from Paris by free? Easy: it is best to do it by train (RER C) to the stop Versailles Château - Rive Gauche. From there to the Palace are about 10 minutes walk. The ticket costs € 7.10 and the trip takes about 30-40 minutes (depending on which station you use in Paris).
The entrance to the Palace costs € 20 and you can make the reservation here to avoid the ticket lines.
On tour
It is the recommended option for all those who want to know more deeply the history of this emblematic place. The package includes round-trip transportation from Paris, the skip-the-line ticket and a guide in Spanish that will take you to explore every corner of the Palace of Versailles. It costs € 52 with audio guide or € 89 with guide. More information and reservation.
The Loire Valley is one of the most fascinating areas of France, with its landscapes, its gastronomy, its vineyards, and of course, its castles, fortifications and abbeys! The ideal would be to have several days to explore this region in depth, but if you only have one and it makes you very excited, from Paris it is possible.
→ Here we tell you more about the best castles near Paris
For free
This excursion is complicated to do it for free in a single day. You can actually choose one of the castles or villages that most attract your attention and arrive by public transport from Paris. In the article that we link to you above you have a few options.
On tour
It is the option that we recommend, the tour that will take you to know two of the most beautiful castles in the Loire Valley: the Castle of Chenonceau and that of Chambord. Tickets, guide or audio guide in Spanish and transportation by luxury bus from / to Paris are included. The tour lasts about 12 hours and costs € 139. More information and reservation.
It may sound crazy to approach this charming corner of the Norman coast. But if you have the real chance to visit it, don't even think about it! On a rocky mountain lies a Benedictine abbey, pilgrimage site of the Middle Ages, and under it, a small walled town of stone houses. The unforgettable image is when the tide rises, and the mountain is surrounded by water. Is it crazy? Maybe yes, but what would a trip be without any other madness?
For free
The only really advisable way we see doing it in a day for free from Paris is by renting a car. By bus or train it is long, somewhat messy and also quite expensive. Do not forget that it is almost 400 km from Paris. Perhaps a good idea is to spend a night nearby, and return the next day, making some cultural stops along the way. Here you have accommodation options near Saint-Michel.
On tour
We are in luck, there are tours that take you on the day to Saint Michel! The one we recommend offers round-trip transportation, food, entrance to the Abbey, Spanish guide and free time to explore the surroundings. It costs € 169 with a guide or € 135 without a guide. More info and reservation.
The great attraction of this small town located in Upper Normandy is the house and garden that belonged to Claude Monet, in addition to its little streets and souvenir shops. Monet lived in this town until his death, his presence transformed the place into a point of reference for the artists of the Impressionist school: Cézanne, Renoir, Sisley or Matisse were seen by their here.
For free
Is the best option. To get there you just have to take a train from Saint Lazare station to Vernon-Giverny station. The trip takes about 45 minutes and the ticket costs € 10-14 (price according to offer). From there to the town of Giverny is about 6 km, you can take a taxi, bus (follow the blue markings of the ground), or even rent a bicycle at the Café that is just outside the station.
The entrance to Monet's house costs € 9.5. More info.
On tour
If you prefer to go on an organized excursion, it costs € 49, and includes the queue-free entrance to the house and Monet's gardens and transportation to and from Paris. More info and reservation.
If you still have more time, there are many other excursions from Paris that can be done in one day, for example:
Witches: the ideal is to visit it on a trip through Belgium, with more tranquility, but if this is not a viable option you can sign up for this tour.
Provins: a beautiful little medieval town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. There are direct trains from the Gare de l'Est in Paris and they leave you in Provins in an hour and a half. Or do this tour.
Chantilly: world famous for its vanilla-flavored milk cream, but what is really worth it is the Chantilly Castle, one of the most beautiful in all of France. From Paris you can take RER with the D line that takes 1 hour.
Auvers-sur-Oise: This small town, located 30 km from Paris, is famous for being the center of inspiration for many impressionist painters such as Daubigny, Cézzane, Pisarro and especially Van Gogh, who painted there his last seventy paintings. From Paris there are direct trains from the Gare du Nord.
Champagne Region: There are many day tours with visits to vineyards, tastings and the occasional cultural visit. This for example reaches Reims.
As you can see, there are few options to make a day trip from Paris. Here we have told you some of the best, which one convinces you the most? Did you do any
* Photocredit: Shutterstock
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