8 Best Day Trips You Can Take from Paris

Visiting the Palace of Versailles, Disneyland, or taking a trip to the Loire Valley are just some of the many activities you can enjoy during your trip to Paris. In addition to all the monuments, museums, and attractions in the city, there is also a wide range of excursions to nearby places organised throughout the week that are not to be missed. If you're not sure which ones are worth doing depending on the length of your stay, here are the essentials.

I also recommend reading the post on what to see and do in Paris so you can make a list of the best plans for your trip.

Declared a World Heritage Site and just half an hour from Paris, the Palace of Versailles is one of the most popular excursions during your visit to the French capital. On this tour, you will have the opportunity to discover one of the symbols of the French Golden Age, explore the iconic Hall of Mirrors and the royal apartments, and stroll through the gardens. And if your trip coincides with April to October, you can also enjoy musical shows in the palace gardens and fountains. In the article What to see at the Palace of Versailles, you can find out everything you need to know about this visit.

There are half-day and full-day excursions available. The latter also includes access to the Grand and Petit Trianon, as well as Marie Antoinette's estate. Departure times are early in the morning, around 8 a.m., or early in the afternoon, around 1 p.m. In this article, you can find all the information about the Palace of Versailles opening hours. And as the excursion is long, I recommend reading the post on where to eat in Versailles if you want to enjoy a delicious meal or take a break.

In addition, in the post on tickets to the Palace of Versailles and how to get to Versailles from Paris, you can find extra information about this option. And if you are travelling with children, in the article on visiting Versailles with children, you will find the most entertaining ideas.

Useful information

Price:

• Price: From £59 for the half-day tour and from £89 for the full-day tour.
• Duration: From 4 hours depending on the option.
• **What's included...**Return transfer from Paris, hostess on the bus, access to the gardens, skip-the-line entry to the palace and audio guide. The full-day option also includes access to the Grand and Petit Trianon, Marie Antoinette's estate and the musical show in the gardens.
• **Transportation...**Bus.

Disneyland Paris is the most popular excursion from the city of Paris. It's an ideal plan, whether you're travelling with children or not, as fun is guaranteed. Before your visit, you should know that there are two parks: Disneyland, which is the traditional park, and Walt Disney Studios, which is the Disney studios. For all the details, read the articles on what to see and do at Disneyland Paris and the best attractions at Disneyland.

From the centre of Paris, you can go there and back in a day. The most convenient option is by train. To do this, take a train to Marne-la-Vallée Chessy station. The ticket costs approximately £7-10 per journey, depending on the departure station. In the post How to get from Paris to Disneyland: all the options, you can find more information about this and other options.

Of course, if you are only going for one day, it is very important to leave early. I recommend reading the post What to see at Disneyland Paris in one day so that you know everything you need to know for this fairytale day. It's also important to check the Disneyland Paris opening hours so you can plan your day as best as possible. You may want to consider purchasing a fast pass to avoid the queues and make the most of your day.

Useful information

• Price**...**From £54.
• Duration**...**From one to four days.
• **What's included...**There are different types of tickets, but the best option is to buy a one-day ticket that gives you access to both parks, Disneyland and Walt Disney Studios.
• **Transportation...**Transportation is at your own expense. The most convenient way to get there is by train.

Another of the most interesting excursions from Paris, especially for art lovers, is a half-day trip to the village of Giverny, where the impressionist painter Claude Monet lived for over 40 years. On this excursion, you will discover some of the landscapes he captured in his paintings: the colourful gardens with water lilies and weeping willows, the wheat fields and the forests of Normandy. You can also visit the painter's house, which was donated by the family to the Académie des Beaux-Arts in the 1960s. The museum was opened to the public in the 1980s.

Giverny is located about 80 kilometres from Paris and the excursion, which lasts approximately five hours, takes place by bus. Prices start at £69.

Details of interest

• Price**...**From £80.
• Duration**...**5 hours.
• **What's included...**Transport service, guide or audio guide depending on your preferences, entrance to the museum.
• **Means of transport...**Bus.

One of the most popular excursions from Paris is the trip to the Loire Valley. On your journey to this area of the French countryside, you will enjoy fairytale landscapes and have the opportunity to take a guided tour of the region's main castles, such as the Château de Chenonceau and the Château de Chambord, which has been the inspiration for films such as 'Beauty and the Beast'.

After the guided tour of both castles, you will have time to explore them on your own and delve into the different rooms, stroll through the gardens and explore the grounds. On this trip, you will also have the opportunity to enjoy a wine tasting at the Cave des Domes winery, whose wines are made from Chenonceau grapes.

Details of interest

• **Price...**Around £130.
• Duration: 12 hours.
• **What's included...**Bus transfer, admission to the castles of Chambord and Chenonceau, wine tasting at Chenonceau Castle.
• **Transportation...**Bus.

Approximately 50 kilometres from Paris is Chantilly Castle, one of the most popular castles in France. It is divided into two parts: Château Petit, a small castle dating from the 16th century, and Château Grand, the large 19th-century castle.

One of the main attractions of this visit is the Count's Museum, which, after the Louvre, houses the second most important collection of classical paintings in the country. In addition, its library holds a total of almost 13,000 volumes, including more than 1,500 manuscripts, two hundred of which are medieval. During your trip, you can also stroll through the gardens and visit the stables, as well as the Living Horse Museum.

Details of interest

• **Price...**There are different types of admission. The most comprehensive ticket costs around £20.
• Duration: One hour from Paris plus the self-guided tour.
• **What's included...**The most comprehensive ticket includes the Palace, the Condé Museum, the gardens, the stables and the Living Horse Museum. There is a discount if you buy family tickets.
• **Transport...**The most convenient option is by train, getting off at Chantilly-Gouvieux. To do this, take Line D.

From Paris, you can also take a trip to Mont Saint-Michel. Located in Normandy, in north-western France, it is a truly spectacular sight that attracts more than 3.5 million visitors every year. On your trip from Paris, you can visit the Benedictine abbey dating back to the 10th century, which was declared a World Heritage Site in 1979, stroll through the medieval streets, walk along the ramparts and, most importantly, contemplate the unique tides of the area.

Interesting details

• Price: From £140.
• Duration: approximately 14 hours.
• **What's included...**Return transport, entrance to Mont Saint Michel and an expert guide.
• Means of transport: Bus.

Among the various options available from Paris is a full-day excursion to the D-Day beaches in Normandy. This tour shows visitors all the details and settings of this key day that marked the beginning of the Battle of Normandy, which would end with the Second World War. During the excursion, you will be able to see the landscapes of the French countryside, visit the Caen Memorial Museum, which provides a detailed account of this episode of World War II, go to Pointe du Hoc, where you will see the cliffs hundreds of metres high between Utah and Omaha beaches, visit the American cemetery at Saint Laurent and Arromanches, and make your final stop at Juno Beach and its cemetery.

Details of interest

• Price**...**From £185.
• Duration: 14 hours.
• **What's included...**Return transport, tour guide, entrance to the Caen Museum, lunch, visit to the Saint Laurent Cemetery and Pointe du Hoc.
• **Transportation...**Bus

You can also opt for a small group tour of the Champagne region. On this tour, you will get to know this typical and popular region in depth. You will start the day with a visit to the Moët & Chandon, Veuve Clicquot or Mercier estate, enjoy the vineyard landscapes and a wine tasting, have lunch at a family-run champagne cellar, stroll through the Côte des Blancs and the Vallée de la Marne. You will also visit Hautvillers, the French village of Dom Perignon.

Details of interest

• Price: from £269.
• Duration: 11 hours.
• **What's included...**Visit to three champagne cellars with tasting at each one, lunch with wine pairing, transport from Paris by minibus, English-speaking guide.
• **Transportation...**Minibus.

The price of excursions from Paris varies greatly depending on the destination, whether you go on your own, in which case you only have to buy the train ticket and admission to the site, or whether you book a tour. In general, you can enjoy the main excursions from £30 to £150.

If you are going to Paris for several days, don't hesitate to visit Disneyland Paris. This is the star excursion. Bear in mind that some people make the trip to the theme park without even passing through the city of Paris. This will give you an idea of the importance of this destination.

Another option is to visit the Palace of Versailles, one of the most important palaces in the world, where you will be able to appreciate the splendour of the French monarchy before its decline. In addition, although it is a longer excursion, I recommend visiting the châteaux of the Loire Valley, a fairytale region, or the Abbey of Mont Saint-Michel, which dates back to the 10th century and is visited by more than three and a half million people every year. If you're looking for something more original, be sure to check out more unusual excursions such as the trip to Fontainebleau and the Château de Vaux Le Vicomte.

And if you're an art lover, don't miss a visit to Giverny, where you can delve into the work of Monet, or a visit to Chantilly, which houses one of the finest works of classical painting after the Louvre.