In this guide
💡 The Short Version: Versailles is the easy one: RER C to Versailles Château–Rive Gauche and a Passport ticket (€35 April to October, €25 November to March), but never on a Monday. Mont-Saint-Michel is 14 hours on a coach tour, or a TGV to Rennes and a connecting coach each way on your own. The D-Day beaches are miles apart along the coast, so a tour is the practical way to see them. One Loire château is an easy train ride; two in a day needs a tour. Giverny opens only from 1 April to 1 November. Reims is 45 minutes by TGV, and a cellar visit there costs €30 to €60 against £197.32 and up for a champagne tour. Or book a tour: a coach tour from Paris puts the transport and the entry ticket in one booking, from £59.19 for the Giverny half-day trip to £197.32 for a small-group champagne day (GetYourGuide, 29 September 2026).
The day trips compared
Entry prices are the operators’ own for an adult from outside the European Economic Area; tour prices are GetYourGuide’s lowest “from” price on 29 September 2026.
| Trip | Closed | Entry | Tour from | Getting there alone |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Versailles | Mondays | €35 Passport April to October, €25 November to March | £67.77 | RER C to Versailles Château–Rive Gauche, then a 10-minute walk |
| Mont-Saint-Michel | 1 January, 1 May, 25 December | €16 from 1 April to 30 September, €13 from 1 October to 31 March | £76.35 | TGV from Montparnasse to Rennes (2 hours), then the Keolis coach to the Mont (1 hour 15) |
| D-Day beaches | American Cemetery: 25 December, 1 January | Cemetery free | £104.66 | Train to Bayeux (about 2½ hours), then a local tour to the beaches |
| Loire châteaux | Chenonceau: open every day; Chambord: 1 January, 25 December | Chenonceau €19; Chambord €31 | £77.21 | TGV from Montparnasse to Saint-Pierre-des-Corps (1 hour), then a local train to Chenonceaux (25 minutes) |
| Giverny | November to March | €13 | £59.19 | Train from Saint-Lazare to Vernon-Giverny, then the shuttle bus (€5 each way) |
| Reims and Champagne | Houses open on set days | Mumm cellar visits €30 to €60 | £197.32 | TGV to Reims (45 minutes) |
| Fontainebleau | Tuesdays | €17 | £72.06 | Train from Gare de Lyon to Fontainebleau-Avon, then bus 3401 to the château |
| Disneyland Paris | Open every day | €129 at the gate for one park; online prices vary by date | £116.57 with shuttle | RER A to Marne-la-Vallée–Chessy, about 35 minutes from Nation |
When a tour is worth it
A coach tour earns its price on the long trips:
- Mont-Saint-Michel: the TGV and the Rennes coach take at least 3 hours 15 minutes each way, and the last coach leaves the Mont at 18:00 (timetable to 1 November 2026). The coach day tripad (from £76.35, 4.5 stars from 6,046 reviews, 14 hours) includes the abbey ticket.
- The D-Day beaches: the sites are miles apart along the coast. The guided day trip with lunchad (from £104.66, 4.8 stars from 1,512 reviews, 14 hours) covers Utah Beach, Pointe du Hoc, Omaha Beach and the American Cemetery.
- Two Loire châteaux in a day: the château day trip with wine tastingad (from £93.51, 4.7 stars from 2,188 reviews, 13 hours) includes entry to Chambord and Chenonceau.
For Versailles, Giverny, Reims or a single Loire château, the train is simple and the tour sells convenience rather than access.
The trips
Versailles
Closed Mondays · Passport €35 April to October, €25 November to March · RER C, then 10 minutes’ walk · tour from £67.77
The Hall of Mirrors and the State Apartments are in the palace; the Grand and Petit Trianon and Marie-Antoinette’s hamlet are 30 minutes’ walk away across the park, or 20 minutes on the little train. The Passport (€35 from April to October, €25 from November to March) covers the palace, the Trianon estate and the gardens, including on Musical Fountains days, and every visitor, free ones included, books a palace time slot (chateauversailles.fr, 29 September 2026). The château asks visitors to use public transport while the A13 motorway is closed from Paris towards Versailles, 16 November 2026 to 31 August 2027. The coach trip with palace entryad (from £67.77, 4.6 stars from 7,482 reviews) adds an audio-guide app and the ride. The Versailles day trip guide has every route, ticket and tour, and a plan for the day.
The Grille Royale, Palace of Versailles. Photo: Chabe01, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Mont-Saint-Michel
Abbey €16 from 1 April to 30 September, €13 from 1 October to 31 March · TGV to Rennes 2 hours + coach 1 hour 15 · tour 14 hours, from £76.35
The abbey sits at the top of the rock, above the village. The village is free to walk into; the abbey is 45 minutes to an hour on foot from the car parks, with free shuttles part of the way, and many steps (abbaye-mont-saint-michel.fr, 29 September 2026). Keolis coaches from Rennes bus station connect with TGVs from Paris; tickets are not sold on board, so book online: €15 single, €25 return. Bags bigger than cabin size are not allowed in the abbey. The Mont-Saint-Michel day trip guide has the coach times, the tours and the abbey’s rules.
Mont-Saint-Michel from the salt meadows. Photo: Eric Kilby, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
The D-Day beaches
American Cemetery free, 9:00–17:00, closed 25 December and 1 January · train to Bayeux about 2½ hours · tours from Paris from £104.66
The Normandy American Cemetery stands on the cliff above Omaha Beach at Colleville-sur-Mer: 9,389 graves, and 1,557 names on the Walls of the Missing (abmc.gov, 29 September 2026). Pointe du Hoc, where US Rangers climbed the cliffs on 6 June 1944, is eight miles (13 km) west of the cemetery. On 29 September 2026 the cemetery’s burial plots were temporarily closed to visitors because of a drought water restriction, and Pointe du Hoc is under restoration until mid-2027 with only its west pathway open. From Paris, either book a full-day tour or take the train to Bayeux and join a tour there: the half-day American sites tour from Bayeuxad is from £102.95 (4.9 stars from 801 reviews). The D-Day beaches day trip guide compares the tours from Paris and from Bayeux.
The Normandy American Cemetery, Colleville-sur-Mer. Photo: Myrabella, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.
The Loire châteaux
Chenonceau €19, open every day · Chambord €31 · TGV to Saint-Pierre-des-Corps 1 hour · tours 13 hours, from £77.21
Chenonceau stands on the River Cher; its station is 400 metres from the ticket office, so it is the château to do alone by train (chenonceau.com, 29 September 2026). Chambord is 80 minutes by train to Blois, then the Rémi line 2 shuttle (€3.30 single); since 14 January 2026 it charges visitors from outside the EEA €31 against €21 (chambord.org, 29 September 2026). The full-day château tourad (from £77.21, 4.5 stars from 1,498 reviews) covers Chambord, Chenonceau and Cheverny, with Amboise in place of Chambord on Mondays and Saturdays in summer. The Loire Valley day trip guide has both châteaux’ winter hours and the tours compared.
Giverny
Open 1 April to 1 November 2026, 10:00–18:00 · €13 · train from Saint-Lazare, then shuttle · half-day tour from £59.19
Monet’s house and gardens take an hour and a half to two hours. There is no skip-the-line entry, and once the online quota for the day is sold the queue at the gate is long, so book the ticket first (claudemonetgiverny.fr, 29 September 2026). The shuttle from Vernon station is €5 each way, or hire a bike at the station. The half-day trip from Parisad (from £59.19, 4.5 stars from 3,475 reviews) is 75 minutes each way by coach, with about 2¾ hours at Giverny. The Giverny day trip guide has the train, the shuttle and every tour, and what the garden holds.
Monet’s water garden, Giverny. Photo: Jean-Pierre Dalbéra, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.
Reims and Champagne
TGV to Reims 45 minutes · Mumm cellar visits €30, €42 or €60 · small-group tour from £197.32
Reims has two stations, Reims-Centre in the city and Champagne-Ardenne TGV, linked by tram (reims-tourisme.com, 29 September 2026). The champagne houses run cellar visits on set days: Mumm’s cost €30, €42 or €60 depending on the tasting, and its visit days change with the season (mumm.com, 29 September 2026). A tour is worth it for the vineyards outside the city, which need a car: the small-group day trip with six tastingsad (from £197.32, 4.9 stars from 368 reviews) leaves Paris at 7:00 every day, with at most eight people. The champagne day trip guide has the cellar tours, prices and opening days for Mumm, Moët & Chandon, Mercier and Taittinger, and the tours compared.
Fontainebleau
Closed Tuesdays · €17 · train from Gare de Lyon, then bus 3401 · tour with Vaux-le-Vicomte from £72.06
The château’s courtyards and gardens are free every day; the interior is €17. It is open 9:30–18:00 from April to September and 9:30–17:00 from October to March, last entry 45 minutes before closing (chateaudefontainebleau.fr, 29 September 2026). Take a main-line train from Gare de Lyon towards Montargis, Montereau or Laroche-Migennes to Fontainebleau-Avon, then bus 3401 to the “Château” stop. The tour with Vaux-le-Vicomtead (from £72.06, 4.4 stars from 580 reviews) includes entry to both châteaux and is back in Paris at about 18:15. The Fontainebleau day trip guide has the train and bus, the tickets, what to see and Vaux-le-Vicomte.
Disneyland Paris
Open every day · €129 at the gate for one park, less online by date · RER A to Marne-la-Vallée–Chessy, about 35 minutes from Nation · tickets with shuttle from £116.57
Buy the ticket before you go: Disneyland Paris sells at the gate only for cash, holiday vouchers or gift cards, and only when it is not full; its online tickets are priced by date (disneylandparis.com, 30 September 2026). The RER A stops at the park gates. On GetYourGuide the 1-day ticketad is from £44.57 (4.6 stars from 59,155 reviews). The Disneyland Paris day trip guide compares the official tickets, GetYourGuide’s and the shuttle packages.
Two trips in one day
- Giverny and Versailles: the combined guided day tripad is from £119.25 (4.5 stars from 1,549 reviews, 11½ hours). It runs only while Giverny is open, 1 April to 1 November, and never on a Monday, when Versailles is closed.
- The D-Day beaches and Mont-Saint-Michel: the combined tourad is from £136.58 (4.5 stars from 157 reviews, 15 hours).
Before you pick a date, check the Paris closing days and what to book ahead. The Louvre closes on Tuesdays, which makes Tuesday a good day for Versailles, Mont-Saint-Michel or the beaches.
Common questions
What is the easiest day trip from Paris?
Versailles. The RER C runs to Versailles Château–Rive Gauche, a 10-minute walk from the palace, and the Passport ticket (palace, Trianon and gardens) is €35 from April to October and €25 from November to March. It is closed on Mondays, and every visitor has to book a palace time slot.
Can you do Mont-Saint-Michel as a day trip from Paris?
Yes, but it is a long day: the coach day trips on GetYourGuide last 14 hours. On your own it is a TGV from Montparnasse to Rennes (2 hours) and a Keolis coach to the Mont (1 hour 15), each way.
Which day trips from Paris need a tour?
The D-Day beaches, where the sites are miles apart along the coast, and a day that takes in two Loire châteaux. Versailles, Giverny, Reims and a single Loire château are straightforward by train.
