The best day trips from Paris

Perhaps you feel like you’ve seen everything there is to see in Paris(not very likely!), maybe you want to spend some time away from the busy city life, or perhaps you’re simply thinking about discovering the rest of our beautiful country. Don’t worry, you’ll always find a lot to do in what Parisians call ‘la Province’! There are lots of great places to see which are away from the capital but still within your reach: here’s a list of the best day trips from Paris!

Take a trip to the amazing Château de Versailles

One of the most famous and best day trips from Paris is of course the wonderful castle of Versailles! A great piece of history (this is the place where French Kings used to live), it also has an incredible architecture – don’t miss the Galerie des Glaces (Hall of Mirrors)!

Price of a ticket: day admission 18€ / free for children under 18 years old.
Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday 9 am – 6:30 pm (apr-oct), 9 am – 5:30 pm (Nov – Mar) – gardens are open until 2030 HRS during the summer.
How to get there? 40 minute journey by the RER C which you can take from the centre of Paris (get off at Versailles-Château-Rive Gauche), a return ticket should be around 7€.

Have a fun day with your family in Disneyland

Next up in our list of the best day trips from Paris is the most visited tourist attraction of the country… Disneyland! It’s kind of hard to accept for us French people that people seem to prefer a theme park over all our beautiful historic monuments and museums, and even over the Eiffel Tower, but with 16 million visitors per year, Mickey Mouse never gets lonely!

Opening hours: 10 am – 11 pm everyday / Price of a ticket: from 47€ for adults, from 40€ for children
How to get there? 40 minute journey with the RER A which you can take from the center (get off at Marne-la-Vallée-Chessy-Parc Disney), return ticket should be around 7€.

Go back to the origins of impressionism in Giverny

Another of our best day trips from Paris is the village of Giverny in Normandy, where you can find Claude Monet’s gardens and home, the place where he painted his famous waterlilies. Claude Monet decided to come to live here after he fell in love with Giverny while noticing it through a train window. Now there is also a Museum of Impressionism in the village.

How to get there? By car: 75 km drive by the A13 highway towards Rouen. By train: take the TGV (high-speed train) from Saint-Lazare station to the town of Vernon, and then take the shuttle to Giverny.

Go on a sparkling journey following the Route du Champagne

An amazing way to experience French cuisine and especially our wonderful champagne is to go and taste it right in the area where it is produced. La Route du Champagne, a touristic road which meanders through eastern France’s greatest vineyards, is another one of the best day trips to do from Paris: you’ll taste delicious alcohol and visit the countryside. But take it easy, you have to be able to drive back!

How to get there? The best way to follow la Route du Champagne is of course to hire a car; best plan would be to take the train to the city of Reims (less than an hour from Paris) and then rent a car from the station.

Discover the quiet countryside and French history with the Châteaux de la Loire

The Loire Valley with all its magnificent castles is to my mind one of the best day trips from Paris: in any season you’ll be amazed by the beauty of the castles – in winter you can stay inside and visit, while in summer you’ll be able to spend a very nice day discovering the French countryside by renting a bike or just strolling along the river.

How to get there? The castles are situated all along the Loire Valley from Angers to the town of Gien (which are 200 km apart from each other!). The easiest way would perhaps be to take a train to Tours or Blois and then rent a car or bikes to visit from there.