The Best Day Trips from Paris

The 12 best day trips, ranked

Ordered by how well they repay a full day - factoring travel time, what you can actually see, and how easy they are without a car.

1. 1

   Versailles

   Palaces & gardens

   20 km southwest · ~40 min by RER

   Louis XIV's palace is the benchmark every other European palace is measured against: the Hall of Mirrors, the King's State Apartments and gardens that take a full day on their own. Book a timed palace entry online, arrive for opening, then spend the afternoon in the gardens, the Grand Trianon and Marie Antoinette's hamlet - the crowds thin dramatically the further you walk.

   Getting there: RER C from central stations (Saint-Michel Notre-Dame, Musée d'Orsay, Invalides) to Versailles Château Rive Gauche - the terminus branch signed for the château. The palace gates are a 10-minute walk. An ordinary Île-de-France ticket covers it; the palace itself is closed Mondays.

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2. 2

   Giverny (Monet's garden)

   Art & gardens

   75 km northwest · ~50 min train + 15 min shuttle

   Monet lived at Giverny for over 40 years and built the water-lily pond and Japanese bridge he painted for the rest of his life - standing on the actual bridge is the point of the trip. The house with its yellow dining room and the flower garden change completely by season; May and June are peak. Arrive on the first train or after 15:00 to dodge the tour-bus wave.

   Getting there: SNCF trains from Gare Saint-Lazare on the Rouen line to Vernon-Giverny (~50 min), then the shuttle bus that meets most trains (~15 min), or a flat 5 km bike or riverside walk. Open roughly April to early November only - the foundation closes for winter.

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3. 3

   Fontainebleau

   History without the crowds

   65 km southeast · ~40 min train + 15 min bus

   Eight centuries of French kings lived here, and unlike Versailles you can often walk the Renaissance galleries almost alone. Napoleon abdicated in the courtyard in 1814 - the horseshoe staircase where he said farewell to his guard is still the entrance. Pair it with a walk in the Fontainebleau forest or the painters' village of Barbizon next door.

   Getting there: Transilien Line R from Gare de Lyon to Fontainebleau-Avon (~40 min), then the local Ligne 1 bus to the 'Château' stop (~15 min) or a 30-minute walk. The château is closed Tuesdays.

4. 4

   Chartres

   Cathedrals & medieval glass

   90 km southwest · ~60–75 min by train

   Chartres cathedral is the best-preserved great Gothic cathedral in France, with most of its 12th and 13th-century stained glass intact - the deep 'Chartres blue' glass survives nowhere else at this scale. Climb the north tower, look for the medieval labyrinth in the nave, then wander the old town's staircase streets down to the Eure river.

   Getting there: Direct TER trains from Gare Montparnasse to Chartres roughly every hour (~60-75 min). The cathedral towers are visible from the platform; it's a 10-minute walk.

5. 5

   Reims & Champagne

   Champagne & coronation history

   145 km northeast · ~45 min by TGV

   The kings of France were crowned in Reims cathedral for a thousand years, and the great champagne houses - Veuve Clicquot, Taittinger, Pommery, Ruinart - run cellar tours in chalk caves under the city. Book cellar visits online days ahead; most include a tasting. Cathedral in the morning, cellars in the afternoon is the natural rhythm.

   Getting there: Direct TGV from Gare de l'Est to Reims city-centre station in ~45 minutes - book ahead, as walk-up fares climb steeply. Épernay, the other champagne capital, is ~1h15-1h30 from Gare de l'Est by regional train.

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6. 6

   Loire Valley châteaux

   Castles & the Renaissance

   170–230 km southwest · ~1–2 h by train, depending on château

   The Loire is castle country: Chenonceau arches over the river Cher, Chambord has the double-helix staircase attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, and Amboise pairs the royal château with Clos Lucé, where Leonardo spent his last years. Pick one or two châteaux, not three - travel between them eats the day. Organised coach tours from Paris are the sane way to see multiple castles in one day.

   Getting there: TGV from Gare Montparnasse to Tours or Saint-Pierre-des-Corps (~1h-1h15), then TER connections: Amboise is ~20 min on, and Chenonceau has its own tiny station steps from the château gates - the one Loire castle that's trivially car-free. For Chambord, take a train from Gare d'Austerlitz to Blois-Chambord (~1h30-2h) and the seasonal shuttle bus.

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7. 7

   Provins

   Medieval walls & shows

   85 km southeast · ~85–90 min by train

   A UNESCO-listed medieval trade-fair town that most visitors to Paris have never heard of: intact ramparts you can walk, the 12th-century Tour César, and a network of medieval underground galleries. From spring to autumn it stages proper falconry and jousting shows in the old defensive ditches - the eagle show is genuinely worth timing your visit around.

   Getting there: Transilien Line P direct from Gare de l'Est to Provins (~85 min), roughly hourly. It's inside Île-de-France, so flat-fare tickets and Navigo passes cover it. The upper town is a 15-20 minute uphill walk from the station.

8. 8

   Auvers-sur-Oise

   Van Gogh pilgrimage

   30 km northwest · ~45–75 min by train

   Van Gogh spent the last 70 days of his life here and painted more than 70 canvases, including 'The Church at Auvers' - the church looks exactly as he left it. Visit his bare room at the Auberge Ravoux, walk the wheat fields he painted, and finish at the simple ivy-covered graves of Vincent and Theo in the village cemetery. Quiet, short and unexpectedly moving.

   Getting there: From Gare du Nord or Gare Saint-Lazare with one change (usually at Valmondois or Pontoise), ~45-75 min total. A direct seasonal train runs from Gare du Nord on spring and summer weekends - check SNCF for dates.

9. 9

   Rouen

   Medieval Normandy & Monet

   135 km northwest · ~80–95 min by train

   Normandy's medieval capital: the cathedral facade Monet painted more than 30 times, the Gros-Horloge astronomical clock spanning the main street, and hundreds of surviving half-timbered houses. Joan of Arc was burned here in 1431 - the Place du Vieux-Marché marks the spot, and the Historial Jeanne d'Arc inside the archbishop's palace tells the trial story well.

   Getting there: Direct trains from Gare Saint-Lazare to Rouen Rive Droite roughly hourly (~1h20-1h35). The old town is a 10-15 minute walk downhill from the station.

10. 10

    Disneyland Paris

    Families & theme parks

    35 km east · ~35–45 min by RER

    Two parks - Disneyland Park with the castle and classic rides, and Walt Disney Studios for the newer Marvel and Frozen areas. Buy dated tickets online in advance: they're cheaper than gate prices and some dates sell out. One park is realistic in a day; arrive for opening and hit the headline rides first or use the paid Premier Access on the two or three you care about.

    Getting there: RER A from central Paris (Charles de Gaulle-Étoile, Auber, Châtelet-Les Halles, Gare de Lyon, Nation) to the Marne-la-Vallée-Chessy terminus - the station exit is a 2-minute walk from the park gates. It's within the Île-de-France fare zone.

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11. 11

    Chantilly

    Art, horses & châteaux

    40 km north · ~25 min by train

    The Château de Chantilly holds the Musée Condé, often called the finest collection of old-master paintings in France outside the Louvre - including three Raphaëls - displayed exactly as the Duke of Aumale hung them. The Great Stables next door house the living Museum of the Horse with regular dressage shows, and yes, whipped cream 'crème Chantilly' is served at the source.

    Getting there: TER from Gare du Nord to Chantilly-Gouvieux in ~25 minutes (the RER D also runs, taking ~45 min). The château is a 20-25 minute walk through the park, or a short bus or taxi ride.

12. 12

    Vaux-le-Vicomte

    Baroque grandeur without crowds

    55 km southeast · ~35 min train + shuttle or taxi

    The château that created Versailles: finance minister Nicolas Fouquet finished it in 1661, threw a party so lavish that Louis XIV jailed him, then hired Fouquet's architect, painter and gardener - Le Vau, Le Brun and Le Nôtre - to build Versailles. It's the more intimate, better-proportioned house, and on summer Saturday evenings it's lit by two thousand candles.

    Getting there: Transilien Line R from Gare de Lyon to Melun (~25-35 min), then the seasonal 'Châteaubus' shuttle on weekends and holidays, or a ~15 minute taxi. Check opening before you go - the château closes for much of the winter outside its Christmas season.

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