Day Trips from Paris Q&A Reader Questions Answered

If you're visiting Paris for a week or more, should you consider splitting your stay between two or more neighborhoods so that you can experience different parts of the city?

In the Sunday edition of my free Paris Discoveries Newsletter, I answer reader questions about Paris travel.  Recently, several readers have asked whether it makes sense to move from one Parisian neighborhood and hotel to another when time permits.

This article is part of the Paris Discoveries Q&A Archive and brings together my answers based on my own experiences with staying in multiple neighborhoods on longer trips.  

You'll find advice about whether splitting your stay is worth doing, how to choose neighborhood combinations, hotel suggestions for several popular areas, and practical tips for making the move from one hotel to another easier. 

I've lightly edited, expanded, and updated my original answers, and added photos to make this a more complete Paris travel resource. 

 

https://chatgpt.com/c/6a3fefad-9d74-83ea-9cdc-0166e2bba601

Can You Recommend a Champagne Winery Tour for a Day Trip?

Bill's Question:

We will be in Paris from November 18-22.  Do you have a recommendation for a day trip Champagne winery tour?

Susan's Recommendations: 

Yes, I do - I love going on these tours myself, and I have three favorites.  All are small group tours by minivan and are limited to 8 people.

They follow a similar format: you'll visit one famous Champagne House such as Moët & Chandon, Taittinger, or Nicolas Feuillatte, where you'll get a tour, maybe visit their cellars, and get a brief overview of the Champagne-making process.  These are, of course, large commercial operations - so they're all quite impressive.

You'll also visit one or two small family-run operations - small wineries that may produce wine as well as Champagne and they may also sell some grapes to local co-ops.  These are like small family farms, and I find them even more interesting than the big famous brands because you get a better feel for what's involved and get to hear from people with hands-on experience.  When the weather is good (I've only hit one rainy day), you'll get to walk into the vineyards and look at the grapes on the vine, check out how they're pruned and staked, etc.

The guides are usually real experts - in fact, I've been on a couple of tours with a guides who had their own small vineyards and spoke from first-hand knowledge as we walked the fields.

A couple of these tours include lunch, and at one you'll have time to eat on your own at a nearby cafe (anyone who's vegetarian or vegan might want to choose that tour since the included meals, while delicious, tend to be meat-centric).

These are my favorites:

• Small Group Tour from Paris to Champagne with 6 Tastings & Reims Cathedral Visit - You'll visit the Nicolas Feuillatte Champagne house and a family-run winery.  You'll have time for lunch on your own, and will also visit Reims Cathedral. 
• Small Group Day Trip from Paris to Champagne with 8 Tastings & Lunch, plus Hotel Pick-up - You'll visit a major Champagne house plus 2 small traditional Champagne houses or wineries. Lunch is included with your tour, and includes Champagne and food pairings.
• Small Group Champagne Lunch, Vineyard Tour, & Tastings with Hotel Pickup/Dropoff - You'll visit a famous Champagne house as well as a smaller family-run winery/Champagne producer.  Lunch as well as pickup/dropoff at your hotel is included.

I liked all of these tours equally well, despite their minor differences - although I must admit that I loved the hotel pickup/dropoff included with the third one. 

Also, in case you're wondering about the size of the Champagne, the "tastings" were quite generous - basically, regular-sized pours.

You can find out more about these tours as well as other day trips in this article about Day Trips from Paris.

Should We Take a Day Trip from Paris during Our 4-Day Visit?

We have never been to Paris, but we are taking a Tauck Normandy cruise next September, and then are staying in Paris another four days post-cruise.

Should we take a day trip anywhere?  

Susan's Answer: 

That depends on what else you want to do and see while you're in Paris - but since you'll be in Paris for 4 days, definitely consider a day trip - check out this article for descriptions of some popular destinations.  

In particular, the Palace of Versailles and Giverny are both wonderful in September with smaller crowds, beautiful flowers, and the first hints of lovely fall colors. 

Sherrin's Question:  What Are Some Things to Do in London?

Sherrin's Question:

Do you by chance have any information on London?   I am going next week for my son's wedding, and sadly don’t think I will have time for Paris but thought possibly you would be able to share some thoughts about London.  

Susan's Answer: 

I've made a few almost-day (in other words, long weekend) trips to London from Paris, as well as several visits just to London, so I'm happy to share some of my favorite London activities, as they may also be of interest to anyone who's visiting Paris and wants to pop to London for a day or more on the Eurostar. 

In no particular order, here are some museums, tours, and other activities in no particular order that I've enjoyed that would work well for anyone who wants to soak up some London culture in just a short time:

Tate Modern - Modern and contemporary art, starting with the Impressionists.   Free admission.

London Small Group Tour of Historical Pubs - Fascinating tour of an older part of London with visits to pubs and old literary haunts.  Excellent, very knowledgeable guide.

The British Museum - Exhibitions on cultures from around the world and from different time periods.  Totally fascinating.  Free admission.  

Borough Market - Fantastic food market and boutiques in an old train station.  I've been here several times - never tire of visiting.

The London Eye - Gigantic Ferris wheel by the Thames River - impressive city views from the top.

The Serpentine, a lake in Hyde Park - My younger daughter was with me and we rented a paddle boat for an hour - which turned into 2 hours as we experienced the perfect languid afternoon on the water.

London Street Art Tour - I love street art, and thoroughly enjoyed this tour - plus I got to see interesting parts of the city. 

Brick Lane - A food street in the East End - a big attraction is the delicious Bangladeshi food, but the street and surrounding areas also boasts a number of interesting vintage shops and small art galleries. 

Hop On Hop Off Thames River Cruise - A fun way to see the city - I highly recommend it as a way to spend an entire day getting acquainted with the city.

London Pub Food - Loved the fish and chips which my daughter and I enjoyed in neighborhood pubs - some sleek and modern, some quite ancient - during a week-long visit from Paris.

Sky Garden - This is very modern, very glitzy indoor garden with a couple of bars and restaurants at the top of London's Walkie Talkie building; we ordered Champagne and sipped it at a window table with fantastic skyline views of the Thames and the city beyond it.

If you go:  The Eurostar trip from Paris to London takes just under 2.5 hours, and Eurostar suggests arriving at Gard du Nord (Paris) and St Pancras Station (London) about 75 minutes before departure (I'd suggest 90 minutes based on my own experiences).  To get the cheapest tickets, book about 4 weeks in advance.

Getting Around: 

Where to Stay:

 

 

 

What Is the Best Way to Get to Mont Saint-Michel from Paris?

Chrys's Question: 

I am taking my adult grandchildren to Paris in June 2026. We will be spending one night at Mont St. Michel. What is the fastest train to take from Paris to get there? From the train stop, how do we get to the entrance?

Susan's Answer:

To answer your Mont Saint-Michel question first, I don't know the train details because I've only been there by car with my husband.  Although it was an interesting trip, it was kind of a disaster because we parked in totally the wrong place and walked what seemed like miles to get to the abbey and then wasted another hour waiting in line to get tickets as we hadn't realized we should get them in advance and then after our visit, we had to trek all the way back to our car. 

A few years later, during a solo visit to Paris, I visited Mont Saint Michel again with a group tour (this one) from Paris - much more convenient but I was sorry to not have more time in the village itself.

So taking the train sounds like a sane and excellent way to get there for an overnight visit. Since I've no personal experience with getting there this way, I did a search and found helpful information from the Normandy tourism office - here's the url.

It looks like you can book the train/shuttle through their site, or go to the Gare Montparnasse station in Paris's 14th arrondissement and do it.

Speaking as the mom of two adult daughters who sometimes join me in Paris, since your grandchildren are also adults, my suggestion is put them in charge of figuring out all the details while you sit back and relax.

Which Normandy Beach Locations Are Possible for a Day Trip from Paris?

Caryn's Question: 

A friend and I plan to visit Paris in early May and would like to find a day trip tour that includes Étretat and Omaha Beach.

We would also love to include Honfleur, Deauville, and Pointe du Hoc, if possible.

Are all these locations doable for a day-trip tour? Are there tours that would pick us up and drop us off at the nearest train station close to the beaches, or are the tours only by bus or caravan from Paris?

Susan's Answer:

Several good options for tours from Paris that include Omaha Beach and Point du Hoc are available such as this one (and here's a similar small-group option), and another one that includes Étretat and Honfleur, but I've never seen one with all the locations you mention. I'm guessing it's a time issue: in my experience, the tours from Paris usually have a duration of 13-14 hours so it's a very long day.

Other tours that depart from closer (to the beaches) Normandy locations such as Bayeux (such as this one) are also a possibility, but rather than packing in more destinations, they have shorter durations.

Plus, you'd need to allow time to get from Paris to the meeting spots, which due to connections and other logistics and/or complications (missing a train, not being able to find the right meeting spot, etc) could take even longer, start to finish, so to make that work, you might need to arrive a day before the tour and spend the night locally - which could be a win-win since you'd probably have a significantly cheaper hotel rate than in Paris.

My husband and I once rented a car and tried visiting the D-Day beaches on our own over a 3 or 4 day period - great trip, but we somehow (translation: many wrong turns plus perhaps a few too many leisurely meals in scenic coastal villages and walks along their beaches) missed many of landing sites, memorials, museums, graveyards that I saw later when I took the bus tours from Paris mentioned above.

So while I don't necessarily recommend going on your own with a rental car, it is an option.  Even though my husband and I missed a lot of the landing sites and information, the other wonderful places we experienced more than made up for it. 

How to Get to Chartres from Paris?

Melchor's Question:

We will be staying for a few days in Paris at the end of May, and we are not finding reliable information about day trips to Chartres (bus, train).

Do you have any suggestions for that? We follow all your newsletters, so thanks for all the advice!

Susan's Answer:

My suggestion for getting to Chartres is to take the train from Paris, which is super-easy to do, and it will get you there quickly in just over an hour.  

Almost all trains to Chartres depart from Montparnasse Station in the 14th arrondissement on the Left Bank, with an additional one or two departures from Austerlitz Station in the 13th.

Tickets currently cost about €10 each way for second-class tickets (which often sell out almost instantly) and €21 each way for the pricier first-class tickets (which also may sell out for some departure times).

You can find details in the section about Chartres Cathedral near the end of my Day Trips from Paris article.

Be sure to book the train as early as possible in order to get the cheaper second-class tickets. 

The stained glass in the Cathedral is truly stunning - well-worth the short train ride to get there - and the small charming town of Chartres is fun to explore.  I hope you love it as much as I do!

---

How to Choose Your Own Paris Neighborhood Combination

Are you interested in splitting your Paris stay between two or more neighborhoods in order to get a broader sense of the city, but wondering which ones to choose? 

One approach is to start with your interests, and combine neighborhoods where you'll a variety of experiences linked by a common theme.

For example:

• For museums:  Louvre/Les Halles + Marais + 7th arrondissement + Trocadéro (16th)
• For art galleries:  Upper Marais (3rd arr) + Saint-Germain + 7th arr
• For a village vibe:  Montmartre + Latin Quarter + Batignolles (17th arr) + Passy (16th)
• For a trendier/contemporary vibe:  Oberkampf (11th) + Canal Saint-Martin (10th)
• For a medieval vibe:  Latin Quarter + Marais
• For food markets/cafés/shopping:  Upper Marais + Sentier (2nd) + Saint-Germain + Ternes (8th)/Batignolles

---

Practical Tips for Changing Hotels during a Paris Visit

My visits to Paris usually last anywhere between about a week and slightly more than a month, so that means that except for the very shortest trips of 7-8 days, I almost always split my trips between at least two neighborhoods. 

Here are some practical tips that I've learned that may help you:

Don't Change Hotels Too Often

Changing neighborhoods always takes me at least 3 hours, due to the process:  packing, checking out of my hotel, getting to the next hotel, checking in, and unpacking.  If I'm in Paris, you can be sure I'd rather be spending those 3+ hours enjoying the city vs the process that I just described. 

So for that reason alone, I try to spend at least 4 days, and ideally longer, between moves - especially since that's also the minimum amount of time, at least for me, to feel fully immersed and "at home" in a new neighborhood. 

My ideal time per neighborhood is 7-8 days, or even longer.

Be an Organized Packer

I swear by packing cubes to keep my things tidy and organized.  This shaves time off of packing and unpacking.  I use this packing cube set, which I've had for several years - they're cheap, and 6-piece set is sufficient for what I bring.  Needless to say - pack light!

Choose the Easiest Way to Get to Your Next Hotel 

Unless my next hotel is very close to the one I'm leaving (which has only happened once, when I moved from a Latin Quarter hotel to one on Ile Saint-Louis), I don't usually walk because the prevalence of cobblestone streets in some areas makes rolling a suitcase dicey. 

And I don't take the metro (although I'm on it daily for other destinations) because navigating the numerous stairs isn't easy with a bag (plus I always have an additional bag for my laptop). 

Ubers are the easiest, and usually arrive within a minute or two - so that's what I use.

Drop-Off Your Luggage Before Check-In

Since check out time for Paris hotels is typically 11am and check-in typically isn't until 3pm, I plan an activity such as lunch or perhaps a museum visit near the hotel I'll be checking into. 

When I leave my current hotel, I take my bags with me when I check out (vs having the hotel hold them for a few hours) and head immediately to the next hotel, where I ask the hotel to keep my bag until check-in time. 

Then, bag-free, I go enjoy the planned activity until check-in time, or even later. 

---

See Questions & Answers on Similar Topics

Wondering about specific neighborhoods for your Paris visit?  You'll find those Q&A archives here:

• Where to Stay in the Marais (placeholder: add links later)
• Where to Stay in Saint-Germain (placeholder: add links later)

Paris Neighborhoods & Hotels - Where to stay in Paris + choosing the right hotel

Paris Discoveries Q&A Archive - See Q&As on all topics

---

Paris Discovery Guide is a reader-supported publication.  If you purchase through our links, PDG may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.  Merci for your support!