Three royal and princely châteaux, a painter's garden, a great cathedral and a walled medieval town, all within an hour and a half of Paris by train. Train times are typical scheduled journey times from the Île-de-France Mobilités open timetable data, which also lists the TER Normandie and TER Centre-Val de Loire trains to Giverny and Chartres, from the Paris station named in each entry. Car times are estimates from a routing engine on OpenStreetMap data and assume free-flowing roads, so add time at weekends.
Versailles
Photo: Catalin M / Pexels, Pexels License
25 to 35 minRER C from the Left Bank stations (Champ de Mars, Invalides, Musée d'Orsay) to Versailles Château Rive Gauche, a ten-minute walk from the palace
about 40 min
The palace Louis XIV built to keep the nobility under his eye: the Hall of Mirrors, the royal apartments and gardens by Le Nôtre that go on for kilometres. Marie-Antoinette's hamlet and the Trianon palaces lie at the far end.
Tip: The palace is closed on Mondays and the queue peaks in mid-morning, so arrive for 9 am with a booked ticket. The Passport covers palace, Trianon and gardens and costs €35 from April to October and €25 from November to March. The Trianon estate opens at 12 pm, or at 10 am in July and August, which suits the afternoon, and a separate ticket costs €15 in season. The gardens open at 8 am and close at 6 pm from November to March and at 8.30 pm from April to October. They are free, except on Musical Fountains Show and Musical Gardens days in the April to October season, when a ticket is charged and the Passport includes it. From the palace to the Trianon is a 30-minute walk, so plan for it.
about 40 minfrom Gare de Lyon to Fontainebleau–Avon, then a local bus to the château
about 1 h 5 min
A château used by French rulers from the Middle Ages to Napoleon III, so each wing is in a different style. The horseshoe staircase, Napoleon's rooms and a pond of old carp are the highlights, and the forest around it is where Parisian climbers go to boulder.
Tip: It is far quieter than Versailles on the same day, which is the whole argument for choosing it. Allow an hour for the rooms and the rest for the park and the pond. The château closes one day a week, so look at the official site before you set off, and walk into the forest if you have time left.
about 46 min to 1 h 4 minfast TER from Saint-Lazare to Vernon–Giverny, the station a few kilometres from the garden
about 1 h 10 min
Claude Monet's house and garden, where the water-lily paintings began. The pond and the Japanese bridge are smaller than you expect and busier; the house and the flower beds in front of it are where to linger.
Tip: The garden keeps a warm-season calendar, so check the dates on the Fondation Claude Monet before you choose a day. Arrive for opening or after three in the afternoon, because coach groups fill the middle of the day. Hire a bicycle at the station for the last stretch rather than waiting for a taxi.
about 47 to 52 minRER D from Gare du Nord to Chantilly-Gouvieux, then a walk through the town
about 55 min
A château on an island in a moat, home to the Condé princes, with the Musée Condé's paintings, great stables built for horses and a park with a formal garden by Le Nôtre. Chantilly is also known for its racecourse and its whipped cream.
Tip: Check the days and hours on the Domaine de Chantilly site before you go, since the château, the stables and the park keep separate schedules. Give the day to the château and the gardens, and keep lunch for the town rather than the palace café.
Photo: Lajos Kristóf Kántor / Pexels, Pexels License
58 min to 1 h 22 minTER from Gare Montparnasse
about 1 h 15 min
The cathedral is the reason to come: a Gothic building of the early 13th century on the UNESCO list, with stained glass that mostly survived the centuries. The lanes of the old town run down to the river Eure below it.
Tip: Go on a bright morning, because the glass is the point and a grey day flattens it. Allow time to walk down into the lower town and along the river. The tourist office has the cathedral's visiting times and what else is on in town.
about 1 h 21 min to 1 h 23 mindirect from Gare de l'Est
about 1 h 20 min
A medieval town on the UNESCO list, with ramparts, cellars and the Tour César, a keep above the lower town. In the 12th and 13th centuries it was one of the Champagne fair towns, and that wealth built what you see.
Tip: This is the trip for travellers who want a medieval town without coach parties. Trains take well over an hour, so leave early and check the last train back before you settle into lunch. Provins Tourisme lists opening hours and the shows that run in season.
