Our most recommended things to do in Normandy

Mont Saint-Michel: Entry Ticket to Mont-Saint-Michel Abbey

1. Mont Saint-Michel: Entry Ticket to Mont-Saint-Michel Abbey

Discover one of the world's first UNESCO World Heritage Sites with a visit to Mont-Saint-Michel abbey. Explore the site with a self-guided tour aided by an information booklet and learn the fascinating history of the site entirely at your own pace. The worship of Saint Michel was introduced on the holy mount in 708 and it became one of the most important places of medieval pilgrimage. Benedictine Monks began building an abbey here in the 10th century.   The abbey has withstood the assaults of man, time, and the elements. The heroic resistance of the mount to English attacks during the Hundred Years’ War (14th and 15th centuries) made it a symbol of French national identity.  Monks left the abbey in 1790 and it was listed as a historic monument in 1874. The whole site has been returned to its former glory thanks to ongoing restoration work.

Day Trip to Mont-Saint-Michel from Paris

2. Day Trip to Mont-Saint-Michel from Paris

Travel through Normandy on the way to the medieval Mont-St-Michel on a day trip from Paris aboard an air-conditioned bus. Choose to go alone, with a live guide, or with an audio guide. Discover the UNESCO-listed island and its Gothic abbey. Learn of its fascinating history and legendary stories. Depart Paris and travel through the French countryside by an air-conditioned bus to the amazing fortified city of Mont Saint-Michel off the Normandy coast. Sit back and relax and get stunning views of the countryside along the way. Stop for a break at a nearby village dating back to the days of the Normans, and stroll the winding streets and narrow pathways to find the best views of the bay. Continue to the mouth of the Couesnon River, where Mont-Saint-Michel was built on an islet just a few hundred meters from the mainland. Spend the afternoon exploring the remarkable monuments of the walled city, classified as a world heritage site by UNESCO since 1979. Take time to discover the rocky islet at your own pace. Climb along the ramparts to make your way up to the abbey at the top of the town. Visit the Abbey of Mont-Saint-Michel with an included entrance ticket. this Benedictine building has played a vital role in the history of the commune and the feudal society it represents. Marvel at this magnificent example of Gothic architecture from the early 13th century. Admire views of the surrounding bay before leaving Mont-Saint-Michel in the late afternoon. Be driven back to the French capital to get dropped off at the starting point.

From Paris: Giverny Day Trip with Audio Guide or Live Guide

3. From Paris: Giverny Day Trip with Audio Guide or Live Guide

Enjoy a half-day trip to the former home of Claude Monet, one of the most famous painters of French Impressionism. Located in the tiny hamlet of Giverny on the banks of the River Seine, 50 miles west of Paris, the house and gardens were bequeathed to the Académie des Beaux-Arts by his son in 1966. They were opened as a public museum in 1980 following large-scale restoration work. Depending on the option you choose, your tour will either be guided, audio-guided or at your own leisure.  Depart Paris and travel by comfortable air-conditioned coach. As there is no direct public transport to Giverny, this is the ideal way to get there. You will drive via the western districts of Paris and take the Normandy motorway as far as Bonnières. After crossing the River Seine at Vernon, continue to Giverny through the wooded plateaus of Eure. Giverny attracted several Impressionist painters in the 19th-Century, most following the lead of the movement’s founder, Claude Monet, who lived there for 43 years. Visit the Master’s house, where the spectacular colors and enchanting garden were designed like a work of art. Be dazzled by the flowerbeds and plants and get a sense of the artist’s feelings and inspirations as you stand in front of the famous water lilies and weeping willows in the delightful water garden.

From Paris: Mont Saint Michel Day Trip with a Guide

4. From Paris: Mont Saint Michel Day Trip with a Guide

Visit Mont Saint-Michel on a guided day trip from Paris. Discover the highlights with your guide before taking an audio-guided tour of Mont-Saint-Michel Abbey. Enjoy some free time after to explore on your own. From Paris, board a private coach to the island of Mont Saint Michel. On the journey, listen as your guide provides interesting stories from the history of the abbey. Follow your guide on an orientation tour to ensure you see the most important attractions, including the hilltop Abbey of Mont Saint Michel. Enjoy a few hours at your leisure to explore the abbey and soak up the splendor of its interior with an audio guide tour, or stroll in the picturesque streets. Choose from a variety of lunch options ranging from dining rooms with rustic meat to sophisticated restaurants with bay view terraces specializing in seafood. Or, stop by one of the Mont Saint Michel's creperies to feast on galettes (buckwheat pancakes) with Normandy cider. In the late afternoon, board the coach for a return journey to Paris.

From Paris: Giverny w/ Monet’s House & Gardens Half-Day Tour

5. From Paris: Giverny w/ Monet’s House & Gardens Half-Day Tour

Embark on a journey to Claude Monet’s bloom-bursting estate at Giverny and learn about the hugely influential Impressionist art movement. Travel from Paris to the quaint country village of Giverny by air-conditioned coach. On the drive, which takes around an hour, your guide will explain the day’s agenda. Your first stop is the Fondation Claude Monet where you’ll be treated to a brief but informative introduction to the estate where the Impressionist master made his home. After the orientation tour, you can explore the House and Gardens of Monet at your leisure using a convenient self-guided audio app. Stroll around the lily pad-peppered ponds of the garden that were made famous by Monet’s own masterpieces. Admire the fabulous explosion of blooms and make your way around the artist’s ivy-clad house which has been restored to show how it would have appeared during the painter’s lifetime. You can also grab lunch in one of the town’s tranquil bars or restaurants. After lunch, regroup and make the short trip back to Paris with enough time to spare for you to enjoy another fun-filled activity in Paris. Take advantage of this unparallel experience to one of France's most photographable and unique destinations.

Giverny: Monet’s House and Gardens Skip-the-Line Tour

6. Giverny: Monet’s House and Gardens Skip-the-Line Tour

Stroll the streets of the charming village of Giverny and discover the grave of Claude Monet in the churchyard. Then, skip the long lines to Monet's house and gardens to hear the story of the artist's life and how he led the Impressionist movement from the village between 1883 and 1926. Learn how artists such as John Singer Sargent, Paul Cézanne and Mary Cassatt joined him in the sleepy village to form an unofficial artists’ colony. Be enchanted by the ponds and gardens that inspired his paintings, and see the Japanese bridge and lilies of the Oriental water garden. Savor the scent of flowers in season, such as wild roses, hollyhocks, poppies and honeysuckle.  Admire the water lilies and weeping willows, instantly recognizable from his classic paintings and look inside the thatched roof house to find the cheerful kitchen and his collection of 18th and 19th century Japanese prints.

From Paris: Guided Day Trip to Monet's Garden in Giverny

7. From Paris: Guided Day Trip to Monet's Garden in Giverny

Explore the beautiful village and home in Upper Normandy where the Impressionist artists, Claude Monet spent the last 40 years of his life. Visit the charming village of Giverny, and discover why it proved such a source of inspiration for Impressionist artists. Following your transfer from Paris, look inside the house where Monet lived and worked. Set within an exquisite valley of the River Seine, the gardens and surroundings formed a great part of the subject matter for his paintings after he moved there in 1883. Once you have seen the rooms where the artist lived with his family, stroll through 2 unique gardens that Monet designed and modified throughout his life. See more than 100 different types of flowers, and intertwined foliage in Monet’s Flower Garden. Then, feel as if you have stepped into one of his paintings in the Japanese Garden. Go to the lake full of water lilies, and get a better appreciation of why Monet used this garden as the inspiration for over 250 of his paintings.

From Paris: Giverny and Versailles Palace Guided Day Trip

8. From Paris: Giverny and Versailles Palace Guided Day Trip

Take a guided tour of Monet’s Giverny estate and the Palace of Versailles on this day tour from Paris by air-conditioned coach. Save time with skip-the-line entrance to the Château de Versailles and its elegant garden.  Be picked up from a centrally-located meeting point in Paris and board a spacious coach. Stop at the Monet Foundation for a short introduction to the estate. Take a walk around the lily pad pond and visit the artist’s ivy-clad house. Take a break in town where you can purchase a delicious lunch. Sit back and take in the views on the short drive to Versailles, a perfectly preserved example of French royal extravagance. Breeze past the long lines at Versailles with your fast-tracked entrance. Explore the this famous palace and follow your guide on a tour of the rooms where Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette threw lavish soirées. Visit the private royal chambers. Enjoy a short tour of the gardens and then have the freedom to appreciate them further at your leisure. Depending on the day, you may experience the Fountain Show or the Musical Gardens. Hop back on the bus and relax on the transfer back to your meeting point in Paris.

Versailles-Giverny Day Tour with Lunch at Moulin de Fourges

9. Versailles-Giverny Day Tour with Lunch at Moulin de Fourges

A day of unforgettable impressions awaits you outside Paris at legendary Versailles and the home of Claude Monet. Meet at the meeting point in Paris then get taken to Giverny, the village where Monet produced some of the world's most beautiful landscape paintings. See the gardens the so-called Father of Impressionism magically recreated on canvas, with their trademark water lilies and Japanese bridge. A complimentary 3-course lunch at the renowned Moulin de Fourges restaurant will provide the perfect opportunity to rest and savor what you saw along with fine gourmet food. The second part of the day takes you to Versailles, where reality might exceed your idea of how kings and queens once lived. Spend an hour wandering about the Grand Apartments of the king and queen, and the famous Hall of Mirrors. Outside discover the famous palace gardens, the marble Grand Trianon palace retreat and Marie Antoinette's Hamlet.

Normandy: Jardins d'Etretat Self-Guided Visit

10. Normandy: Jardins d'Etretat Self-Guided Visit

Visit the Les Jardins d’Etretat which combines classical gardening methods with neo-futuristic architectural vision. Discover a complex of seven gardens, each of them with their own character, purpose, atmosphere, range of plants, and sculptures. Appreciate the natural beauty of Normandy embodied in plants of different forms and shapes representing the waves of the English Channel, oyster farms, rock formations, and arches of the Alabaster coast. Les Jardins d'Étretat is also an open-air museum of contemporary art, which features a unique collection of objects. In addition to the permanent collection, explore the various temporary exhibitions of contemporary sculpture. The modern art collections are in the architectural core of the garden and represent its artistic integrity. Step out on the main terrace of Les Jardins d'Étretatwhich provides a panoramic view of the ocean and Etretat Cliffs. Iconic artist Claude Monet spent many long hours at this place working on his series of paintings. Explore the garden at your own pace. At the entrance, you will receive an information plan which will help you to discover each part of this wonderful site.

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What people are saying about Normandy

Overall rating

4.5 / 5

based on 7,082 reviews

Our guide Raymond was very friendly and made our trip very enjoyable. It is 4.5 hours bus ride from Paris and we got 3 hours to stay in Mont Saint Michel. As it was off- season, it was not crowded at all and it was really nice. But if you are planning to visit during off-season, please note that only few stores and restaurants are open. It is worth the visit even during winter. Mont Saint Michel was truly one and only, there are no simpler place like it. Make sure to pack warm clothes+windproof items. It is very windy.

Even though it is an expensive trip, it is worth the money! It is great learning about so much history and being able to see it first handed! However, I will be honest and it was very rushed. I am glad we were able to go, but it is very quick and there is not enough time to read everything and fully appreciate the museum. The lunch was great, but I just wish I could of had another hour or two at the museum to fully take it all in.

This is a great trip to see Normandy in a quick way. Kind of quick moving but just enough time atveach stop. Our guide Amad was great. The visit to taste cider was a treat.

Excellent tour. Small group allowed us to get to know each other a bit, and our guide was outstanding. Very knowledgeable, kind, and gracious.

It was Phenomenal! A must! A tremendous tour guide, who engulfs you with knowledge and allows you to be free with your time on the tour!