Day Trip to somewhere other than Paris?

[voodoo321]

Going for the first time next week and staying onsite. I've never been to France and already have a day trip planned for Paris. We have one potential day that I would like to use to experience something outside of the parks by train. I have some ideas but would appreciate any input I can get from the more knowledgable. Thanks.

 

[englanddg]

If you want a rather long..."day"...

My last trip planned, last year, (which, didn't happen, for reasons I won't get into) I planned a trip over to CERN.

https://visit.cern/tours

My thought was to go for one of the self guided options, though they do run guided tours throughout the day on schedules...I figured I would look into those when I got there, so as to not weigh down my schedule.

You can take the train from DLP to Paris, and then from there to Geneva. Takes about 4 - 5 hours.

You can also find cheap flights that take about an hour, but travelling the countryside by train was part of my plan when I mapped it out, so that was "part of the experience" I was looking for, as well as notching up an extra country (Switzerland), another world city (Geneva) and a unique experience with some educational value in a topic that I find interesting (CERN).

It's a VERY early morning, and a late evening, but you can nap on the train.

 

[voodoo321]

Thanks. That would be interesting. The Swiss Alps would be my choice if I had a few extra days. I should have been more specific though. Just somewhere to experience France outside of Paris, small town, chateau, historic site, that is within a easy 2 hour train ride.

 

[englanddg]

Thanks. That would be interesting. The Swiss Alps would be my choice if I had a few extra days. I should have been more specific though. Just somewhere to experience France outside of Paris, small town, chateau, historic site, that is within a easy 2 hour train ride.

Mont Saint-Michel perhaps?

 

[voodoo321]

This is my first opportunity to visit Europe and I chose to spend at least half of my time at Disney. I make no apologies for that, nor should I here, but I don't want to squander the opportunity to see more. I don't plan on this being my one and only trip to Europe though. I hope things allow me to get back next year and I plan on a 1/3 of my time being spent in some other theme parks.

 

[englanddg]

This is my first opportunity to visit Europe and I chose to spend at least half of my time at Disney. I make no apologies for that, nor should I here, but I don't want to squander the opportunity to see more. I don't plan on this being my one and only trip to Europe though. I hope things allow me to get back next year and I plan on a 1/3 of my time being spent in some other theme parks.

Frankly, there is enough to do and see in Paris to eat up 2 whole days. Look into shows, nightlife, tours, museums, etc... Some really interesting things around the city, outside of the standards stuff. Lots of history.

A good place to look for simple day trip ideas is to go to Travel by Disney. Not that you should use their services (not that you shouldn't, but they are...pricey)...but, they have itineraries, etc., that make it easy to get an idea on what they consider possible with day trips, departing from DLP, and you can use that as a starting point for your own ideas / plans.

Anyhow, I'm out of ideas, but good luck! I'm sure you'll have an amazing trip!

 

[voodoo321]

Mont-Saint-Michel was on my short list. Just not sure how convenient it is to get there.(transfer from train to tour bus or taxi) etc. I can do the research. This one extra day just presented itself and I hoped I could get some tips and ideas. I re-watched Impressions de France on Youtube today to get ideas too. haha

 

[voodoo321]

Thanks so much. An extra day in Paris makes a lot of sense too.

 

[englanddg]

Don't forget how good the google maps direction system has gotten for Europe.

You can literally type in "train from Disneyland Paris to Rennes", for example (to get to Mont Saint-Michel, and it will scour the schedule for you if you select the train option. Even more so if you then limit it to train only (click details).

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Dis....6777926!2d48.117266!2m2!5e2!8j1510712713!3e3

 

[voodoo321]

I'm sold after watching the clip.

 

[voodoo321]

I started doing the google maps thing today. Just haven't researched the actual locations much at all. I had only been focused on Disneyland and Paris thus far. Your info is a great jump start. M-S-M makes the most sense. I've always wanted to go to Chenonceau from seeing it in IdF too.

 

[englanddg]

I'm sold after watching the clip.

You can take the train from DLP to Paris...give yourself about an hour for that, I'd reckon. Then from there the TGV (yas, speed!) to Rennes. From the Rennes station, there are shuttle busses that depart all day that will take you to Saint-Michel.

http://www.destination-montsaintmichel.com/en/mont-saint-michel-prices-p0-C23.html

 

[englanddg]

I started doing the google maps thing today. Just haven't researched the actual locations much at all. I had only been focused on Disneyland and Paris thus far. Your info is a great jump start. M-S-M makes the most sense. I've always wanted to go to Chenonceau from seeing it in IdF too.

I had a whole lot of fun trying to plan in my "non-Disney" days. I found Google's tools very useful.

Unfortunately, that trip didn't happen, so I can't give you first hand feedback (I'm sure some of the European based wdwmagic peeps will chime in? @marni1971 , @wdwmagic pop to mind...though they are not France based)...

Here's another guy I really liked, who has interesting ideas and tips:



Be sure to look at his other videos...this is just one I linked where he talks about things that may be pertinent to your aims.

 

[GenerationX]

I'm not sure how long it will take by train as we drove through Europe, but the Chateau de Chambord ... c'est magnifique! Earlier in our trip we had visited Neuschwanstein Castle, so we hit the two big Cinderella Castle inspirations.

 

[Robbiem]

What about Brussels - an easy day trip from the DLP resort by high speed train. Belgium is a very laid back underrated country which is well worth a visit and if you like eating it has great fries and chocolate

Strasbourg is another great choice very olde worlde (think fantasyland) located on the French / German boarder

 

[Robbiem]

My bf and I are thinking about going to Europe next year. It will be my first time and I want to go to Paris, half for the city and half for Disney. My bf is against it and doesn't want to go to Europe to go to a theme park. I can kind of see his point of view but omg I'm dying to go to all the Disney parks lol. Have fun!!

DLP is a fun excursion from Paris which is a great city to visit. I wouldn't come all the way to Europe just for Disney but as a side trip it's a good change from all the historical and cultural sites of Paris and you get to see how Europeans experience Disney which is a bit different to in the us. If you stay in the right area of Paris it's less than an hour from the central area so isn't that much longer than a WDW bus transport!!

 

[Lucky]

I'd either spend a 2nd day in Paris or go to Versailles.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

I wouldn't make it too complicated and cumbersome.

Paris, Versailles, Mont-Saint-Michel and the Loire Valley castles (Chenonceau and Chambord are the top picks and can be combined). Pretty much fairy-tale France. What you want to see if you are only ever going to spend a few days in France. The first two are easy to reach from DLP, the latter two take a few hours traveling but are doable.

If you are a theme park buff, Parc Astérix just to the north of Paris is terrific!

 

[JayJay2018]

Part Asterix is 100% worth a trip and isn’t that far either. Check it out here https://www.parcasterix.fr/

 

[EPCOTCenterLover]

French version of Magic Mountain.