Paris Day Trips: 4 Days Off the Path
Four days: Fontainebleau and Chartres for the quiet start, Versailles for the famous one, then Giverny if your dates land in season. This extends the 3-day route with exactly one more day; the 5-day version adds Disneyland Paris on top of this.
Lock in these bookings first
- Versailles timed Palace slot (Day 3), mandatory even with free admission, at chateauversailles.fr .
- Giverny day tour (Day 4), only runs late March through early November: a Giverny and Monet’s garden tour handles the seasonal Vernon shuttle for you.
- Check hotel rates near central Paris on Booking.com .
The four days at a glance
| Day | Focus | Travel time from Paris | One-way transport |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fontainebleau | About 40 min | Transilien R (Gare de Lyon) |
| 2 | Chartres | About 1 hr | TER (Montparnasse) |
| 3 | Versailles | 35-40 min | RER C |
| 4 | Giverny (seasonal) | 45 min + shuttle | Train to Vernon + Le Petit Train |
Day 1: Fontainebleau
Transilien R from Gare de Lyon, about 40 minutes, then a 14 to 15 minute bus to the gates. Chateau entry EUR17, gardens free, no timed ticket needed.
Day 2: Chartres
TER from Montparnasse, about an hour, fares from EUR12. The cathedral is free, 10 minutes from the station, and the whole day is really the cathedral plus lunch.
Day 3: Versailles
RER C, 35 to 40 minutes to Versailles Chateau Rive Gauche. Palace-only EUR21, Passport EUR25 low season or EUR35 high season. Timed Palace slot mandatory for every visitor, including free-admission ones. Closed Mondays.
Day 4: Giverny
Only open late March through early November, confirm the calendar before locking in this date. Train from Gare Saint-Lazare to Vernon, about 45 minutes for roughly EUR15, then the seasonal Petit Train shuttle (EUR5 one-way, EUR10 return) or a EUR20 taxi for the last stretch. Garden and house admission runs about EUR13.
What replaces Giverny if your dates miss the season?
Provins, the medieval walled town most Paris guides skip entirely: a direct hourly Transilien from Gare de l’Est, about 1 hour 20 minutes, free ramparts, and the Provins Pass (EUR16 online) if you want Tour Cesar too. It’s not on this specific four-day list, but it slots in cleanly without reshuffling Days 1 through 3.
Is four days too many gateway days without a city day mixed in?
Not if the point of this trip is the gateways specifically. Pair this route with a few days from our city itineraries either before or after if you want the Louvre and Montmartre folded in rather than skipped.
Check the Giverny season before you book anything else on Day 4, it’s the one date on this route that isn’t negotiable.