Paris Day Trips: 4 Days Beyond the City
Four days, four day trips, and central Paris doesn’t get a single stop (that’s what our Paris itinerary is for). This plan runs Versailles, Disneyland Paris, Giverny, and Reims back to back from one hotel. Have a fifth or sixth day to add? See the 5-day and 6-day versions, which extend this same spine rather than starting over. Tighter on time, the 3-day drops the splurge day.
Book these before you go
- Versailles Palace timed slot (Day 1) - mandatory even with free admission, book on chateauversailles.fr before the rest of this trip.
- Disneyland Paris dated park ticket (Day 2) - book online ahead for the lower price tier.
- Reims/Champagne house tour (Day 4) - a Champagne day tour sells out weeks ahead in summer.
The four days at a glance
| Day | Day trip | Travel time from Paris | One-way transport |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Versailles | 35-40 min | RER C |
| 2 | Disneyland Paris | 35-40 min | RER A |
| 3 | Giverny (seasonal) | 45 min + shuttle | Train to Vernon + Le Petit Train |
| 4 | Reims/Champagne | 45 min | TGV |
Day 1: Versailles
RER C to Versailles Château Rive Gauche takes 35-40 minutes (check current schedules on iledefrance-mobilites.fr ), then an 8-10 minute walk to the gates. Palace-only entry is EUR21; the Passport, with the Trianon estate and gardens, is EUR25 low season or EUR35 high season. The timed Palace slot is mandatory for everyone, free-admission visitors included, so book it before you book anything else in this trip. Closed Mondays.
Day 2: Disneyland Paris
RER A direct from Châtelet-Les Halles runs 35-40 minutes to Marne-la-Vallée-Chessy. A 1-Park 1-Day ticket booked ahead starts around EUR56-62. Disney Adventure World’s March 2026 relaunch added World of Frozen alongside Avengers Campus. Buy your RER ticket separately; it’s never bundled into the park ticket.
Day 3: Giverny
Open only late March through early November, so check the season before you lock this day in. Train from Gare Saint-Lazare to Vernon takes about 45 minutes (roughly EUR15), then a seasonal shuttle (EUR5 one-way) or EUR20 taxi covers the final stretch to Monet’s garden. Admission is about EUR13. Go early if you’re travelling April through June, the peak bloom and peak crowd window at once.
Day 4: Reims and the Champagne houses
TGV from Gare de l’Est takes about 45 minutes, fares from EUR18 to EUR75 depending how far ahead you book. Once you add the cathedral, one or two house tours, and lunch, budget EUR180-250 for the day. Book house tours weeks ahead in summer, since this is the splurge day of the trip, not a casual add-on.
Is four days enough to see Paris’s best day trips?
It covers the two unmissable ones (Versailles and Disneyland, if you have kids or just like the parks) plus one seasonal highlight and one splurge day. What it skips is the quieter, cheaper alternatives, Fontainebleau and Chartres, which only earn a slot once Versailles’s crowds have worn you down on a longer trip.
Should Reims come before or after Giverny?
Either order works, but putting Reims last, as this plan does, means your one intentionally expensive day closes the trip rather than setting an anchor budget for the rest of it. If money is tighter, swap Reims for a second Fontainebleau-style rest day and treat this as a three-gateway trip.
Reserve your Reims TGV a few weeks out rather than a few days; last-minute fares on this route routinely run EUR30 or more above an early booking.