Paris Day Trips: 5 Days Beyond the City
Five days, five day trips, and the city itself sits this one out entirely (start with our Paris itinerary if you want the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower). This plan covers Versailles, Disneyland Paris, Giverny, Reims, and Fontainebleau, the five gateways that reliably return you to Paris the same night. Need more days? The 6-day and 7-day versions add Chartres and Bayeux on top of this same spine; want fewer, drop to the 3-day .
Book these before you go
- Versailles Palace timed slot (Day 1) - mandatory even for free-admission visitors, book on chateauversailles.fr first.
- Disneyland Paris dated park ticket (Day 2) - book ahead for the lower price tier rather than paying gate rates.
- Reims/Champagne house tour (Day 4) - a Champagne day tour needs booking weeks out in summer.
The five 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 |
| 5 | Fontainebleau | 40 min | Transilien R |
Day 1: Versailles
RER C reaches Versailles Château Rive Gauche in 35-40 minutes (check current schedules on iledefrance-mobilites.fr ), then it’s an 8-10 minute walk to the gates. The Palace-only ticket is EUR21; the Passport, adding the Trianon estate and gardens, is EUR25 low season or EUR35 high season. Everyone, including free-admission visitors, needs a timed Palace slot, so book this before the other four days. Closed Mondays.
Day 2: Disneyland Paris
RER A direct from Châtelet-Les Halles takes 35-40 minutes. A 1-Park 1-Day ticket booked ahead starts around EUR56-62; the same ticket at the gate on a peak day runs much higher. Disney Adventure World’s March 2026 relaunch added World of Frozen next to Avengers Campus. The train fare is never bundled with the park ticket.
Day 3: Giverny
Open late March through early November only, so confirm the season first. The train from Gare Saint-Lazare to Vernon takes about 45 minutes (roughly EUR15), then a shuttle (EUR5 one-way) or EUR20 taxi covers the last stretch. Garden and house admission is around EUR13. Late spring brings both the best blooms and the biggest crowds, so go early.
Day 4: Reims and the Champagne houses
TGV from Gare de l’Est takes about 45 minutes, fares from EUR18 to EUR75. Add the cathedral, one or two house tours, and lunch, and budget EUR180-250 for the full day. Book house tours weeks ahead in summer since this is a splurge day rather than a casual one.
Day 5: Fontainebleau
Transilien R from Gare de Lyon takes about 40 minutes; the chateau is EUR14 and the gardens are free. It’s the quieter, cheaper Versailles alternative, with fewer showpiece rooms but also a fraction of the crowd, a good way to close out the week.
Is five days of day trips too many, or too few?
Five is the sweet spot for a first visit: enough to cover the Palace of Versailles, one theme park day, a seasonal garden, a splurge day, and a relaxed closer, without repeating the same RER lines twice in one trip. Fewer than five and you’ll likely have to cut either Giverny or Reims; more than five is where Chartres and Bayeux earn their place instead.
What if Giverny is closed when you’re travelling?
Swap Day 3 for a second Fontainebleau-style day, either Chartres if you don’t mind adding it early, or a slower morning in central Paris. Giverny closes completely from early November through late March, and there’s no substitute garden on this list that opens in winter.
Buy your Reims TGV ticket a few weeks ahead rather than a few days; the price difference between early and last-minute booking on this route is often EUR30 or more each way.