There’s so much to do in Paris, you could easily spend a week (or longer) here. However, thanks to France’s AMAZING public transit system, it’s incredibly easy to visit places both near Paris and on the other side of the country. I love being able to hop on a train and visit gorgeous castles, quaint villages, and even vineyards during the day and be back in Paris by the evening. I want you to be able to do the same, so I’ve designed this guide to take you through how to travel around France from Paris, whether you’re doing it by yourself or getting a little help on a guided excursion.
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How to get to nearby attractions for a day trip from Paris
Paris is within a region (like a state or province) called Île-de-France. You can kinda consider it as the greater metropolitan area of Paris. It’s pretty compact, at around 50 square kilometers (20 square miles), but there are DOZENS of fabulous places to visit that are outside of the capital. Some of the top day trips are the historic castles of Versailles, Fontainebleau, and Vaux-le-Vicomte as well as the super cute villages of Provins and Auvers-sur-Oise (where van Gogh once lived and a personal favorite of mine).
These destinations are in our 6-day Paris Itinerary as well as available in our Paris Day Trips Guide. In both, we go into full detail on each place, including how to get there, advice for making the most of your limited time, attractions to visit plus great spots to eat and drink while you’re there. If you’re set on doing a day trip during your Paris adventure, then definitely grab our Day Trips Guide written by me.
Disneyland Paris is also located in Île-de-France and I’ve actually created a separate guide to help you get there.
RER and Transilien trains
As I mentioned above, there’s great public transport to get from Paris around Île-de-France and the most used are two types of trains: the RER and Transilien.
The RER system consists of suburban commuter train lines that go underground within Paris and directly connect with the subway (le métro). Each RER line has a letter from A to E.
The Transilien system has larger trains that depart from above ground platforms at Paris’s train stations (gare in French) and Transilien trains tend to go further into Île-de-France than the RER does. All of Paris’s train stations, like Gare du Nord and Gare de Lyon, have both RER and Transilien trains, which can lead to a bit of confusion.
However, you don’t need to worry about figuring out which one you need to use, just put your destination into Google Maps or Citymapper and it’ll give you the best options. It’s just good for you to know the difference so you’re not surprised if you have to leave the underground métro-RER station to reach the Transilien train platforms. Within the métro-RER stations there are signs to guide you to these.
Image Courtesy of Île-de-France Mobilités via Facebook
How to get tickets for Paris day trips, and what they cost
As I’m writing this for you in 2025, they’ve just announced that it’s just one price to go anywhere in Île-de-France (except the airports) and it’s super cheap too. As long as you stay within the métro, RER, and Transilien systems, a one-way ticket is only €2.50 for adults and €1.25 for kids 9-4 and free for 3 and under. So taking a little day trip, as long as you stay within Île-de-France, is really affordable.
There’s a small caveat: if you take a bus afterward, you’ll need a new ticket. Honestly though, it’s unlikely you’ll need to take a bus, but just in case, it’s good for you to know this. Tickets are only €2-€2.50.
The easiest way to purchase and use transit tickets, for any of the above means of transport, is through the Bonjour RATP app. It’s available on Apple and Android devices and it also works on your Apple watch.
If you’d rather not rely on using your device (maybe you worry that your battery might get low), you can instead get a Navigo Easy card. This is a rechargeable plastic card, the size of a credit card, that you can load tickets onto. It costs a one-time fee of €2 and is available from a ticket counter agent inside many metro stations and from newer ticket vending machines. Each card is valid only for one individual, so if you’re two travelers or more, you’ll each need a card.
Paris also has unlimited transit passes for tourists, called Paris Visite, but IMO, these aren’t worth getting. You’d have to use public transport at least 7 times a day or travel to and from the airport within the duration of your pass (and then, still use it a lot) to make it worth the cost. That’s why I just recommend you get single tickets and top up on them as you need.
How to get to other regions of France from Paris by public transport
You’ve got a few options to travel from Paris to places outside Île-de-France. The most popular is by train, but there are some other super affordable ways, like by bus or rideshare. So let’s dive into each option and then you’ll know which one is best for you.
Traveling around France by train
Just like in and around Paris, there’s an affordable and easy-to-use train system that can take you all around France. Also similar to Paris, the national system has two categories of trains: regional and high-speed.
Regional trains go at a regular speed (similar to a car) and stop at smaller towns, like Vernon where you can get to Giverny. High-speed trains usually only travel between mid to large cities, such as Bordeaux, Lyon, Marseille, Toulouse, Reims, and Tours.
In the past, the whole system was managed by the SNCF, France’s national train company, but in the last couple of years, a few other companies have been introduced, so you might run into different names as you’re searching around. The most common you’ll come across are TGV INOUI (classic high-speed trains) and OUIGO (low-cost high-speed trains, not as widespread as TGV).
Like I recommended with the Paris regional trains, don’t get bogged down with names. Just use the SNCF Connect or Omio website or app and they’ll give you the different options available for your destination. You can then make your decision based on the departure times and the price of the tickets. Regional trains tend to have a set price that never changes, but they occasionally have sales. Whereas, high-speed trains have dynamic pricing (which changes based on demand) as well as frequent deal offers, so ticket prices can vary dramatically. I’ve paid €15 to get all the way to the other side of the country before, but it can also be €150 if it’s during the holidays.
Just be a little careful with OUIGO. Because it’s cheaper, you have to pay a bit more for “extras” like larger suitcases and seats with a plug. The cancellation/refund policy varies too, so be sure to read the conditions before purchasing. Plus, on OUIGO trains there’s no café, so pick up some snacks and drinks at the station before boarding, since those train rides can be long to be hungry or thirsty.
Image Courtesy of Flixbus via Facebook
Traveling around France by bus
If you’re on a tight budget, buses are the cheapest way to get between Paris and other French cities. Low-cost bus companies, like FlixBus and BlaBlaCar buses, travel between European cities and stop in dozens of French cities along their routes. Rates can be as low as €2.99 (they have dynamic pricing too), so they’re super affordable, however, they’re also pretty slow.
But if you’re not in a hurry, taking buses can save you a LOT. You can get your ticket directly on the websites of these companies. SNCF Connect and Omio also list and sell these tickets for these two companies, so using one of those can be a good way to compare prices between your different options.
The inter-city bus station in Paris is a little tricky to find. In French, it’s called the Gare Routière Paris Bercy Seine and it’s located in an underpass near the Accor Arena at Bercy in the 12th arrondissement in eastern Paris (the official address is 208 – 210 Quai de Bercy 75012 Paris). The métro station Bercy is right nearby and there’s signage to get you to the station, but you might want to check its location on Google Maps or Citymapper and give yourself a little extra time to find it so you don’t miss your bus.
Traveling around France by rideshare
In addition to all these regular types of transport, there’s one other way you might want to think about, especially if you’re on a tight budget… and that’s ride-sharing. I’m not talking about Uber and other similar companies, but good ol’ fashion sharing a ride with someone driving between two destinations. Thanks to modern technology, you can easily find rides to nearby and far destinations in France through a company called BlablaCar.
It’s pretty popular here and it’s definitely one of the cheapest ways to travel around France from Paris. In my opinion, it’s also very safe because drivers have been verified by BlablaCar, have ratings, and there’s a record of your ride.
All you need to do is put in your start and end points and date into BlablaCar’s search box and it’ll show you if drivers have posted a ride. If not, you can try to post one and see if a driver is interested. The departure time and cost are also listed, as well as the type of car and how many other passengers there are, which can be really handy in case you’d rather not be alone with the driver. Either way, it could be a good way to practice your French too, but you don’t really need any language skills to use this option.
The rides are almost always cheaper than the train, although the downside is that you often need to travel to the edge of Paris to pick up your ride. So I recommend checking the pick-up and drop-off places before you confirm your reservation. There are usually various rides for similar dates and times, so you’ll want to pick the one leaving from the closest point to where you’re staying.
How to have a stress-free Paris day trip
If you’d like a little more help with deciding which day trip to take from Paris and have all the instructions on how to get there, what to see, and where to eat, grab our Paris Day Trips Guide, which I carefully curated and wrote with my decades of experience living in and writing about Paris.
The Paris Day Trips Guide is PACKED with really helpful info and is designed for you to have a seamless and really great excursion to the best day trip destinations from Paris, from castles of kings to the wine cellars of Champagne.
The best guided excursions from Paris
If you’re still feeling a tad intimidated by the thought of doing a day trip on your own or just want a hassle free-excursion that picks you up and drops you off at your hotel (or a convenient meeting place in central Paris), then I’d recommend you book a guided excursion.
While these are more expensive than doing it all yourself, in addition to having the smart and knowledgeable insights of your own personal tour guide, you’ll have everything taken care of for you, from skip-the-line entrance tickets to super comfy and convenient transportation. You just sometimes need to pay for a few extras, like meals.
Here are some guided day trips from Paris that I can recommend:
Versailles
France’s most famous castle is located about 30 minutes from central Paris. The complex is HUGE so you’ll definitely make the most of your time by going with a guide, like on this half-day excursion. Skip-the-line tickets are included and your guide will tell you all about the castle’s history, design, and some cheeky stories about the antics the royals got up to here.
Other fantastic castles near Paris – Fontainebleau and Vaux-le-Vicomte
Versailles is pretty spectacular, but it can also get insanely CROWDED. So if dealing with hoards of people doesn’t sound like a great way to spend your day out of Paris, you might prefer to visit a different nearby castle, and Fontainebleau and Vaux-Vicomte are two of the nicest. They aren’t too far away from each other and both are visited on this full-day excursion.
The art villages of Giverny and Auvers-sur-Oise
Located northwest of Paris, the pretty hamlet of Giverny is where Claude Monet lived and painted. His house and gardens are open to the public and are a must if you love his work, Impressionist art and gardens, or you just want to see a typical French village. This small-group excursion is a fantastic option if you’d like to reach Giverny smoothly by air-conditioned minivan and have your tickets all sorted out for you. It can get VERY busy at Giverny, but you’ll be able to skip the lines on this tour.
Another great option, especially if you’re a fan of Van Gogh, is the village of Auvers-sur-Oise. This is where Vincent spent the last few months of his life, and he painted a number of the sites of the town. You can see these, as well as his tomb, but the village is also super cute and worth visiting in its own right. Auvers can be visited on this half-day excursion or you can visit both Giverny and Auvers on this full-day excursion.
Image Courtesy of Get Your Guide
Champagne cellars and tasting day trip
Found a few hours east of Paris, the capital of the Champagne region is the perfect excursion from Paris if you love bubbly. This full-day Champagne tour includes round-trip transportation from Paris, and visits several champagne houses and, of course, includes tastings of France’s world-famous sparkling wine. It’s a super fun experience and much easier when you don’t have to worry about how to get there and back (navigating the train and métro after a few glasses can be challenging!)
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