Giverny is a lovely little village on the Seine, 74 km (46 miles) northwest of Paris, France on the border between the regions of Île-de-France and Normandy.

Many visitors to Paris want to see Claude Monet's beautiful gardens in Giverny. Monet's house, gardens, and Water Garden, site of the famous water lilies, are easily accessible from Paris.

Start at Gare Saint-Lazare

From the Gare Saint-Lazare in Paris there are trains to the nearby town of Vernon every hour or two. The trip takes about 45 minutes on a comfortable train. Be sure to allow plenty of time to buy a ticket before the train's departure. There are numerous ticket machines, but if do not have a chip-and-PIN credit card, or if you want to pay cash, you will probably need to buy your ticket from a ticket agent. There is often a waiting line; I recently waited 20 minutes to buy tickets (and that was a pretty good day!)

A better idea: buy your ticket the day before you want to travel.

Vernon to Giverny

Once you arrive in Vernon, look for the signs for Giverny. You will need to use the pedestrian underpass to get to the station, and then follow signs around to the right for transportation options. Vernon is about 7 kilometers (4 miles) from Giverny.

Shuttle buses (navette) meet all trains and go directly to Giverny. Pay on board the bus for either a single ticket (4€) or a round trip/return (8€).

The bus takes about 10-15 minutes. From the bus stop, it's about a 5-10 minute walk to the entrance to Monet's house and gardens, where you buy your admission ticket.

You can also rent a bicycle from a café or shop just across from the train station and cycle along the bike path to the Monet house. Or, if you're feeling ambitious, you can walk the 5km (3 miles, 1 to 1-1/2 hours) along the path.

Bear in mind that Giverny gets crowded with visitors and you will probably have to wait in line to buy your admission ticket to the Monet house and gardens. For a shorter wait, plan to arrive in the early morning or in late afternoon.

Sample Itinerary

Here's our recent itinerary, which worked very well:

We took the 12:20 train from Gare St-Lazare, arrived in Vernon about 13:10 (1:10 pm) and took the navette to Giverny. We settled in for a nice lunch at Terra Café, and after lunch, seeing that there was still a long wait at Monet's house and gardens, strolled down the street to Monet's grave, enjoying the many flowers that lined the road.

Entering the house and gardens at 16:00 (4:00 pm), we walked right in, no wait. As we visited, most people were leaving, so it became less crowded. This schedule is great in June, when the days are long and the gardens are open until 18:00 (6:00 pm).

After taking the navette to Vernon, we had time to enjoy a drink in a café before boarding the train at 6:47.

You can also drive to Giverny, and there are several convenient parking lots. Guided tours from Paris are also easily available, though of course more expensive than going on your own.

Here's how to visit the gardens at Giverny.

---

Monet's Home in Giverny Monet's Flowers in Giverny Monet's Water Lilies in Giverny Giverny Restaurants Giverny Hotels Monet in Paris Trains in France Excursions from Paris Gare St.-Lazare