The Paris Day Trips Most Guides Skip
Versailles and Giverny take the day-trip headlines, and both deserve them, but two other trains out of Paris get you somewhere just as worthwhile in less time and with a fraction of the crowd.
Chantilly: a château with less of a line
A direct TER runs from Gare du Nord to Chantilly-Gouvieux in about 26 minutes, every 30 minutes daily, for roughly EUR7 to EUR16 one way. From the station, a free shuttle bus runs on weekends and in peak season, or it is a scenic 30 to 35 minute walk past the historic racecourse and stables. The Château de Chantilly houses the Musée Condé, France’s finest art collection outside the Louvre, and the working Living Horse Museum in the Grandes Écuries next door. Book skip-the-line Château de Chantilly entry and check current hours on the château’s own site before you go, since the Living Horse Museum and the château keep slightly different schedules.
Auvers-sur-Oise: Van Gogh’s last address
Auvers-sur-Oise sits 35km northwest of Paris and was Vincent van Gogh’s final home. Most of the year the train runs from Gare du Nord to Pontoise on the Transilien H line, about 30 minutes, then a connecting local train for another 15 minutes; a direct weekend train also runs in season, so do not count on a one-seat ride outside those months. The Auberge Ravoux, where Van Gogh rented an attic room and died in 1890, runs its 2026 season from 4 March to 22 November, Wednesday through Sunday. Book a guided Auvers-sur-Oise day tour if the Pontoise change feels like one connection too many to manage alone, or check the Auberge Ravoux’s own site for current opening dates if visiting independently.
Why these two get passed over
Versailles has the palace, and Giverny has the Monet name recognition, so both win the algorithm-driven “best Paris day trips” lists by default. Chantilly’s art collection and Auvers-sur-Oise’s Van Gogh sites do not carry the same instant name recognition, even though the Musée Condé genuinely ranks behind only the Louvre for its period, and the Auberge Ravoux is the actual room Van Gogh died in, not a recreation.
What not to do with either
Do not try to combine Chantilly and Auvers-sur-Oise into one day. They sit in different directions from central Paris, and neither trip is quick enough to rush; each is its own honest half-day to full-day outing on its own train line.
Verdict: Chantilly is the easier of the two for a first-timer, since the train is direct and frequent; save Auvers-sur-Oise for a trip where the Pontoise connection is not a dealbreaker, or book the guided version to remove that logistics question entirely. For the bigger-name day trips these two sit alongside, see the multi-day trips guide ; for the wider trip, start at the main Paris guide .
Confirm the current direct-service calendar for Auvers-sur-Oise before you commit to a specific date. The seasonal weekend train is not guaranteed year to year, and the Pontoise connection is the fallback, not a backup plan to avoid entirely.