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Ile-de-France

Guillaume Cattiaux · File:Coucher de soleil sur le Chateau de Versailles, 14 août 2010.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0) · https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Coucher_de_soleil_sur_le_Chateau_de_Versailles,_14_ao%C3%BBt_2010.jpg

Region · France

Ile-de-France

Eight départements wrapped around one city — and the reason a Paris trip is longer than a Paris list.

Best seasonApr – Jun, Sep – Oct
Ideal length4 – 7 nights, based in Paris
Main gatewaysCharles de Gaulle (CDG) · Orly (ORY)
Getting aboutRER and Transilien trains from Paris
EntrySchengen visa for Indian passport holders
SuitsFirst-time Europe · families · culture
Overview

Why Île-de-France

The region that surrounds Paris, and the reason a well-built Paris trip runs longer than the list of things inside the city. Île-de-France is eight départements of royal châteaux, forest, medieval market towns and one very large theme park, nearly all of it reachable on a suburban train from a station you are already using.

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Cities & Places

Where to go in Ile-de-France

Paris is the base and very nearly the whole point. Everything else in the region is a day out from it.

Paris
Paris
Highlights

What Île-de-France is for

The court that left Paris, the forest it hunted in, and the medieval town that predates both.

VersaillesThe château the French court moved to in the 1680s, its garden facade, the Hall of Mirrors and a park large enough to take a day on its own. In the Yvelines, south-west of the city.
FontainebleauThe other royal palace — lived in by French rulers for longer than Versailles was, and set in a forest of sandstone boulders that is still the reason climbers come.
Disneyland ParisAt Marne-la-Vallée, east of the city on the RER. The single most common reason a family adds nights to a Paris trip, and it wants a full day rather than an afternoon.
ProvinsA walled medieval trade-fair town in the Seine-et-Marne, UNESCO-listed and far enough out that most Paris itineraries never reach it. The quietest good day in the region.
Auvers-sur-OiseThe village north of the city where Van Gogh spent his last months and is buried. Small, and worth it only if the painting matters to you.
When to go

When to visit Île-de-France

A temperate northern climate with no season that closes the region and two that clearly suit it best.

Apr – JunThe best window. Long light evenings, gardens at Versailles and Fontainebleau in leaf, and weather that makes walking the city pleasant rather than an endurance.
Jul – AugWarmest, longest days and the most crowded. Many Parisian businesses close for part of August while the city empties of Parisians and fills with visitors.
Sep – OctThe other good window and often the better one: the summer crowds thin, the light turns, and the parks are at their best before the leaves go.
Nov – MarCold, grey and short-dayed, with the museums at their most comfortable and the prices at their lowest. December brings Christmas markets and lights; the château gardens are bare.
Getting around

One pass, the whole region

One of the densest suburban rail networks in Europe, which is why the region works as day trips rather than as a touring route.

Arriving

  • Charles de Gaulle (CDG) north-east of the city takes most long-haul arrivals including the direct flights from India; Orly (ORY) to the south handles more of the European and domestic traffic. Both connect to central Paris by train and by road.
  • Paris is also a European rail hub. The Eurostar from London arrives at Gare du Nord, and high-speed trains run to Brussels, Amsterdam, Germany, Switzerland and the south of France — which is why so many multi-country itineraries begin or end here.
  • Indian passport holders need a Schengen visa. Requirements and appointment availability change, so it is arranged as part of the booking and started early rather than close to departure.

Around the region

  • The RER and Transilien suburban trains reach Versailles, Fontainebleau, Marne-la-Vallée and Auvers directly from central Paris, which is what makes every one of them a day trip rather than a move.
  • A car is not useful here and is a liability in the city. The one exception is a trip built around several rural stops in the Seine-et-Marne in the same day.
  • Trains, tickets and validity are set by the regional transport authority and change; your specialist confirms the current arrangement rather than this page quoting one.

What is not in this region

  • Giverny, Monet's garden, is in Normandy. Chantilly is in the Oise, in Hauts-de-France. Both are sold as Paris day trips and both are genuinely doable as one — they are simply not Île-de-France.
  • The Loire châteaux are a different region again and a long day at best. If they matter to you, they deserve their own nights rather than a dash from Paris.
Suggested itinerary

How the region fits together

Nights 1–3

Paris itself

The city first and without day trips. Three nights is the honest minimum for the big museums, the river and one neighbourhood walked slowly — the Paris page sets out how to spend them.

Day 4

Versailles

The classic day out and the one most travellers will not skip. It takes most of a day if the gardens are included, and the gardens are the half people underestimate.

Day 5

Fontainebleau, Disneyland or Provins

The fork in the trip. Families take Marne-la-Vallée; travellers who liked Versailles take Fontainebleau; anyone wanting a quiet day takes Provins.

Nights 6–7

Back to the city, or onward

A last two nights in Paris for what the first three missed, or the point at which most itineraries take a train to Switzerland, Italy or the Riviera.

Continue Planning

Related to Ile-de-France

The places in Ile-de-France that have a guide of their own, and where to stay and eat once you are there.

AttractionEiffel TowerHotelWhere to StayRestaurantWhere to Eat
FAQ

Common questions

For at least one day, yes. Versailles is not a smaller version of anything in the city — it is the palace the French court moved to when it left Paris, and its scale is the point. Beyond that it depends on the trip: families almost always add Marne-la-Vallée, and travellers who want a quiet day away from queues find Provins or Fontainebleau far more rewarding than a fourth museum. What the region does not reward is a day trip a day.
Four to seven, based in Paris throughout. Three nights covers the city thinly and leaves nothing for the region; five gives three city days and Versailles and one more day out; seven is comfortable and allows a genuinely slow neighbourhood day. There is little reason to sleep outside Paris unless you are staying at the Marne-la-Vallée resort, because the suburban trains make everything else a return trip.
April to June and September to October. Both give long enough days for a château and its gardens, and mild enough weather to walk the city, without the density of high summer. August is warmest and emptiest of Parisians, with some businesses closed for the month. Winter is cold and grey with short days, but the museums are calmer and the city is at its cheapest, which suits a first trip built around interiors.
No, and it is worth knowing because both are sold as Paris day trips. Giverny, where Monet made the garden he painted, is in Normandy. Chantilly, with its château and its racecourse, is in the Oise, which is part of Hauts-de-France. Both are comfortably reachable from Paris for a day and both are worth doing if they interest you — they simply belong to other regions, and an itinerary that calls them Île-de-France is being loose with the map.
No, and in Paris a car is an active disadvantage. The RER and Transilien suburban trains reach Versailles, Fontainebleau, Marne-la-Vallée and Auvers-sur-Oise directly from stations in the centre, which is precisely why the region works as a set of day trips. The one case for a car is a day combining several rural stops in the Seine-et-Marne that do not sit on the same line — and even then a driver rather than a self-drive is the usual arrangement.
Charles de Gaulle, north-east of Paris, takes most long-haul arrivals including the direct services from India, and is the practical choice for a trip from most Indian cities. Orly, to the south, handles more European and domestic traffic and is occasionally the better arrival point on a multi-city European itinerary. Both connect to central Paris by rail and by road, and your specialist arranges the transfer with your accommodation rather than leaving it to the arrivals hall.
Plan

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