Rouen to Giverny

My 82 year old DM and I will be cruising to Rouen in September (ocean cruise). As Monet's Garden was closed for the season the last time we were in the vicinity, we want to go there this time. The ship tour costs US$139.95 pp. Renting a car is not an option for us. To take the train, we would have to take a taxi from the port to the Rouen train station, take the train to Vernon, take the Giverny shuttle to Giverny, and then walk about five minutes to the Garden and then do it all in reverse to get back to Rouen in time for sailing at 6 pm. We arrive in Rouen at 6 pm the prior evening so we can probably get to Monet's Garden in time for opening.

How much time does Monet's Garden typically take? We're gardeners so we take a little longer than most.

Can someone provide an estimate of the cost of the taxi ride to the train station? I know we could walk it but it appears to be a half hour walk and I don't want to wear out DM before we get to Monet's Garden!

For the train, what's the difference between first and second class tickets? I assume it's best to travel outside of rush hour (this will be a Thursday); is that correct? What are the morning and afternoon rush hours?

I did a dummy booking for the train from Rouen to Vernon; the prices listed are for a one way train ride, correct?

I'm trying to add up the various costs, calculate the exchange and then compare to the ship's tour, taking into account the hassle of taxi/train/shuttle compared to the bus and how much easier it will be to go with the ship's tour for my DM. But the ship's tour will cost us over C$350 for the two of us.

The taxi/train/shuttle appears to be the less expensive option for us but is it the best option for us? DM is in pretty good shape but cannot walk uphill for any length of time or does so very slowly.

Thank you for your help!

It sounds like you have done your train homework :). The difference between first and second class really is somewhat dependent on the particular train type....but first class generally gets you a little more room and a slightly nicer seat. But 2nd class is good enough for most folks on shorter train journeys. Keep in mind the SNCF (French Railroad) gives nice Senior Discounts (I think for anyone 60+) so make sure you ask for Senior prices when you purchase tickets. Many will say there is no reason to purchase train tickets in advance for this route. But if you want to pre-purchase you might consider using the SNCF web site or another European train line that will sell you SNCF tickets. There are some third party web sites that mark-up the price of tickets..so beware.

Train tickets are almost always one-way fares and there is usually no advantage to buying round trip.

As to Giverny, its actually in two parts. You have Monet's home which you might enjoy (he really liked Japanese art) and the Garden/pond which is across the road. If the weather is good you would want to allow at least 1 hour for the gardens (longer if you want to stop and rest on some of the benches). The gardens are relatively flat :). The house is probably worthy of a half hour to 45 min...but if its crowded this is going to add to your time. In the busy tourist season we have heard of some long lines (we have only visited in the shoulder seasons). This is a popular tourist destination so be aware there will usually be hoards arriving on large tour buses.

Hank

Thanks very much, Hank! It turned out that the website that I was using for my dummy booking was not the official SNCF website! Pricing was reduced when I tried a dummy booking on the SNCF site. I only tried a dummy booking for the outbound trip which had slightly reduced pricing (same price for both of us, even though I tried one as a senior) for times after 9 am. Is it safe to assume that the reduction is due to being outside of rush hour?

I think we'll have to travel during rush hour to get to Giverny but based on your timing info at the garden, I hope to avoid it in the afternoon. I think we can have lunch in Giverny or Vernon and then head back.

As you can probably tell, I have little knowledge about train travel period, let alone in Europe. You had indicated that I don't need to pre purchase the tickets but given that we will probably go in the morning rush, do you think I should? Do all pax on the train have to have a seat or do some stand in the aisles? When I did my dummy booking, the site gave me a warning about few seats remaining as if to get me to commit to the booking.

Thanks again for your help!

Thanks very much, Hank! It turned out that the website that I was using for my dummy booking was not the official SNCF website! Pricing was reduced when I tried a dummy booking on the SNCF site. I only tried a dummy booking for the outbound trip which had slightly reduced pricing (same price for both of us, even though I tried one as a senior) for times after 9 am. Is it safe to assume that the reduction is due to being outside of rush hour?

 

I think we'll have to travel during rush hour to get to Giverny but based on your timing info at the garden, I hope to avoid it in the afternoon. I think we can have lunch in Giverny or Vernon and then head back.

 

As you can probably tell, I have little knowledge about train travel period, let alone in Europe. You had indicated that I don't need to pre purchase the tickets but given that we will probably go in the morning rush, do you think I should? Do all pax on the train have to have a seat or do some stand in the aisles? When I did my dummy booking, the site gave me a warning about few seats remaining as if to get me to commit to the booking.

 

Thanks again for your help!

Regarding the rush hour issue, I must confess ignorance if that is a problem on the route. I do not want to give you bad advice....so lets hope that somebody who might have more knowledge (where is Marazul when we need him) sees this thread and enhances my advice :). Lacking any definitive advice (from somebody who really knows the rush hour situation on this route....we would probably purchase tickets in advance just to be safe. I assume the trains to Vernon/Giverny continue on to the Paris area....which lends support to your rush hour concern. The relatively low cost of the train tickets also makes advance purchase sound like a good option....since if anything later happens to change your plans you will not have lost too much money. The potential bummer would be if you get a bad weather day...and there is just no way to predict that issue. DW and I are huge Impressionist fans and Monet is one of our favorite artists. The first time we went to Giverny was on a gorgeous crisp fall day in late October. As we walked through the Gardens the light was perfect and the reflections/shadows on the pond were truly like looking at a Monet painting. It was very easy to see why he painted all those waterlilly works. I hope you are as lucky (weather wise).

As far as the pricing of tickets, the SNCF pricing has always been a mystery to me (and even some French). They sometimes have advance purchase discounts...but they can be capacity limited so might depend on the actual train. Not sure if they have discounts for time of day (that has not been our experience on other routes).

Hank

I did a dummy booking Rouen Rive Droite (NOT Gare Routière - that's the bus station) for a random date later this month. Assuming you're both over 60 day returns for the 2 of you will amount to €28 i.e €7 per person per journey.

I'm not sure where you got your pricing from, because the official SNCF site - now rebranded as OUI SNCF - does not allow bookings more than 3 months ahead. However, their website allows you to set up an email alert for when the period you want becomes available for booking.

Also, from Vernon station there is a regular shuttle " navette" to Giverny. Follow the signs and pay on board, just a couple of euros pp.

If you Google 'shuttle Vernon to Giverny' all the information is there.

Bon voyage et bonnes vacances!

Hi Hank,

I have stayed out of this one because we have only driven to Giverny.

I would not be too concerned about rush hour from Rouen, but factor in an extra 15-20 minutes for peace of mind to find track, etc.

I checked Lutèce's heads up about the renamed website. Here it is:

http://www.sncf.com/en/passengers

I checked Lutèce's heads up about the renamed website. Here it is:

http://www.sncf.com/en/passengers

Yes, but when you start to enter details, it changes to

the English version of OUI SNCF:D

So, you can either start on the OUI website or get moved to it once you start to put details in.

Whatever you do, don't use RailEurope! They're an agency and will charge more.

Hi Hank,

I have stayed out of this one because we have only driven to Giverny.

I would not be too concerned about rush hour from Rouen, but factor in an extra 15-20 minutes for peace of mind to find track, etc.

My thinking was that the rush hour trains could be crowded...but we have no personal experience on this line. Our two visits to Giverny were in our rental cars :). Rouen does seem a bit far for rush hour commuters to Paris...but what do we know :).

Hank

Yes, but when you start to enter details, it changes to

the English version of OUI SNCF:D

So, you can either start on the OUI website or get moved to it once you start to put details in.

Whatever you do, don't use RailEurope! They're an agency and will charge more.

We hear you about Raileurope. It used to be that when we tried to book (from the US) on the SNCF site...as soon as we entered our country (USA) it would redirect us to the RailEurope site. So for many years I would simply put in "France" as our location and then all was fine. Since SNCF lets you print an e-ticket the location country really is not relevant. But we assumed they had a contract with RailEurope not to allow Americans to book tickets at the normal price. We have seen this on other rail sites around the world and we do always find a workaround to get the lower rates.

Hank

Yes, but when you start to enter details, it changes to

the English version of OUI SNCF:D

So, you can either start on the OUI website or get moved to it once you start to put details in.

Whatever you do, don't use RailEurope! They're an agency and will charge more.

Yes, just go to http://www.sncf.com/en/passengers and click on "Reservations." It takes you to the OUI site, but not to RailEurope as it used to do before. Or go directly to https://en.oui.sncf/en/

OUI used to be called SNCF Voyages and it puts together hotel or car packages along with travel.

I did a dummy booking Rouen Rive Droite (NOT Gare Routière - that's the bus station) for a random date later this month. Assuming you're both over 60 �� day returns for the 2 of you will amount to €28 i.e €7 per person per journey.

I'm not sure where you got your pricing from, because the official SNCF site - now rebranded as OUI SNCF - does not allow bookings more than 3 months ahead. However, their website allows you to set up an email alert for when the period you want becomes available for booking.

Also, from Vernon station there is a regular shuttle " navette" to Giverny. Follow the signs and pay on board, just a couple of euros pp.

If you Google 'shuttle Vernon to Giverny' all the information is there.

Bon voyage et bonnes vacances!

Thanks to all for the responses! Just to clarify a few points, I'm under 60 so was looking at both Adult & Senior rates. After Hank warned me about the third party sites, I did go to the SNCF site and was redirected to the Oui SNCF site. When I tried my dummy booking, I used a Thursday in January; I think it was last Thursday. I thought it was more important to use the correct day of the week so that I could see the schedule, assuming that the schedule doesn't vary too much from month to month.

My wife and I took the train from Le Havre (changing in Rouen) to Vernon last year and I wanted to give you a heads up about getting to Giverny once you get to Vernon. When we were there (in June) we discovered that the bus departure times (from Vernon to Giverny) were scheduled to coincide with the trains coming from Paris only and we ended up waiting around for 30-40 minutes for the next one (when coming from Paris, you get off the train and go straight to the bus and you are on your way to Giverny a few minutes later). Fortunately, we had the time to wait but didn't want you to be surprised by this. There is a taxi stand at the train station but there were no taxis there while we were waiting around. If you don't want to have to wait for the bus I would think you could pre-arrange for a taxi to pick you up.

If you want to purchase your train tickets in advance I have found good results online from trainline.eu (and they handle train trips in other countries besides France). Even if you are going to buy them at the station I find that trainline is great at just figuring out what your options are going to be (just make sure you have enough time in case there is a line at the ticket counter and/or terminals in the station - we have had that happen before!).

When we did this trip it was in the morning and there were no issues with a morning rush. We just bought 2nd class tickets - no problem finding a seat.

If you have extra time you could visit the grave of Claude Monet at the other end of town at the Elgise Sainte-Radegonde. It is walkable in 10-15 minutes although I think the road does go slightly uphill toward the end (if interested you can find the church on Google Maps and take a look at the area with street view). Another option is the Impressionism museum - a small museum in the center of town that we thought was quite nice

Thank you for the additional information, Buckeye! I should have realized the shuttle was timed to trains arriving from Paris.

If you were to do it again, would you DIY again or book with the cruiseline?

Oh I would definitely do the same thing again. With our ship leaving late in the day, there was no concern about rushing to get back and missing the ship. We have also taken trains in France multiple times so we are quite comfortable taking that option. Just be aware of what all the train times are and plan your day accordingly.

Here is a link to a pdf about the bus to Giverny: http://fondation-monet.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Navette-Giverny-ANG-2017.pdf

It shows times to and from the station as well as ticket information and is all in English. It is for 2017 so there may be changes this year but I found this with a quick google search so you can do the same later this year when they will have hopefully updated it.

Hi AQ,

The Rouen-Paris rail route is quite crowded with commuters at the rush hour, I did a Rouen day trip on a weekday and it was off season but it was a beautiful sunny day and I had Rouen mostly to myself except near Rouen Cathedral which of course Monet had painted....its spectacular.

Anyway, as I was leaving Paris for Rouen in the morning and then reversing on the return in the late afternoon I was going against most of the workday commuting rush though it’s still a popular line, other folks are going north but it wasn’t crowded, but it wasn’t spring or summer.

Also chiming in re: 2nd class rail always tends to be quite fine, as mentioned on certain lines in various countries it can feel finer but it’s always comfortable. It has become a good practice to, when possible (it isn’t always) reserve seats ahead of a ride. On shorter rides, smaller lines, this isn’t happening in 2nd class, it would in first. Having had to stand all the way *one* time from Bologna to Rome on a slow-ish train, I <always> check now unless I absolutely know it’s a commuter rail. Your ride will be shorter but I’m thinking of your mum plus after a day of touring round, everyone is a bit done in.

And Brava to you both for taking it all on yourselves, saving on the cost of an excursion and keeping the extra € in your own pockets for whatever...try some calvados in the evening or other fine treat of the region. So much is doable by transit in France as you are finding out through your efforts. Keep at it, you’ll be rewarded with adventure more amazing than ever imagined and unforgettable memories for a journey that already sounds very special.

If you have more queries on France or anywhere else, just let us know. Have fun planning, it gets you started on your travels. :)

Hi AQ,

 

The Rouen-Paris rail route is quite crowded with commuters at the rush hour, I did a Rouen day trip on a weekday and it was off season but it was a beautiful sunny day and I had Rouen mostly to myself except near Rouen Cathedral which of course Monet had painted....its spectacular.

 

Anyway, as I was leaving Paris for Rouen in the morning and then reversing on the return in the late afternoon I was going against most of the workday commuting rush though it’s still a popular line, other folks are going north but it wasn’t crowded, but it wasn’t spring or summer.

 

Also chiming in re: 2nd class rail always tends to be quite fine, as mentioned on certain lines in various countries it can feel finer but it’s always comfortable. It has become a good practice to, when possible (it isn’t always) reserve seats ahead of a ride. On shorter rides, smaller lines, this isn’t happening in 2nd class, it would in first. Having had to stand all the way *one* time from Bologna to Rome on a slow-ish train, I <always> check now unless I absolutely know it’s a commuter rail. Your ride will be shorter but I’m thinking of your mum plus after a day of touring round, everyone is a bit done in.

 

 

And Brava to you both for taking it all on yourselves, saving on the cost of an excursion and keeping the extra € in your own pockets for whatever...try some calvados in the evening or other fine treat of the region. So much is doable by transit in France as you are finding out through your efforts. Keep at it, you’ll be rewarded with adventure more amazing than ever imagined and unforgettable memories for a journey that already sounds very special.

 

If you have more queries on France or anywhere else, just let us know. Have fun planning, it gets you started on your travels. :)

Thanks very much for the encouragement! Believe me, I need it. Frankly, this scares me, particularly, when I'm the one in charge of getting us there and back. We have a rather large amount of OBC for this cruise so it's very tempting to spend it on the ship tour to Giverny, just because it's easier and we'll be taken care of. But if we can DIY for half the cost of the ship tour, well, I'm too frugal to pass that up.

It's good to have confirmation of the "rush hour". And, yes, you're correct in that my mother won't be able to stand on the train, in either direction. I think we'll splurge on first class tickets so that we can reserve the seats. One concern I have is what if I screw up the timing and we miss the train? I know there will be other trains but does that mean purchasing a new ticket? Or can the original ticket still be used (just not the reserved seat) or refunded if not used?