Mont St. Michel

Mont St. Michel is one of the most magnificent places I have seen in France. When we got there the first night, it was dark out, and the mountain was kind of glowing, like the picture to the right. And the point from which this picture was taken was about where we got dropped off by the bus.

There are a couple of pretty important things you should know before going there. You should definitely check out the website, but it is a little confusing and hard to work with. The most important things to look at, however, are Lodging, Places to Visit, and Access.

If you're trying to get a hotel on the mountain itself, you should try for reservations in advance, especially during the spring.

Here are the links to the websites of a couple of nice hotels we noticed:

Le Mouton Blanc

Hotel St. Michel

Hotel St. Sebastien

We stayed in La Vieille Auberge, which turned out to be an amazing choice. Our room was off the main road (which is kind of a loose term here, since there are no cars on the island) and up some stairs. When we looked out our window to the right, we could see the Abbey, and to the left, the ocean and the causeway. Wherever you stay, though, make sure you have their number on your phone. We had to call the owner of the hotel to come show us our room, because we arrived after everything was closed (which happens around 7pm in the off-season). But if you forget, at the entrance to the city, there is a tourism office with the numbers of the hotels posted outside.

Again, when we were there, everything closed around 7. In the off-season, the Abbey sells its last tickets at 5pm, and most of the museums are open from 9am to 5:30pm. Make sure you check on times before you go.

There is a series of four museums scattered across the lower levels (before you get to the Abbey), and you can get a deal by buying tickets for all of them at once. If you're between 18 and 25 years old, the price for one museum is the same as the price for all four, 9 euro. If you're over 25, to see one museum is 9 euro and to see all of the museums is 18 euro. Either way, it's a good deal.

Also, seeing the Abbey costs 8.50 euro, and it's completely worth it. It's a huge place, as you can see from the pictures, and there are a lot of impressive rooms, not to mention an incredible view from the top.


Also, there are two main options to get there by train. You can get a ticket to either Rennes or Pontorson. Pontorson is much closer, so if you're going late at night or don't think you will catch the bus, taxis would be cheaper from Pontorson.

As incredible as the city is, you won't want to spend tons of time there. Once you've seen the museums, the Abbey, and the view, there's not much left. The city itself is beautiful, but it kind of feels like you're walking inside of a Renaissance reenactment or something. You should try to make a weekend of it, though, and go to St. Malo one day. We didn't go because we missed the bus the first day, but it was highly recommended by Stan's host family, who called it a pirate village.