53303PNO
Dinard, Mont St Michel, Paris
Routes
Opening days/times, entrance fees, etc. listed on Yellow Pages.
Mont St Michel inside visit of the Abbey & lunch stop
- Routes from Mont St Michel to Dinard
If you visit Mont St Michel over lunchtime/early afternoon and are spending the night in Dinard, you may want to include one of the following; a brief stop in St Malo (add 1 ½ to your timings) (see St Malo Excursion for details); on a nice day it is well worth going to the Pointe du Grouin and/or Cancale, where you can try oysters!
NB Make sure you discuss these options with the group as they may prefer to go straight to Dinard and relax (most groups complain that they never spend enough time here)
- Warn groups in advance – there are lots of steps and cobbles so they will need to wear sensible shoes. No sandals!
Access to Mont St Michel HAS CHANGED quite radically since 2013 in order for it to remain an island. The bus will drop you off in a designated bus park 2,5km from the island and then you take a shuttle bus (10mins journey time). TM pays for parking. There can often be quite a queue for the bus shuttles which come every 5 minutes so it is never too long. You then have a 15 min walk to get into the village proper from where the bus drops you. Count at least 30mins to get to the MOUNT (from the time you leave your bus) and therefore 30 mins to get back. Remember to arrange rendez-vous time and place.
Best exchange rates money can be changed in the souvenir shop on the left before the Post Office (“Change” sign outside). There are a couple of ATMs by the public toilets at the bottom of the mount just past the portcullis.
The main paying toilets (50c) are just inside the entrance on the left. There are also a couple a little further up on the right (at the bottom of the stone staircase to the ramparts) and inside the Abbey complex. Best are free ones at Bus Park Visitor Centre.
- Guided tours of the Abbey are unsuitable for most groups. If they are running, there may not be an English tour or timing may be unsuitable. Furthermore tours last well over an hour and are usually too detailed for students. It is best to pick up green leaflets in English for everybody when buying tickets.
- There is only one crowded street ahead of you. You could take the group up the stairway to the right immediately after the portcullis and then left on the ramparts adjacent and above the main street. Spectacular views over the whole bay
- It is best to do the visit first, then give free time for lunch. However, if your group is very keen to eat first, allow 1 hour for lunch and explain to the group how to meet you at the ticket checkpoint for the Abbey (i.e. straight up the street and all the steps to the last terrace. Group must now wait on the terrace below the last flight of steps. A guard will stop them! You go up to the ticket office and come back down with the tickets to collect the group.
Once out on the terrace distribute walking tours. Ask them to repeat rendezvous place and time at the bottom. They then enter the church and follow all arrows for direction through the Mont St. Michel, spiralling down though the construction until they arrive with all the other visitors at the gift shop. Route is well marked. Toilets at the back of the gift shop.
They will pass all the shops/ lunch places on their way back down the hill.
Additional Suggestions
Biscuiterie: if your driver knows of a good biscuiterie (selling butter biscuits) you can do a stop. There are several in the area. The best one for the group is the Biscuiterie de l’ Abbaye. There are free biscuit samples (palets, galettes etc) and no obligation to buy (the biscuits are cheaper than those being sold on the mount). Regional produce is also on sale (cider, pommeau, poireau, butter sweets etc.). There is also a free toilet. Best to stop after your visit to the mount (allow about 30 minutes for sampling/toilet/purchases).
