Skip the Line: Giverny and Monet House Half-Day Trip from Paris

We took the half day tour. The tour is guided on the bus, the tour guide explains the history and interesting points of Monet and the village. When you get there, you walk the gardens and home and village on your own. This was fine for us, we thoroughly enjoyed it on our own without a guide in the gardens, and without the audio guide of the home. And it was only a half day. We would go back again, just wanted to get a taste. The village is charming, we stopped at a little cafe that gad some tables outside and got a crepe, and watched one of the workers tending the garden and picking raspberries, which he offered to us! Great day, would recommend

This trip was great from start to finish. Convenient bus service, excellent guide; Monet’s house charming and the gardens are beautiful. Do not miss this experience. Be sure to also see “Water Lilies” at The Orangerie to fully appreciate Monet’s reflection of his own garden.

This was something I had wanted to do for a long time, and when I realised the departure point was very close to my hotel in Paris, it was ideal. The instructions on the ticket were to be at the departure point 15 minutes before. My friend and I were there earlier than that and it was chaos. Too many tours departing at similar times and the office where you have to show your ticket is tiny and the queue snaked around and out of the back door. The company needs to improve this, it was really frustrating and no one was giving any directions. Eventually those for our tour were pulled out of the line and given very vague instructions as to which bus we had to be on. There is no toilet in the office or on the bus, so I had to find a local cafe that would allow me to pay to use their toilet (which was disgusting). Our bus was crowded and then we found out that there were 2 tour groups - one with a guide and one without. We were all given headsets and a radio receiver, and each group listened to their own tour guide. When we arrived at Giverny we split into our separate groups and went into Monet's garden. Our group was taken around the main Gardens and then under the road to the Water Gardens, which are magnificent. We were lucky that in mid April many of the Spring flowers were out but the crowds were not. After the quick guided tour we were given time to go wander back through the gardens and Monet's House, and if we had time, to wander through the village of Giverny. The souvenir shop at Monet's House is fabulous and the staff were really helpful. Basically the afternoon tour was split into 90 minutes travel there, 90 minutes in Giverny, and 90+ minutes travel back to Paris. I would have liked more time in Giverny so I should have booked the tour without the guided tour, that would have given me more time to wander.

Beautiful gardens and interesting home. It was raining but still very enjoyable. The guide was good, nice, and helpful. The bus was very comfortable. Would recommend as a no frills and easy way to visit.

Guide was very average. Needs to polish up on her customer service skills. Also, she was difficult to understand . Had minimal patience

Overall the trip was OK but expensive for the value received. We enjoyed the bus trip and visit, but our guide Rosanne was terrible. She talked too fast, was difficult to understand, and the few instructions she gave were hard to interpret! We also recommend that the educational talk be held off till the bus is out of Paris so the viewing distractions are at a minimum.

Great way to see this quickly. You really don't need more than a few hours there

One of the best tours I've ever been on! From start to finish the tour guide was awesome. She was very knowledgeable and made the bus ride terrific.

The gardens and the house are small so there isn't much that you need a guide for -- although the guide for my group did provide a lot of historical background. Note that the guide does not go into the house with the group. The big negative for this tour is that I did it on a Sunday in July and the site was so crowded that it was unbearable -- I didn't go into the house. It would likely be much more enjoyable to do on a Wednesday in May or October. Having said all of the above, the tour agency was very efficient.

This was a relaxing ride into the countryside with a very good guide. The gardens at Monet's home were just beautiful. Could have had a little more time in Giverny overall.

The guide was a little strict, unnecessarily so. But the gardens are ABSOLUTELY gorgeous and well worth the trip, commitment of time and the money. The bus left right on time, the coach was comfortable, the driver was good. Simple enough to follow the tour guides minor directions.