Has anyone visited Mont St Michel

[vanmaneddie]

Hi, has anyone visited Mont St Michel with a motorhome? I'm planning a family trip for the end of summer and would love to hear any tips or recommendations from those who have been there before. Specifically, I'm wondering about parking options, shuttle bus services, and any other must-see sights or activities apart from t eh Monastery on the island. Thank you in advance for your help! Also, would it be considered a family resort?

 

[orridge]

Sounds a bit to touristy possibly. I may have to put my thinking cap back on.

Yes it is during the day but once the coaches go home you will have the place to yourselves so go early or go late to have a better experience. We use the private aire at Pontonson and cycle in or get the shuttle bus.

 

[Heebson]

Yes it is during the day but once the coaches go home you will have the place to yourselves so go early or go late to have a better experience. We use the private aire at Pontonson and cycle in or get the shuttle bus.

Orridge - can I ask a question. Reading mixed messages about whether you can cycle along the causeway and lock up at the bottom of the actual mount/mont - or must lock-up in the car parks on the mainland and walk or shuttle bus?

 

[Googlebot]

Orridge - can I ask a question. Reading mixed messages about whether you can cycle along the causeway and lock up at the bottom of the actual mount/mont - or must lock-up in the car parks on the mainland and walk or shuttle bus?

There were places you could lock the bike to at the Mont but I can’t remember seeing anything official though. It was the odd sign etc.

It was very very busy, I would leave the bikes elsewhere and get the shuttle bus or walk.

 

[Googlebot]

This is the entrance from last week. A small gateway allows access, there was nowhere to store bikes inside the gateway and not many places outside I can remember.

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[orridge]

Orridge - can I ask a question. Reading mixed messages about whether you can cycle along the causeway and lock up at the bottom of the actual mount/mont - or must lock-up in the car parks on the mainland and walk or shuttle bus?

We were last there in 2018 before the did the renovations to the roadways etc and you could definitely cycle along the causeway otherwise plenty of cycle parking at the bus terminus and walk or get the shuttles.

 

[MichaelT]

Orridge - can I ask a question. Reading mixed messages about whether you can cycle along the causeway and lock up at the bottom of the actual mount/mont - or must lock-up in the car parks on the mainland and walk or shuttle bus?

There are 4 or 5 designated cycle storage points near the mont but none over the causeway as I remember. We parked at No3 about 1km from entrance. Some information here but Google yourself. As you ride along the canal you can see them.

 

[stuartholmes]

I have just realised I am a complete fraud.

I was talking about the one in Cornwall

But I love 'the one in Cornwall'!!!

 

[MrPG]

Orridge - can I ask a question. Reading mixed messages about whether you can cycle along the causeway and lock up at the bottom of the actual mount/mont - or must lock-up in the car parks on the mainland and walk or shuttle bus?

Heebson I was there last Sept, cycled along the causeway and there was someone directing us to the cycle racks through the archway on the left.
When that fills up then lots of people were leaning them locked up against the walls.
We went early and had crepes for breakfast in one of the cafes within the walls. Took a picnic lunch. We enjoyed it.

 

[Russell's Dad]

Looks great from a distance but just a tourist trap. Save your time/ money and take the obligatory distant photo then go elsewhere. I dislike crowded, tourist areas where you feel you are being robbed.

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[stuartholmes]

I see lots of people commenting on bicycles and crowds - you pays your money & you takes your pick but I couldn't resist offering views & suggestions based on my experience of visiting the Mont in 1990 and 2002.

1. It's popular so it's busy. It's popular for a reason (several actually). To appreciate it at it's best go out of school holiday periods and get there as early in the day as possible but don't miss it if you can't do either of those. Celebrate that you are sharing it with hundreds (or thousands) of other people. Look past them or engage with them but don't let them stop you visiting.
Don't settle for just looking at it from afar. You might as well just look at pictures on the internet.

2. Leave your bicycles somehere else. You can't ride a bike AND soak in the place and the experience - or stop to photograph it - and you'll be too busy trying to not crash into people to have any chance of engaging positively with them.

3. It's a 'tourist trap'. Get over it.

4. You'll be very near Saint Malo, which is pretty unmissably unique but also within reach of the Bayeux tapestry and equally near the Normandy beaches and any number of important memorials, not least the American cemetary which can hardly fail to touch you for it's sheer scale. At Saint-Lô, on the way to the beaches, you'll see a very modest memorial by a road junction referencing the number of US troops who died in the process of wresting it from the control of hitler's forces and wonder how so many lives were lost on one little crossroad.

Personally, I think it's a bit rude but also does yourself a massive dis-service to be near enough to visit but instead pass by these places - and the top of Mont St Michael!

Enjoy!!

 

[irnbru]

There is definitely a bike area at the foot of the mont, go through the archway to your left and it’s just there.

 

[Madcaravanner]

Yes it's a tourist trap
We were there in March they were using it as a film set for the Walking Dead

We stayed in Pontorson at the Carrefour Supermarket where there is an aire with services parking is free services they charge
a decent cycle ride to the end of the causeway nowhere to look up at the monastery end but LOADS at the start of the shuttle bus service

IF you do go it's expensive - as if in the centre of Paris

 

[Rapphil]

There is definitely a bike area at the foot of the mont, go through the archway to your left and it’s just there.

Agree with above ,have used that space.
On another occasion we went by foot, dogs were not allowed on Shuttle buses !

 

[VXman]

Orridge - can I ask a question. Reading mixed messages about whether you can cycle along the causeway and lock up at the bottom of the actual mount/mont - or must lock-up in the car parks on the mainland and walk or shuttle bus?

November 2021 - we cycled in from where we parked the motorhome (at a motorhome park about 2 miles out) You can cycle right down to the entrance and there is a dedicated cycle park to the left of the entrance.

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[Googlebot]

Agree with above ,have used that space.
On another occasion we went by foot, dogs were not allowed on Shuttle buses !

I must have missed that completely. Too much else to look at.

 

[markhub]

We used the nearby campsite and walked in. Like some previous posters have said it does get busy but that’s because it’s magnificent and people want to see it. Great magic for kids too but like the pyramids and loads of other things I get amazed that they could build something like that in the times before all the machinery we have now.

 

[RobbyMClark]

Stayed at Camping Haliosis in Pontorson and the cycle path from there goes straight to the Mont.
Get there early as possible, we locked our bikes at the very end of the handrail next to the Mont. Headed uphill to the church well worth the effort and beat a lot of the crowds.

We stopped for a bite to est on the downhill and it was getting crowded about then.
Well worth the effort. Go for it.

 

[nexxo698]

We went last June and stayed at the campsite inside the complex (not the car park). It was actually cheaper than the carpark as the barrier wasn't working and we didn't have to pay for that.
We went across both on bikes and on the bus a few times.

I wrote a bit about it here...

France 2022 – Part 3: Week 2

Monday 13th June We had a rough idea of where to go after Le Mans… start at Chateau de Chambord, then head West along the Loire Valley, then North to head home via Mont Saint Michel and the Normandy beaches.I’d done the Normandy beaches four years ago but I had the dogs with me that…

hittingtheroad.info

Jump to Friday 17th June

The bike parking in the courtyard to the left of the entrance was apparently a trial, but expected to continue.
When I walked through there about lunchtime, it was full.

 

[Barryh]

We went in November 2009. Even in winter the place was very busy, but it’s well worth the visit. As others said get there early, or later, to miss the worst of the crowds.

Parking was right up to the Mont when we were there, although the closest car parks flooded at high tide. The picture is where we overnighted and just above the high water mark.

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[GAVLAD]

We stayed in Beauvoir at the aire and travelled in July.
It was very hot and humid at the time and was packed silly with tourists, but glad we went.
If you are taking your bikes, you can cycle along the cycle path by the river to the shuttle bus terminal where you leave your bikes and then take the shuttle bus along the causeway to the island. Or you can walk.

 

[Johnhc]

Agree with most of the above, it is a tourist ripoff and very crowded. Yes you can stay overnight in the main car park but there are many better places to stay a little further away. Can’t remember the name of the place but it cost €12 with ehu. Cycled to Le Mont where there are places to secure bikes, it was about 5 kms. Wouldn’t go there again

 

[KeithCH]

Hi, has anyone visited Mont St Michel with a motorhome? I'm planning a family trip for the end of summer and would love to hear any tips or recommendations from those who have been there before. Specifically, I'm wondering about parking options, shuttle bus services, and any other must-see sights or activities apart from t eh Monastery on the island. Thank you in advance for your help! Also, would it be considered a family resort?

Stay at Camping Aux Pommiers, ACSI 966, good site with heated indoor pool. Cross the road and walk 2km along the river pathway to the free shuttle bus to the Mount,. There is NO parking at the Mount, just near the shuttle bus stop.

 

[MichaelT]

Agree with most of the above, it is a tourist ripoff and very crowded. Yes you can stay overnight in the main car park but there are many better places to stay a little further away. Can’t remember the name of the place but it cost €12 with ehu. Cycled to Le Mont where there are places to secure bikes, it was about 5 kms. Wouldn’t go there again

How can you say its a rip off. From memory last year it was €7 to go into the building which is no way a rip off.

 

[LouisP]

Hi, has anyone visited Mont St Michel with a motorhome? I'm planning a family trip for the end of summer and would love to hear any tips or recommendations from those who have been there before. Specifically, I'm wondering about parking options, shuttle bus services, and any other must-see sights or activities apart from t eh Monastery on the island. Thank you in advance for your help! Also, would it be considered a family resort?

Visit early morning in the week outside holiday's and it is fine. Didn't want to visit but the wife made me, so glad I did it's an amazing experience. We found a free parking spot in a close a few Kms away and biked in along the causeway. Left both electric mountain bike chained up near entrance, no problems. Forget all the negativeness, I was like that at first but so glad I went. Yes it does get busy after about 10.30 but still well worth it.

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[MattWithMoho]

It’s not expensive, it’s easy to get to, it’s completely worth the journey…. Really worth it!!!
We stopped at Aire de Camping Car de Beauvoir - Mont Saint-Michel, bike ride or good walk to MSM via the flat canal…. Go for it, you won’t regret it

 

[Mark and Mindy]

Sniper Elite 5 on Xbox has a great map based on Mont Saint-Michel.

Anyway we stayed at Camping du Mont Saint-Michel which is in the village area at the start of the causeway. There was a problem because all the shuttle busses were filling up at the car park and were full when they got to our pick up stop so it was a long wait. It might work to catch a bus back to the car park and stay on for the trip to the island.

 

[suavecarve]

Mapy.cz says the causeway is a cycle route.

 

[Googlebot]

Mapy.cz says the causeway is a cycle route. View attachment 741394

It is, though they have lined the path with slippery wooden planks which is bizarre.

 

[Apacheman]

Joined the thread as hope to get there on way back through France from Spain. Probably be busy, even too touristy but it’s near our route and in the list of things to do so will brave it out.

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[MichaelT]

Mapy.cz says the causeway is a cycle route. View attachment 741394

It's a bridge.