12 Things to Do in Mont Saint Michel, France
Mont Saint Michel is a jaw-dropping islet located off the northwest coast of France. It’s often hailed as one of the most beautiful places in France and it’s a UNESCO World Heritage site and for good reason. It was built over the course of 1300 years beginning in 708 AD! Now visitors flock to Mont Saint Michel to see it in all its glory.
But, what is there to do? In this mini travel guide, I’m dishing all the best things to do in Mont Saint Michel, which thankfully you can do with only one day to visit!
Map of Mont St. Michel Activities
Top Things to Do in Mont Saint Michel
1. Tour the bay
Mont Saint Michel sits in a bay between Brittany and Normandy…leading to some confusion about which region it’s actually in. Brittanica says Normany, Brittany Tourism claims Brittany!
Regardless, if the tide is low, you can tour the bay with a guide. They’ll give a history of the bay and share ecological information. For example, the bay was conveniently used as essentially a large moat to keep unwanted attackers out.
My favorite part of the bay tour was getting to walk along the outside to get views of the Mont that you couldn’t get from the front! It was a photographer’s dream with all the reflections from water pockets on the sand, too!
Normandy Tourism has a list of reputable guides with various tour types here.
2. Play in quicksand
Sorry to dredge up your childhood fears with this one, but one of the best parts of touring the bay is getting a chance to (safely) play in real bonafide quicksand!
I’ll take any chance to explain a science site, so the sinking sand is actually a non-Newtonian fluid, meaning it has both liquid and solid properties.
What that means for your exploration is that as you approach the quicksand, it seems like a solid. But as you jump on it, you mix the sand and water creating more of a liquid, which allows you to sink if you stop moving.
I highly recommend a guided tour for this experience, as quicksand is inherently dangerous. Your guide will know where the safe pockets are.
3. Try some famous puff omelets
Bet you wouldn’t guess there’s a Michelin-rated restaurant on this tiny 240 acre island…well, maybe you would – it’s France after all.
La Mère Poulard is known for their famous Normandy style omelets, which are puff omelets cooked over a woodfire. The restaurant opened in 1879 and has hosted no shortage of famous guests including Yves Saint Laurent, Alan Shepard (the astronaut), and even Ernest Hemingway!
Omelets will run you around 50€. If you don’t feel the need to taste the omelets, you can also watch them make the omelets from near the entrance.
4. Tour the Abbey
The main attraction in Mont Saint Michel is the Abbey. The history goes that Benedictine monks settled in the Abbey in 966 AD. Their goal was to built the monastery.
The site became a Christian pilgrimage site and place of knowledge where religious texts and manuscripts were made and housed.
After the French Revolution, the Abbey became a prison for resistance priests. Eventually in 1874, the Abbey was classified as a historical monument and restoration began. Just over 100 years later, it was listed as an UNESCO World Heritage Site!
Now you can climb the Mont up to the Abbey to tour the historic structures, marvel at the incredible architecture, and learn about the Abbey’s religious use and time as a prison.
I highly recommend an audio guide to accompany your visit because there are no informational signs throughout. Without a guide, you will feel like you’re missing pieces of the puzzle (or at least I did).
5. Visit a museum
Despite being an incredibly small place, there are a surprising number of museums including:
- Maritime Museum to learn about the bay and environment surrounding the Mont.
- Historical Museum, which teaches you about the monks and prison of the Abbey including medieval artifacts.
- Bertrand Du Guesclin and Tiphaine house, to get an inside look at life during the 14th century with period furniture, rooms, and clothing.
- Archèoscope, which takes you on a journey to learn about the island itself.
I will say these are going to be small museums with a local feel. You may notice an array of negative views from tourists who seem to have expected Smithsonian or Louvre level museums.
Please travel with respect to learn and if you can’t do that, maybe these museums aren’t best for you.
6. Enjoy the views
While touring the bay from the ground is an incredible experience, seeing it from above might be even better!
You can walk around the entire island from above and you’ll get some beautiful views! There are even telescopes positioned to help you see things up close.
7. Grab some ice cream
One thing you may not realize about Mont Saint Michel is that it’s A LOT of hills. Like all hills. To get to the Abbey, you are CLIMBING (read: huffing and puffing). What better reward than some cool ice cream!
You’ll find some near the top at the entrance to the Abbey located next to an informational sign with a map of the island and list of museums.
There’s also a big ice cream cone sign outside, so that helps!
8. Explore the small town
Be sure to give yourself enough time to explore the small town. There are so many cute shops and the narrow streets are so picturesque!
9. Shop for souvenirs
You can’t leave without a souvenir (or two)! Mont Saint Michel is home to local artists who have shops on this main road and the surrounding small alleys so be sure to give them your support and buy local.
I love souvenirs I can use or postcards I can mail home!
10. Spot local wildlife
One of the coolest things about Mont Saint Michel is that its environment is unique. It has ocean, swampy bay, beach, and marshes. These ecosystems bring wildlife.
One of the most common and unique are salt-meadow sheep. They only feed on the grasses of this marshland so even if they look just look every other breed of sheep (sorry, sheep), they’re actually a once-in-a-lifetime spotting experience!
11. Walk the exterior pathways
I absolutely loved just walking around Mont Saint Michel. There are so many pathways to discover and they wrap around the island at all levels like a snake.
You never know what view or hidden shop you might be rewarded with just from covering the ground.
12. Visit the local tourism office
When in doubt, visit the local tourism office. They always know the best things to do when traveling in their area!
They can provide local maps, recommendations, and sometimes coupons for attractions.
How to Get to Mont Saint Michel
Chances are that you aren’t spending a lot of time at Mont Saint Michel and are looking to visit as a day trip from Paris, or just passing through.
Luckily there are a number of guided day tours from Paris that are easily booked. That will take the pressure off you to navigate to Mont Saint Michel on your own.
This is also a good option, because unfortunately, public transportation gets tricky as you get closer to Mont Saint Michel.
I love to use Rome2Rio to find transportation options. The top option from Paris includes two trains and bus, which is a bit cumbersome and takes 5 hours. See the routes here.
From Rennes, the closest major city, it’s a train and bus route. That route takes an hour and a half.
By car, it’s a 4 hour drive via A13 and A84. I recommend downloading your Google Maps into offline mode in case you lose service.
Where to Stay in Mont Saint Michel
You may have noticed that the town is very small. That makes accommodation limited.
There are some hotels in Mont Saint Michel itself including:
- La Mere Poulard for $180 a night
- Les Terrasses Poulard for $150 a night
If you have a car, you can search farther out. There is parking at Mont Saint Michel and buses that can take you up to the Mont, or you can walk the 2 miles from the parking lot.
Check out these other France resources
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One of my most favorite destinations. So beautiful and unique. Thanks for the walk down memory lane. I sure do hope to see it again.
So stunning! I hope I get to see it again too!