Monet's Garden Giverny: How to visit from Paris and everything you need to know
It's one of the most popular day trips from Paris.
The house and garden of the impressionist Claude Monet is in a village called Giverny, just outside the French capital.
Restored in the late 1970s, the Giverny house and gardens were Claude Monet's private sanctuary from 1883 to 1926.
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The pink house which was once home to artist Claude Monet's in Giverny near Paris. Supplied
The pink rendered building and flower gardens including the famous waterlilies have been restored.
9Travel visited on a recent trip so has plenty of advice on how to experience it, too.
Where is Monet's garden located?
Monet's house and garden is in the beautiful village of Giverny in Normandy, in northern France. You can get there in around an hour from Paris on the train.
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The famous lily pond of the painter Monet in Giverny. Getty
How to get to Monet's garden from Paris by train
You can catch the train from Paris St-Lazare station which you can get to by Metro. You're heading to Vernon-Giverny.
Be sure to choose a direct train, which takes just under an hour, rather than one which stops in many places, which can be double that.
We booked our tickets in advance on the Trainline app, but you could buy them at the station.
They cost us around $60 each.
(Tip: St-Lazare station is joined to a big shopping mal which has options for food as well as a big Sephora.)
Vernon-Giverny station is closest to Monet's garden. Supplied
Once we arrived at Vernon-Giverny we followed the crowds to the right exit, and took a taxi to get to Monet's house as it's too far to walk.
We used Uber to get back to the station. (We had a European SIM card for the trip)/
Each taxi/uber journey cost us around €19 ($26.)
There is also road train from the station to the house you can use also which costs €10 return ($16).
But check the times of the return journeys as it didn't work for the train times we needed.
Tip: If you have to wait for your train, there's a bar over the road from the entrance to the station.
How much does it cost to go to Monet's garden?
We booked tickets to the house and garden a few months before our visit on the website.
You can also get tickets on the day however - but it does get busy. This year it was open from March 29th 2024 and will close on November 1st 2024.
It's open from 9.30 am to 6pm, with last admission at 5.30pm.
Monet's Garden near Paris is a busy attraction. Supplied
Tickets cost €11 ($18) for adults, Children over seven and students cost €6.50 ($11).
Children under seven are free, and tickets for a person with disabilities is €5.50 ($9).
Is Monet's garden worth visiting?
The garden was really stunning - despite the crowds. We went at the end of May, and there were many flowers blooming.
The famous waterlilies - the subject for 250 of his paintings -were not yet out, however. We hear summer, from July, is the best time to see them.
You can walk over the famous green bridge which features in many of the paintings. You will need to be patient though to get the perfect photo if it's busy like when we went.
It took a lot of attempts to get this photo in Monet's Garden near Paris Supplied
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Interestingly, drawing in the garden is banned - though we did see one woman set up with watercolours trying to do a sneaky piece.
One mistake we made, however, was booking tickets for 11am.
It was packed with tourists, and while walking around the garden was fine, we abandoned plans to go inside the house. It was just too busy.
Claude Monet's Waterlily paintings in the Musee de l'Orangerie in Paris. Getty Images/iStockphoto
There were hoards of older tourists and a nursery school trip all trying to get through the narrow corridors.
It was also very hot.
We reckon like many European attractions, it would be best to go as early in the days as you can. There is also a big gift shop, and a cafe just over the road.
Emily in Paris went to Monet's garden
The new series of Netflix show, Emily in Paris is out now.
Emily in Paris at Monet's house and garden near Paris. Netflix
Star Lily Collins, visits Monet's house and garden in the new series
Her and character Camille (Camille Razat) are seen on rowing boats on the pond - though you can't actually do this.
But it probably mean the garden is set to become even more popular for visitors.
You can find other Emily in Paris locations here.
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