Giverny
France
A Normandy village of about five hundred people, Monet’s house and the garden he painted for thirty years, shut from autumn to spring
Photo by Veronica Reverse on Unsplash
Photos by Richard Hedrick, Robin Benzrihem, Pascal Bernardon and Shay Zukerman on Unsplash
Best time to visit all of France
April to October, while the gardens are open — the water lilies flower from early summer
Climate month by month
The next sixteen daysOpen-Meteo
Average high and low · °C
Rainfall · mm per month
Best months to visit This month · wettest 70mm in Dec
Where it is
49.08°N, 1.53°E Open in Google Maps
Things to do
A day or two- Stay the night and be at the gate when it opens, before the coaches and the trains from Paris arrive
- Or come at the end of the afternoon, when the day trips have gone home
- Book a timed ticket online
- Cycle from Vernon along the old railway path rather than queuing for the shuttle
- Walk the village and up to the church after the garden, which most day visitors do not
Giverny travel tipsthe general rules
Currency budget France
ExpensiveCards at the garden, the museum and the restaurants. A few euros in cash is useful for the shuttle bus and a bicycle deposit. Rooms in the village are few and go early for spring weekends; Vernon, across the Seine, has more and costs less. Refuse the conversion when a terminal offers to charge you in your own currency.
ATMs & cards
Draw cash in Vernon, which has the banks; the village itself has almost nothing in that line. Avoid any machine that offers to convert to your own currency.
Avoid these
- counting on finding a machine in the village
Use these instead
- Crédit Agricole
- BNP Paribas
- Société Générale
The banks are in Vernon, by the station and in the town centre.
Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.
Safety all of France
Very safeNothing to worry about in the village. The problem is crowding: the garden takes a very large number of visitors between April and October in a space built for one painter, and the paths between the beds are narrow. Late morning on a weekend in May or June is the worst of it. The other thing to know is the season — from November to March the house and garden are closed, and the village is closed with them.
Where to walk, and where to pay attention (6 areas)
Comfortable, including after dark
Worth more attention
- the garden at weekends in late spring — shoulder to shoulder on the paths by late morning; go at opening or late afternoon
- The last train back to Paris from Vernon, and the last shuttle to the station before it, which are earlier than you would think
- The months from November to March, when the house and garden are shut and most of the village with them
Our own assessment, not a sourced index.
Entry & visa France visa rules
No visa needed
Freedom of movement — no time limit, and no visa. Bring a passport or national ID card.
Other passports
No visa neededup to 90 days
90 days within any 180-day period, counted across the whole Schengen area, not per country. ETIAS, a paid online authorisation, is being introduced for these passports — check the official link for whether it applies to your travel dates.
Visa required in advance€90 (Schengen short-stay visa)
A Schengen short-stay visa is applied for before travel, at the consulate of your main destination.
How to get it: Apply at the consulate or visa centre of the country you will spend most time in, typically 15 working days ahead and no more than six months before travel.
Entry rules change often and depend on your passport, not where you live — the official page above is the authority, and the airline checks before you board.
Health & emergencies all of France
Excellent and cheapRequired to enter
No vaccinations are required for entry from Europe or North America.
Jabs worth having, and what happens if you need a doctor
Worth having
- Routine vaccinations up to date
Getting treated
EU/EEA and Swiss visitors are treated on the same terms as residents with an EHIC or GHIC card; UK visitors use a GHIC. Everyone else pays, and travel insurance is worth having for the repatriation cover rather than the treatment.
Orientation, not medical advice — entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history. Check with a travel clinic four to six weeks before you go.
Food tip
DecentThe village restaurants are geared to lunch for day visitors and many close in the evening and all winter; if you stay the night, book dinner, or eat in Vernon. Normandy is cider, Calvados, cream and apple tart, and the market in Vernon is the place to buy them.
Travel tipsGetting around
Car needed- UberWorks here
- BoltWorks here
- G7Works here
- FREE NOWWorks here
G7 the taxi fleet, by app
- Against a taxi
- Much the same. The flat airport rate is a taxi rule and the apps price against it.
Time zone and your working day
Europe/Paris — 6 hours ahead of you
2 hours of overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are — 09:00–11:00 your time, 15:00–17:00 theirs.
No overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are. Working from here means one of you keeps odd hours — their day starts at 03:00 on your clock.
office hours both at once night
Their 09:00–17:00 is 03:00–11:00 on yours.
The difference from the UK, Europe, the US and ten more
Worked out against America/New York, which is where this request looks like it came from.
eSIM
A data eSIM for France, installed before you fly and working the moment you land:
Works here
Works hereRevolutIn the app
Must-see
Travel tipsNearby day trips
Travel tipsSay a few words
French
- HelloBonjourbon-ZHOOR
- PleaseS'il vous plaîtseel voo PLEH
- Thank youMercimer-SEE
- Yes / NoOui / Nonwee / non
4 more phrases
- Excuse meExcusez-moiex-koo-zay MWA
- How much is it?C'est combien ?say com-BYEN
- The bill, pleaseL'addition, s'il vous plaîtla-dee-SYON
- Cheers!Santé !son-TAY
Open with bonjour before anything else. Launching straight into a question without it reads as rude, and explains a lot of reputed French coldness.
Travel tipsReligion
Catholic, and strictly secular
Laïcité is a constitutional principle: religion is kept out of public institutions, and conspicuous religious symbols are banned in state schools. Cover shoulders in cathedrals.
Travel tipsDo's and don'ts
Do
- Say bonjour before anything else, every single time you enter a shop
- Keep your voice down in restaurants and on public transport
- Keep both hands visible on the table while eating, wrists on the edge
- Dress a notch smarter than you would at home — it changes how you are treated
Don't
- Do not ask for a doggy bag or substitutions; the dish arrives as the kitchen intends
- Do not start with English without at least attempting bonjour, parlez-vous anglais
- Do not tip more than rounding up — service is included by law
- Do not eat while walking; it reads as slightly uncivilised
Where to stay in Giverny
No Holistay rentals in Giverny yet — the platform is just opening up. Every listing here will have a video tour and the option to negotiate the nightly price directly with the host.
In the meantime, here is Giverny on the sites that do have the inventory — each search is already filled in:
- Booking.com hotels, guesthouses and apartments — the widest coverage almost everywhere
- Airbnb whole homes and apartments, and the better option for a week or more
How to get there
Fly into Paris Charles de Gaulle CDG
1h 15mfrom the airport· 75 km as the crow flies
About 1h15 by road; by train, into Paris for Saint-Lazare, then Vernon and the shuttle, nearer 2h30.
Also worth pricing: Paris Beauvais BVA — low-cost flights only, about an hour by road and no useful train.
Google Flights · Rome2Rio for the trains, buses and ferries as well as the flights
