We Stayed Overnight in Mont Saint-Michel and It Was Magical!
Mon Sem Michelle is a true bucketless visit and doesn’t disappoint. It’s storybook magical with charming cobblestone corridors, an abbey dating back a thousand years, and lots and lots of tourists. Day trippers regularly choke the narrow medieval streets. But stay overnight on the island and you’ll discover a completely different experience. It’s about 7:30 in the morning and we’re off to find some coffee. Had a very quiet night. In the morning, the uh tourist attraction known as Monty Michelle does begin to restaff itself or resupply itself. So, things get a little bit noisy around 6:30, but uh it’s also a very calm place. Very different from noon the day before because we have the place to ourselves. How about that? Yeah. Look at that. Empty streets. Yeah. Okay. Between 7:30 and 8:30 a.m., the storybook streets were practically empty except for merchants restocking their stores and restaurants. Before exploring the island, let’s talk about how to get there. We were traveling around France by train for a month and our plan was to go from Bayou near the beaches of Normandy to Pontson, the nearest town to Mos Michelle. But then we ran into a very French problem, a rail strike. Well, as you can see, this is part of the URL press pass experience because uh there is a strike today. And so, one of our legs was to be today to get ourselves to Mon Michelle. Not possible, I’m afraid. But Herz has come through in a pinch. So, a little extra expense, but we have a car for today and we’ll bring it back tomorrow before hopefully the rail strike doesn’t get in our way to get the tours. But anyway, so we know France is a pretty easy place to drive. We just learned that uh no turns on red. There you go. See what happens. Whether you are traveling by train through Ponttoong or driving and parking on the mainland, you’ll end up taking the free Lupasur shuttle bus for the final leg to the island. The whole system is designed to protect this fragile UNESCO site from too much vehicle traffic, and it is actually quite convenient. For heartier souls, you also have the option to walk the 1.7 miles from the parking lot. For $189, we stayed in a clean but austere room in the Lel Ober Hotel in a fantastic central location, but with lots and lots of stairs. We were definitely happy we only took backpacks for our overnight stay. Be prepared to do a lot of steps while visiting Mo San Michelle. So, what we’re discovering is 7:30 seems to be a little too early to get coffee in. So, and businesses can have their lights on and everything, but it doesn’t mean they’re open and the doors can be unlocked and you can go in, doors open, and people look at you like, “What are you doing in my establishment?” Um, we have found coffee. The day is salvaged. As for the top sites to check out in Monelle, the abbey is the number one must-see attraction. We got advanced tickets online for 9:00 a.m. when the abbey opens. The line was already long when we arrived at 8:45, but it moved quickly. Once again, be prepared for a steady climb up many steps. Where have we been? Oh, hello. I’m not talking this segment. We’ll feel it in our thighs tomorrow morning. Yes. Feeling it now. Feeling the burn. Feeling the lungs right now. Sneak out a couple of words between gasps. I think we’ve climbed all the stairs. We’ve had a chance to recover a little bit. Now we’re on the far side of the cathedral or the abbey, I guess it is. And there’s and we’re looking out at the English Channel. It’s really quite quite relaxing. And uh the view is very very cool. You have this kind of mysterious murky uh you know murky water around us. It looks like you could walk what is that a half a mile or a mile even until you got to water the standing pools all over from the tide. But but even from here at the very edge of this island, uh we’re inland. It seems like even with the long lines at the entrance, once inside, we felt like we had the abbey all to ourselves. We took a self-guided tour through this ancient monastery, founded in 708 AD and still home to monks and nuns today. This is called the crypt of the great pillars. And I would say it lives up to its name cuz they are very big. Look at these big pillars here. Look at this. Great pillars. These pillars are great. People back in the day were very healthy cuz they did a lot of stairs. So goofy observation is as we we’re going more around France and seeing uh historical places and names and so forth that we suddenly recognize all these metro stops that we’ve seen in Paris like is there a chappelle? Yeah, that’s that one was always fun when we were new to Paris and we were hear that announcement hear that announcement on the subway. It’s like what did they just say? And then you’d read it and and try to make Now that we’re learning a little like non Did I Did I even say that right? Yeah. Yeah. And Leo Yeah. It’s like nation. We’re stopping in nation. Yeah. We’ve been in a lot of halls today and on the subway stop. It’s Leo. So we we’re still learning going down and down. Not for the vertigenous. Now there’s a word you don’t hear every day. if you haven’t noticed has a big brain. And that concludes our our tour of the abbey on Mama Michelle. We recommend going early. If you don’t like steps, you’re this is not for you. Uh read about it in the guide book, but it’s not horrible, but there are a lot of steps. Yes, if you have mobility issues, um this could be a struggle. But we did arrive like 5 minutes to 9 before it opened for the day. We had tickets that we bought online. There was a long line, but it moved quickly as soon as they opened um the abbey, but we can see now that the lines are are growing uh as we get more midm morning. And uh we’re not experts in this because we didn’t do it, but there did seem to be an audioguided tour. We bought our tickets the night before online and sort of just headed in. So when we left, we saw some place where they’re handing out uh guided tours which might be helpful and and they certainly are available, but we felt like we had plenty of explanation with the paper handouts. Yeah. And there was also there’s a guided English tour as well. I think they started at 10:30 which is um was later than fit our schedule today. Yeah. But kind of kind of the highlight of visiting um visiting the islander Mons Michelle. So yeah, worth worth seeing. Let’s do Yeah, definitely keep it on the list. It’s great. After you’ve visited the abbey, take advantage of all those steps you’ve already climbed to walk the ramparts that surround it. Even though Mossam Michelle was originally built for religious purposes, conflicts between France and England in the 14th century required fortifications for protection. Walking along the wall gives you a great unobstructed view of the bay. So we pretty much walked the wall amal Sam Michelle. Yes. And the ramparts I think they might be called. And behind us, you’ll see it still seems to be low tide, although they’re supposed to the tide’s supposed to move in in just an hour and a half or so. But there are people walking down there. And we think we’re going to give it a try. Yeah. No boots. I know. We’ll stick to the dry stuff. I so do not want to be swept out to sea. Let’s go check it out. Okay. Okay. We’re going to do a sand test before we step Well, it looks pretty firm, though. Yeah, it’s hard. It’s like rock hard. So far so good. Yeah, I think we can go what couple hundred yards or meters or both. We never did experience the iconic island floating in the sea image you see in photos. We later learned that it only happens during the highest of the tides, and that’s just a few times a year, mainly around the March and September equinoxes. Apparently, the sand and mud flats at the base are what most visitors experience. Helvie, we still had an amazing time there. Moselle’s main street looks more like something out of a fairy tale than a French village with its tiny little stores and lovely cafes. So there is no shortage of creperies, glassier, and gift shops. Pretty much every corner we turn, you’ll find one of these. Even an Irish shop, if you need it. Not Irish as in iris. They have a computer that has a scroll of frequently asked questions like why would anybody ever buy a picture of their iris? Well, in France, I get that’s your best souvenir. So, my very first gallette. This is mixed, which means ham and cheese. And it is it looks like a buckwheat type of breading similar to a crepe but savory and tasty. And our final observation is that if you love dogs, you’ll see plenty of these furry friends accompanying their humans while sightseeing. Who knew that this wonderful place was also pet friendly? Thanks for watching Wanderlust with the McKenzies. Tell your friends and happy travels.
Mont Saint-Michel is one of France’s most magical destinations—but it’s also one of the most CROWDED. During the day, thousands of tourists pack the narrow medieval streets, making it nearly impossible to experience the true magic of this UNESCO World Heritage site.
But we discovered the secret: STAY OVERNIGHT on the island!
In this video, we’re taking you along on our overnight adventure at Mont Saint-Michel and showing you exactly why staying the night transforms your experience. We explored the island at dawn when the streets were nearly empty, wandered the atmospheric corridors in the evening after the day-trippers left, and had this enchanted place virtually to ourselves.
What You’ll See in This Video:
✨ The stunning Abbey at the top—dating back to 708 AD and still home to monks and nuns today
🏰 Climbing the 350 steps through the medieval village to reach the Abbey entrance
🛍️ Strolling the main street (Grande Rue) with its charming shops and restaurants—empty!
🧱 Walking the ancient ramparts with breathtaking views of the bay
🌅 The dramatic difference between crowded daytime and peaceful evening/morning
🚆 How to get there from Paris via car or train through Pontorson
🏨 Why staying overnight is the BEST decision we made
If Mont Saint-Michel is on your bucket list, this video will show you exactly how to make the most of your visit!
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