Has anyone been to Mont St Michel? One of the tours offered on our Voyager cruise says there is difficult walking involved. How bad is it? I'm concerned about my wife who has had a knee replacement and probably couldn't handle a long walk up or down a lot of steps. Thanks. Tom.

We were there several years ago but due to the nature of the setting/church I doubt that
much has changed. I was younger at the time..plus, plus, plus and there were A LOT of stairs.

Stairs, stairs and then more stairs and they are steep. No other way to get up. It is quite a sight to see. She could enjoy the lower area without having to go all the way to the top.

What is interesting is that it changes from a peninsula to an island. It is truly lovely.

It is wonderful..but I too will add Stairs, stairs and more stairs..although there is a coffee shop as you enter where your wife can sit and people watch..
Jan

I guess I am jaded or something, yes St Mont St Michel was unusual, if you like crowds of other tourists around you!! Being there was ok, I preferred the views from distance, lovely photo ops. but up close and personal, to me left a lot to be desired, alot of hipe I think, though fun to watch the cooks beat the eggs in the copper pans to make omelets! J(and yes, lots of walking and stairs)

I had and opportunity to take a evening candlelight tour of Mont St. Michel. It was wonderful. Gregorian music, special lighting and slides on the floor to show tapestries . It was quite moving... but yes, the vast amount of stairs.

Beth, I would have enjoyed that. Being there at night would have been very nice, probably not as crowded either. J

Thank you all for your helpful comments. Radisson offers a second tour with a shorter stop at Mont St Michel and a trip to another town. I think we'll take that one. Tom.

Yes Jeanine, It was less crowded and cooler. It was a lovely experience. I think we got there about 8pm and back to the ship after 11pm.

The town of St. Malo is nice too ...
here is a site for it;
http://www.lepetittrain-saintmalo.com/us/circuit.php


and another
http://www.saint-malo-tourisme.com/index.jsp?lng=en

Wow! Some really cool stuff on St. Malo. We plan to just do our own thing, and this stuff was great - thanks Claudia - you are truly a wealth of information!!

I'm posting late here, Tom, but I'll throw in my two cents. The approach to Mont St. Michel is fascinating; as you drive toward it, you can imagine how it becomes an island at high tide. The walk from the bus parking area to the entry is a fairly long jaunt. Then when you get inside the walls, you come to a narrow pedestrian street that is lined on both sides with tourist shops, and when we were there in May 2001 every space was filled with people. However, if you look beyond the crowds, you can imagine the pilgrims making their way up the picturesque street. The walking street winds up at a fairly steep incline, then as I recall quite a number of steps lead up to the church itself. I have walking difficulties, so at this point I waited for our tour group while they went inside and toured. Lots and lots of steps inside, I was told, and others here seem to bear that out. However, even with missing the "main event", it was a fascinating stop, and you can wander around outside the church through alleyways with pretty views from various vantage points.

I loved the town of St. Malo. JoAnn, if you plan to wander around there, you should have a great time. The walled town was damaged heavily in WWII but has been rebuilt masterfully, and unless you knew it was post-1945 construction I don't think you could tell. The cobblestone streets were picturesque, the shops very nice, the views from the top of the city walls pretty. Really a fun location. I would go back in a heartbeat. Claudia has posted some good information that gives you the flavor of the town. Enjoy!

Hi, Tom - Good to see you posting on LCT. Despite the undeniable touristiness of Mont St. Michel, it is a genuinelly memorable place. It is quite magnificent from the outside, from a long ways away, and also when you are inside, seeing the incredible feat of construction. I don't recall your dear wife having mobility problems - is that something new? In any event, Mont St. Michel has about a zillion steps, if one wants to see all of the whole fabulously intriguing place. We went all the way to the top of the complex; but that was ten years ago when Pat and I had a lot more energy and much better knees. But you can certainly get a good sense of the monument by just going to the first level, which still involves steps, but not too many of them. It can be very crowded on the lower levels, however. It gets much less crowded the higher you go, as the fainter of heart and hip drop off. I would definitely advise making the visit. Mont St. Michel is one of the most unique religious monuments of the world. And all of us who suffered through French classes in high school had posters of the place on the walls of our classrooms. Thus, we must visit the real spot in order to be able to purge those high school fantasies (now, Tom, I am only referring to travel fantasies, not to all of those other high school fantasies which cannot be addressed in this forum, unless this forum changes its rating to XXX) from our psyches. Have fun at Mont St. Michel - the omelet is not really anything remarkable; but it is fun. Cheers, Fred

Fred...thanks for resurrecting the memory of the Mont St. Michel poster...of course we had one in our classroom, how could I forget??? I looked at it so often I sometimes thought I'd actually been there!

Thanks again to everyone. Claudia you amaze me with your information. Fred it's nice to hear from you. I trust you and Pat are doing well. Mona did have a knee replacement last year and I don't think she's up for climbing Mont St Michel. But you're right about the image we have in our minds of Mont St Michel. I've always wanted to see it. So we'll visit the outside and take pictures and that should be fine. And it seems St Malo is worth seeing too. Tom.

Dinard (about 10 minutes by frequent ferry from St. Malo) is also an easy walk and a lovely seaside town. As previous posters have said, Mont St. Michel is remarkable, including the number of stairs crammed into such a small space. Cheers, Anne

Like Jeanine, I guess I'm jaded or something but to me MSM is a "been there done that" kind of place, I have no desire to repeat. I think being there at night when all the hordes of tourists have departed would provide a better experience. We went there approx. 10 years ago as a day trip from the fishing village we were staying at ( Cancassone (sp?)). One evening we went to St. Malo which we really enjoyed.

From which port does Voyager offer this excursion?

Maria, for us the port for the Mont St. Michel excursion was St. Malo.

We went to the top of Mont St. Michel last September. 6 months after a major heart attack; I climbed all the way to the top! Yes, there are more stairs that I could imagine. I didn't think there was that much to see once we got up there. It is a pretty place on the outside and a real vision to see. If you really want to go up; do it slowly. If I can make it up there anyone can!

Huff & Puff!!!!!!!!!!!