Giverny: Monet's House and Gardens Skip-the-Line Walking Tour
4.2
154 Ratings
Giverny
Explore the charming village of Giverny and skip the long lines to Monet's house and gardens. Discover the inspiration behind Monet's iconic paintings and learn about the Impressionist movement.
Duration: 2 hours
Cancellation: 1 day learn more
Highlights
  • Giverny - Meet your local guide for a walking tour of the village of Giverny, then enter through a special entrance to bypass the long lines to visit Claude Monet’s gardens and house.

Claude Monet’s house in Giverny is a must for any modern art history enthusiast, or anyone who simply enjoys beautiful surroundings.

Your tour guide will tell you the story of Monet’s life and how he led the Impressionist movement from 1883 to 1926. In Giverny, he was joined by artists like John Singer Sargent, Paul Czanne, and Mary Cassatt. By 1887, the sleepy little village found itself somewhat of an artists’ colony. Monet’s house with its pink facade is surrounded by enchanting ponds and magnificent gardens, two of the central features of his paintings.

Wandering through the village of Giverny, as well as Monet’s house and gardens, is like stepping inside one of Monet’s paintings. The street featured in Claude Monet’s Wedding March has remained practically unchanged since the artist depicted it with his master brushstrokes. The same goes for the Japanese footbridge that crosses over a pond decorated with luscious lilies.

  • Fondation Claude Monet - Today, Monet’s house and gardens are maintained by the Foundation Claude Monet. The gardens are enchanting; from April to October, they overflow with wild roses, hollyhocks, poppies, and fragrant honeysuckle. The water lilies, weeping willows, and Japanese bridge in the Oriental Water Gardens are instantly recognizable from his classic paintings.

The artist’s house features a cheerful and lively kitchen, as well as Monet’s collection of 18th and 19th century Japanese prints. In the village, visitors can pay their respects to the great painter, whose grave is in the cemetery of Giverny’s church.

What's Included
  • Local tour guide
  • Entrance fees to Monet’s house and its gardens
What's Not Included
  • Pick–up and drop off
  • Tips
  • Food / Drink
Additional Information

Wander through the quaint village of Giverny, where you’ll encounter the final resting spot of Claude Monet in the local churchyard. Subsequently, bypass the extensive queues to enter Monet’s home and gardens where you’ll gain insight into the artist’s life and his foundational role in the Impressionist movement, centered in this village from 1883 to 1926.

Understand how renowned artists like John Singer Sargent, Paul Cézanne, and Mary Cassatt flocked to this peaceful village and unofficially formed an artist’s haven. Be captivated by the beautiful ponds and gardens that served as inspiration for his masterpieces, and observe the renowned Japanese bridge and lilies of the Eastern water garden.

Relish the fragrant aroma of in-bloom flowers such as wild roses, hollyhocks, poppies, and honeysuckle. Appreciate the recognizable water lilies and weeping willows from his iconic artwork and step into the thatched-roof house to explore the vibrant kitchen and his elements of 18th and 19th century Japanese prints.

  • The tour will start promptly at the scheduled departure time. Latecomers run the risk of missing the tour. Please be at the meeting point 15 minutes before the scheduled time.
  • The gardens are wheelchair and stroller accessible, but the house is not.
Location
La Capucine
Rue Claude Monet
Meet your guide outside "La Capucine"/Botanic Café, 80 Rue Claude Monet, 27620 Giverny
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.2
(154 Ratings)
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Alysha_h
Jun 26, 2024
Worth the money - My tour guide, Berstard, was great! It was easy to find him outside of the meeting spot and showed me where I could lock up my rental bike. There were only 3 of us in total for the tour so it was easy to hear him and for him to walk us around to get in. Once we were in the gardens and were outside of the house he let us know our tour plan. We were all able to take our time in the house and he also told us some information about the paintings we saw. He was very knowledgeable about Monet. When we eventually got over to the water Lillie’s and bridges he showed us the best places to take pictures and offered to take our pictures. He was also able to point out a few interesting spots and info about the garden and keeping up all the maintenance. It was a quick tour since we had a small group, so it lasted about 1.5 hours. We didn’t end at the cafe because he led us to the gift shop exit and the bathrooms to part ways. I was thoroughly impressed with this tour and I can’t wait to come back to Giverny!
Review provided by Viator
Lubs76
Jun 6, 2024
Beautiful tour! - We had an excellent tour with our guide Sheila. The history was so interesting! She had nice stories and pictures and helped us maneuver through the crowds!
Review provided by Viator
Robertog_p
May 27, 2024
A pleasurable small group experience - Our guide Sheila was very knowledgeable, unpretentious… and fun! Before entering the gardens (and the house) she gave us a wonderful introduction to Monet’s life and work, illustrating her talk with interesting maps and photos she had brought along. Our group was small (10 people), and this made it easier to all of us to stick together, take photos and follow our guide’s instructions. We had a wonderful time!
Review provided by Viator
B9480btstacyg
May 21, 2024
Girls trip and gardens - Such a surprisingly beautiful half-day tour. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it definitely exceeded what I thought. Monet’s gardens were stunning, and it was a perfect way to spend a morning out of the city
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Daniel_d
Jun 13, 2024
Rate quality/price 2,5/5 - Your guide is not too bad and make his possible but the price is higher for persons, 110€ is my opinion too much !
Review provided by Viator
Natalie
Jun 1, 2024
Spectacular Gardens n Village - Pre booked our tickets for the gardens. The train ride to Giverny is about 1 1/2 , then you can choose the bus shuttle, small tram like train . Our days was wet, the lines long so we got an uber straight to the village. If you catch the shuttle it's about a 15min walk to village. Cute village with tea n coffee, gift stores. Monet gardens and house were beautiful. So many variety's of plants, flowers, colours and textures. You can walk through the entire house and on your way out the gift shop. Replica paintings on the walls in the house. Great day and a misery on your list.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Tahoe1984
Jun 6, 2024
Just buy a ticket on site and read a book it's not worth the price of this walking tour okay - It was supposed to be a 2-hour walking tour it was only 1 hour and 40 minutes and 20 of those minutes was inside Monet's house without any kind of editorial comment be aware that this tour does not include the impressionist Museum that's on site
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Limeyprincess
Jun 11, 2024
Skip the official tours - Total waste of money, I was told you needed to book a skip the line tour or be ready to wait for hours. We paid $100, the regular cost was $12 and there was no line. In fact one of the couples we were paired with needed wheelchairs and we were stuck moving at their pace until we decided we had enough and just took off on our own
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jennifer_l
Jun 8, 2024
Skip the tour - Total waste of money as there was no line on the day we went. We were paired with an older couple that needed a wheelchair (they didn’t request mobility assistance when they booked) and the guide was frustrated that we were crawling along, to be honest I couldn’t wait to get out. The gardens are lovely though.
Review provided by Viator
Jdex49
Jun 3, 2024
Very sad - to see the greed of the foundation allowing so many people into the garden at once. - Very sad - to see the greed of the foundation allowing so many people into the garden in one cut..
Review provided by Tripadvisor
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up to 15 guests
1 Adult
July 2024
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