Giverny or Auvers-sur-Oise? Monet's Village or Van Gogh's

The real question: a garden or a story?

Both villages sit north-west of Paris, both are about painters, and both make a day trip. They are not the same kind of visit. At Giverny you walk through a garden Monet spent forty-three years making, and the house he lived in. At Auvers there is no garden to visit: you walk the streets, the church and the fields Van Gogh painted in 1890, climb to his room under the roof of an inn, and stand at his grave.

Side by side

The case for Giverny

Giverny is the one to pick if you want colour you can walk through. The flower garden, the lily pond and the green bridge are the paintings, still growing. The house adds Monet's rooms, his Japanese prints and the blue-tiled kitchen. It suits garden lovers, first-time visitors and anyone with children, and the coach and small-group half-days make it easy: the coach half-day costs $80 a person with the ticket in the fare. See the Giverny Monet garden & house tours.

The limit is the season. The gardens close from 2 November to 31 March, and they are busy in the middle of the day. The best time to visit shows how to time it.

The case for Auvers-sur-Oise

Van Gogh arrived in Auvers on 20 May 1890, at Pissarro's suggestion, to be near Dr Paul Gachet, and took room 5 at the Auberge Ravoux, a tiny attic of about 7 square metres. In the seventy days before his death there on 29 July 1890, Van Gogh made more than 80 paintings, among them the church of Notre-Dame de l'Assomption, which still stands. Van Gogh and his brother Theo, who died six months later, are both buried in the village cemetery.

The room is bare, with no furniture left, and the Maison de Van Gogh shows it on a guided visit of about 30 minutes, with a film, in groups of up to 20. It costs €10 for an adult, €8 from 12 to 17, and nothing under 12. Auvers suits art lovers who know the paintings and want to stand where they were made, and it is nearer Paris.

Doing both in one day

You can, on a tour. The eight-seat Monet and Van Gogh day leaves avenue de Villiers for about two hours in Giverny, with Monet's grave, then two and a half in Auvers, with Van Gogh's house and grave; it costs $255 a person, every entrance paid, ages 7 and over. The private Monet and Van Gogh day collects you from your hotel and gives Giverny over three hours and Auvers about eighty minutes. Fares for the pairing run from $250 to $575 a person.

Doing both by train is harder: the two lines leave from different Paris stations, Saint-Lazare and Gare du Nord, so the train suits one village a day. The Maison de Van Gogh puts Auvers at about an hour from Gare du Nord, with a change at Valmondois. Getting to Giverny covers the Giverny side.

What to see in Auvers besides the room

The room is the heart of a visit, but most of Auvers is outdoors and free. The church of Notre-Dame de l'Assomption, which grew from a royal chapel of the 12th century, is the one Van Gogh painted. The cemetery where Van Gogh and Theo lie sits on the hill above the village, beside the fields of the painter's last weeks. Dr Gachet, whose portrait by Van Gogh sold for $82.5 million in 1990, lived in the village too. And Van Gogh was not the first painter here: Daubigny worked in Auvers for eighteen years from the 1860s, and his old manor is now a museum of about a hundred of his works, while Cézanne and Pissarro painted along the Oise.

So give the village an hour or two on top of the room. On a combination day from Paris the guide chooses the stops for you, which is the simplest way to fit both villages into one day.

What each day leaves out

• A Giverny half-day leaves out Van Gogh entirely, but gives you the most time in the gardens and the afternoon back in Paris.
• A combination day cuts Giverny to about two hours to make room for Auvers, and runs nine to ten hours in all.
• Auvers on its own is a short trip by train, and it leaves Monet for another day.

Verdict by traveller

• Garden lovers and first-timers: Giverny. The eight-seat half-day puts a guide with you in the flowers.
• Van Gogh admirers: Auvers, on a Wednesday to Sunday.
• One day, both painters: a combination day from Paris, booked for a day the room is open.
• Families with small children: Giverny, on a half-day; the minimum age on the combination days is 7.
• Your own pace: the Giverny private tours, which include a private Monet and Van Gogh day.

For Monet's side of the day, read the house and gardens, part by part; for the whole visit, how to visit. Things to do in Giverny covers the rest of the village.

Days that pair Monet with a second place

Giverny Monet's Garden & Auvers-sur-Oise with Van Gogh House Full Day From Paris

Ten hours from avenue de Villiers, eight seats: Monet's gardens and grave, then Van Gogh's village, house and grave, every entrance fee paid. Ages 7 and over.

From $255 per person

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Giverny & Auvers sur Oise Private Day Trip with Monet & Van Gogh Tour from Paris

A private minibus from your Paris hotel: over three hours in Giverny, then the church, the cemetery and Van Gogh's house in Auvers.

From $575 per person (minimum 2)

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Giverny's House & Gardens plus Versailles Palace Day Trip with Lunch from Paris

Nine hours from the 7th, sixteen seats: Monet's gardens, a lunch with drinks at a riverside mill, then a guided visit inside the Palace of Versailles.

From $371 per person

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