Mont-Saint-Michel · Backpacking

The Mont is freely accessible around the clock and there is no admission to the village or to walk the ramparts. Only the abbey at the top is ticketed, so it is entirely possible to spend a good half-day here and pay for nothing but getting there.

The car park charges €10–14 for up to 24 hours in the low season of January–February and November–December, and €20–28 in July and August. The first 30 minutes are free all year, and evening parking from 18:30 to 03:00 is free from September to June and €7.50–15 in summer — which is why arriving late is the single biggest saving available.

The shuttle between the car park area and the Mont runs free all year with a maximum wait of about 12 minutes, dropping you 350 metres from the ramparts. Hours change by season, from 08:30–22:00 in the depths of winter to 07:00–01:00 in July and August; you can also simply walk, and bicycles park free.

Admission to the abbey is €16. It is free for under-18s and for EU residents aged 18 to 25, which means a large share of young travellers pay nothing for the one thing here that is ticketed — worth checking your documents before you queue.

Arriving without a car, a day here costs €16 for the abbey, or nothing at all if you are an EU resident under 26, because the shuttle, the village and the ramparts are all free. Arriving by car in August starts at €20–28 for parking before you have bought anything, and a meal on the Grande Rue will add more than the abbey ticket did.