One of the country's most iconic attractions, the UNESCO World Heritage-listed abbey of Mont St-Michel is perched on a rocky island amid a vast bay and encircled by stout ramparts and battlements.After fueling up with lunch at a local restaurant, follow your guide on a walk to the top of the hilly village, where you’ll then travel back in time as you enter the fascinating abbey

As you'll learn, Mont St-Michel was a major cultural and pilgrimage center during the Middle Ages. Legend has it that the abbey was established in the 8th century, when the bishop of Avranches was visited by the Archangel Michael in a dream.

Today, the abbey is still crowned by a gilded copper statue of Michael slaying a dragon, representing the triumph of good over evil. Visit the abbey’s cloister and refectory, and see how the ramparts have been added to support the Gothic monastery over the centuries. After your tour, wander the surrounding village at your leisure.

After your tour, wander the surrounding village at your leisure. Walk around the abbey's ramparts, shop along the main street, visit the island's museums, and witness Mont St-Michel's most well-known and alluring feature: the extreme tides. At low tide, the island can be surrounded by bare sand for miles, but at high tide — just six hours later — sea water swells up and fills the bay, surrounding the whole island.