How to visit Versailles in Paris (2024) – tips and photos from our visit

Versailles in Paris is one of the most visited sights in the world, loved by locals and foreign tourists alike. In 2018, Versailles welcomed more than 8 million visitors, making it the third most visited monument in the world and second in Europe after St Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican. This guide gives you detailed information about Versailles, including tickets, opening times, transport, attractions and practical tips for visiting.

Chateau Versailles: history and architecture

Extravagant, opulent, rich. These are just some of the attributes that perfectly describe the Château de Versailles. It’s so ostentatious that even the pots are made of silver.

Versailles was built in the height of French Baroque Classicism. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979, together with the park.

Versailles is so unique that many European countries have tried to replicate it (for example Schönbrunn in Vienna). It currently serves as a national historic monument where the French Parliament meets for congress.

☞ Secure your entry to the Chateau de Versailles by booking your tickets in advance – Tickets often sell out in advance and you can’t get in without booking in advance.

Tickets and admission to Versailles

Versailles offers several types of admission from which you can choose exactly what you want to see and experience. Prices are valid when buying tickets online, tickets are more expensive at the door.

Ticket types:

1. Full ticket (€32): valid for the entire palace complex, gardens and park.
2. Palace ticket (€21): valid for entrance to the palace and the park (not the gardens).
3. Trianon Manor tickets (€12.50): entrance to the park and Trianon Manor.
4. Musical Fountains tickets (€10.50): access to the park and gardens during the musical fountains performance.
5. Musical Gardens tickets (€10): access to the park and gardens during the Musical Gardens performances.

From 2nd July to 31th October 2024, the Music Gardens play Tuesday to Friday, and Wednesday to Friday in June. On weekends there is a musical fountain show.

For us, we can recommend visiting the whole palace, including the gardens – it’s definitely worth paying extra for the full experience while you’re here. The interiors of the palace are beautiful and you can wander the gardens for hours.

Who gets free entry to Versailles?

Children under 18 and young people from the European Union up to the age of 26 are admitted free of charge. Free entry must be booked here.

However, this does not apply in the high season from about July to the end of October on days when the musical gardens or musical fountains are playing. In this case, you need to buy a ticket for the musical gardens or the musical fountain show on weekends. Free entry to the palace and Trianon Manor remains. Children up to 5 years of age are always admitted free of charge.

From November to March, admission is free for all on the first Sunday of each month.

Free admission is also available to everyone of all ages throughout the year to the gardens and park, unless there is a musical performance that day.

Opening hours Versailles

The Palace of Versailles and the Trianon Estate are open daily except Mondays, the gardens and the park daily including Mondays.

The specific opening hours are as follows:

• Palace of Versailles: April-October from 9:00 AM to 6:30 PM (09:00-18:30), November-March from 9:00 AM to 5:30 PM (09:00-17:30).
• Trianon Manor: from 12:00 PM to 6:30 PM (12:00-18:30), from 2 July to 8 September open from 10:00 AM (10:00).
• Gardens of Versailles: from 8:00 AM to 8:30 PM (08:00-20:30).
• Park: from 7:00 AM to 8:30 PM (07:00-20:30).
• Music Gardens: Wednesday to Friday until 28 June and Tuesday to Friday from 2 July to 30 October – always from 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM (10:00-19:00).
• Musical Fountain Show: weekends in high season from July 2 to October 30, from 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM (10:00-19:00), night show every Saturday until September 24, from 8:30 PM to 11:05 PM (20:30-23:05).

How to skip the queues for Versailles?

The Chateau of Versailles is famous for its fronts. Book your tickets in advance and go straight to the reserved entrance on site. Tickets are cheaper when you book in advance – you reserve a specific time, but it only needs to be for the palace, you can go into the gardens any time before or after.

Plus, you can be sure you’ll actually look inside. It is common to get up that tickets are sold out on the spot.

I also recommend booking early morning times – preferably as early as 9:00am. Lines start forming as early as 8:30am for the 9:00am entrance. If you buy your ticket on the spot, you should expect that you will not be able to get in in the near future (if there are any tickets available for that day).

If you can’t come early in the morning, head to the Versailles Gardens and Park first when you arrive and then go to the palace later in the afternoon (this only works if you visit the palace on days when there is no charge for the gardens and park).

Most visitors choose the palace first and save the gardens for the afternoon. This gives you a better chance to skip the queues and see the indoor areas without the crowds.

How to get to Versailles?

Versailles is located in the town of the same name west of Paris. The easiest way to get here is by train. Trains depart from several locations in Paris and stop at one of the three train stations in Versailles.

These are approximately 10-18 minutes’ walk from the palace gates – Versailles Château-Rive Gauche station is the closest, Versailles Chantiers and Versailles Rive Droite stations are about 18 minutes’ walk away.

The following train lines operate on the Paris – Versailles route:

• RER C: Departs from several points in Paris (Notre Dame, Orsay Museum, Invalides, Eiffel Tower) and stops at Versailles Château-Rive Gauche station (about 10 min walk). Trains run every 15 minutes during the day and the journey takes 30-40 minutes.

• Line N: From Gare Montparnasse to Versailles Chantiers station. The N line runs every 20 minutes during the day and the journey takes around 12-22 minutes.

• Line U: From La Défense station to Versailles Chantiers station (journey time 22 minutes, every 15 minutes during the day, every hour in the early morning or evening)

Line L: From Gare Saint Lazare to Versailles Rive Droite station (57 minutes, stops less frequently than other lines at Versailles).

• TER line: The regional train TER/TER23 runs from Gare Montparnasse to Versailles Chantiers station about once an hour, with a journey time of 14 minutes.

Tip: Check the Transilien commuter rail website to make sure there is no work on the selected train line. For example, the RER C line was under reconstruction in our time.

Where to buy train tickets to Versailles?

You can simply buy tickets directly at the station – there are machines or ticket offices. Versailles is located in zone 4, where t+ tickets are not valid for public transport in Paris. The price is approx. €4.15 per trip. You do not need a plastic Navigo Easy card, which is commonly used in Paris.

If you go to Versailles in high season, I recommend buying a return ticket. On your return, there may be long queues for tickets at Versailles station.

More options for buying tickets to Versailles:

• Navigo Jour, which you preload onto a plastic Navigo Easy card. Depending on the number of zones selected, it allows you unlimited travel in and around Paris for the day you choose.
• Paris Visite Pass, which can be purchased for 1-5 days. Prices also vary depending on how many zones you plan to travel in: zones 1-3 for Paris and zones 1-5 including the airport, Versailles and Disneyland.
• Navigo Decouverte Pass is valid from Monday to Sunday and allows you unlimited travel in zones 1-5 for a fixed price – this is a popular and usually the most economical way to travel in and around Paris.

☞ Read more in our guide Transport in Paris.

Entrance

Versailles Castle has 2 main entrances – entrance A and entrance B. As soon as you pass through the entrance gate, you will see signs showing you where to go. Entrance A for individuals is on the left, entrance B for guided groups on the right.

To the left of Entrance A are the ticket offices for those without a ticket. The entrance to the gardens is located between the ticket offices and entrance A.

☞ Secure your entry to the Chateau de Versailles by booking your tickets in advance – Tickets often sell out in advance and you can’t get in without booking in advance.

What to see in Versailles?

Palace and Hall of Mirrors at Versailles

The palace itself consists of 3 parts – the core of the palace, the north wing with the Opera House and the south wing.

The most beautiful and most visited room of the castle is the Hall of Mirrors (Galerie des Glaces) in 1st floor of the castle core, where the Treaty of Versailles was signed in 1919. The hall contains an incredible 357 mirrors and is richly decorated with paintings.

Gardens of Versailles

The Gardens of Versailles (Jardin de Versailles), beautiful gardens in Baroque style, form a system of circles and squares. These are small woods with fountains, statues and often a pond. These woods are called bosquets. Each bosquets served during the reign of Louis XIV. for different purposes – one was used for dancing, one for resting and one for meetings. There are various nooks and crannies, statues and refreshments.

Park

Through the gardens you will pass into the park, which covers an area of 815 hectares. Its centrepiece is the 23-hectare Grand Canal, built in the shape of a cross.

You can rent a boat and take a ride on the Grand Canal, have a picnic on the grass or take a bike ride.

Grand and Little Trianon

Grand and Little Trianon are palaces about half an hour’s walk through the gardens and then the park (you can also use the electric trolley).

Grand Trianon is built in Baroque style, with a paved courtyard and pink marble columns that stand out beautifully in sunny weather.

Little Trianon a neoclassical palace given by Louis XV to his mistress and then by Louis XVI to Queen Marie Antoinette.

Hameau de la Reine

Hameau de la Reine is a rural village with a lake and stables, built at the request of Queen Antoinette. She came here to “rest” from her royal duties.

At that time, the countryside was fashionable. Even though they are rural farmhouses, they are decorated inside. It’s a great place when visiting Versailles with children.

Interesting facts about Versailles

Who built Versailles Castle and when?

The history of Versailles dates back to the 17th century, when Louis XIII built his country estate here. Just a few years later, he decided to convert his country home into a hunting lodge.

It was not until the reign of Louis XIV, the Sun King, that Versailles was transformed into a splendid royal residence. Until then, the king had lived in the Louvre, but he longed for a larger and more splendid residence. This gave him the idea of moving his residence to Versailles.

The best architects were involved in the materialization of his plan – the aim was to surpass the Vaux-le-Vicomte castle in Maincy, built for the provisional ruler Nicolas Fouquet.

After the death of the king, the castle alternately decayed and then flourished again. Its restoration was then undertaken by Napoleon and later, after World War I, by the American patron J. D. Rockefeller.

☞ Here they are the best places not to miss in Paris (including entrance fees, opening times and how to avoid the queues).

Interesting facts about Versailles

• During the reign of Louis XIV, the maintenance and operation of Versailles cost an incredible 25% of France’s government revenue.

• In today’s money, building Versailles would cost an estimated $200-300 billion. Of that, one-third of the budget would go to the fountains.

• The Gardens of Versailles are made up of 372 statues, 55 water features, 600 fountains and 200,000 flowers and 200,000 trees are planted each year.

• The palace can accommodate up to 5,000 people. Because of its size, the king often ate cold meals, as the dining room was far from the kitchen.

• Louis XIV saw himself as Apollo, the sun god. In several places in Versailles you can see frescoes depicting him as the Sun God.

Stinking Versailles

Do you imagine Versailles as a perfectly clean and perfumed palace? It was exactly the opposite, and for two reasons. The first was the lack of public toilets. These were often in poor condition and their contents leaked into the walls and floors.

Throughout the palace there were 274 toilet chairs(Cabinets des Affaires), inside which there was only a container to perform the necessities. But the sewer was far away. During various meetings, the contents of the containers were then thrown out the windows and later just wiped off.

Another reason for the unpleasant odor was the gowns. They were often made of fabrics that could not be washed and were only wiped with cloths. The poorer nobility, unlike the king, could not afford more than one gown, and so it began to stink after a while. In order not to smell so much, they carried little bags filled with herbs or petals. The whole palace was also scented with purple to eliminate the smell.

When to visit Versailles?

If you want to enjoy a chateau tour without the crowds, visit Versailles from November to March. The downside is that you won’t get to experience the music show or see the beautiful gardens in bloom.

The high season at Versailles runs from May to September, when you literally move with the crowd in some areas of the palace (e.g. the Hall of Mirrors). If you’re going to Versailles in high season, I recommend getting a head start and arriving before opening time. The park opens at 7:00 am, the gardens at 8:00 am, so you can go here before visiting the palace.

In April, the gardens bloom and there are not so many tourists. In October, the surroundings of the palace turn into warm autumn tones.

☞ Get inspired by our 5-day Paris itinerary (including a map and practical information).

How to enjoy a visit to the Chateau de Versailles?

• Allow at least half a day to visit Versailles. The tour of the palace itself takes 1.5-2 hours. You can walk for hours in the gardens and park.

• Wear comfortable shoes and plan a visit outside of the main tourist season for a quieter experience.

• There are plenty of refreshments and toilets in and around the palace.

• Book your tickets online in advance and arrive as early as possible in the morning, preferably at 8:30am.

• If you are driving your own car, there is a parking lot right in front of the castle.

Versailles with children

Versailles Castle is also a perfect place for families with children. The gardens are full of fountains, there is a cave with the Baths of Apollo, lakes, a large Water Canal and other activities.

You can have a picnic or ice cream. Bicycles are available in the park and some bikes are equipped with child seats. At the Grand Canal they rent rowboats (including life jackets for children). Or take a ride in the golf carts.

Kids will also love the local Hameau de la Reine farm behind the Grand and Little Trianon.

Versailles on the map

HOW TO USE THIS MAP: Above you will find a detailed map of Versailles near Paris. Click at the top left of the map to see separate layers with highlighted locations. You can hide and show the different layers or click on the icons on the map to see the names of the places mentioned in the Versailles guide. If you want to save the map, star it. For a larger version, click on the icon in the upper right corner.

This was our guide and practical tips for visiting Versailles in Paris. Do you have a question? We’ll be happy to answer it in the comments below. Have a safe journey!

☞ Make sure you get into the Chateau de Versailles in advance to avoid selling out on the spot.

More information about France

PARIS: See tips on things to do in Paris (including entrance fees, opening times and maps). Plan your itinerary for 3 days in Paris. Do you have more time? Here is the itinerary for 5 days in Paris (including a map and practical information).

Louvre Museum is one of the best things to visit in Paris, even for those who don’t otherwise seek out art.

Are you planning to visit Disneyland? Read our detailed guide to Disneyland.

Find out all about transport in Paris (airport, public transport, metro, bicycle) and more tips on prices, food and accommodation in the Paris guide. Read our tips on how to visit Paris on budget. The Paris Pass is a popular way to save money in Paris – find out more about the Paris Pass.

PROVENCE: Here is a detailed guide to Provence, one of the most beautiful regions in France.

Summary: Chateau Versailles