Visiting the Palace of Versailles is a really special experience and is often something people do as a day trip from Paris. It is a very unique and special place and I do believe it is well worth seeing. Personally, it was not important to me to visit on my first few trips to Paris. But after a few visits and having explored the city a great deal, I was ready to finally venture out.
If you’re more interested in visiting Paris, you an check out my Paris blog posts here —–> Paris Blog Posts
Have realistic expectations when heading to Versailles
Maybe I should have known (and you may already know this), that Versailles was not as ornate as I expected it to be. I had just recently visited the Royal Palace in Madrid and everything was so decorative, elaborate, and ornate. I expected Versailles to top it by a mile! I was kind of shocked to realize that Versailles is honestly more of a museum and less of a Palace. It is absolutely still worth seeing, but I now realize I had unrealistic expectations.
Visiting Versailles is actually quite simple
I’ll admit I was also put off by so much conflicting information on the internet. I gotta tell ya, visiting Versailles is just not as complicated as people make it out to be. Bottom line you can visit in 3 simple steps.
- Book your ticket online. (book through the official Palace website)
- Take an uber to Versailles and enter at the time of your ticket, explore the gardens and palace
- Uber back to Paris
You’re going to read articles saying you should do this tour, or that tour, that you should take the train, that you should take a bus, that you should taxi, the list goes on and on. Please disregard and travel simply. Even if you’re on a budget and don’t feel like uber is worthwhile, it’s still easy.
Don’t over complicate it (pack your patience)
Remember when you visit Versailles that you’re visiting one of the most major sites, near one of the most major cities in the world. If you’re expecting to have it all to yourself, lower your expectations, or be rich (see my final tip at the end if you’re rich). Be patient, the process is actually quite smooth and straight forward, you just have to relax and deal with it. Signage is clear, staff are helpful, and the process is the process. Settle into that and you’ll have a much easier time.
Be the first people there
If you are the first people there, it does have its benefits. We arrived at 7:50 am for a 9 am ticket and we were pleasantly surprised to find that we were literally the only humans around. Luckily, the gate staff told us we were welcome to come in and walk around the gardens until our time slot. We had about 45 minutes to walk around and explore the gardens essentially empty. Then we headed back to the gate to get in line for our 9 am time slot. We ended up getting in the 9 am queue at about 8:30 and it moved very quickly.
If you’re not a morning person, just be prepared to be patient, find the sign and queue for your time slot, and enjoy.
Take an uber for door to door service & less stress
This is my number one tip if you are traveling with even just one other person. Yes, you can take the train. Yes, there is probably a bus. But my goodness, the uber cost 22 euro on the way there and 25 on the way home and took us door to door where we needed to be. Honestly, 50 bucks to travel peacefully and easy to the Palace of Versailles and back, I think it’s a steal. If you’re an extreme budget traveler, look into the other options. But, know if you train or bus, it will also involve some walking, neither will take you directly to the Palace itself.
Explore the gardens before & after
I already mentioned this, but if you arrive early in the morning you have the opportunity to see the gardens completely empty! This is neat, but to be honest, it’s also nice when there are people around. Before the Palace opening time they hadn’t turned on the fountains or music and nothing was really going on yet. We really enjoyed getting the chance to see it both ways.
Depending on the time of year you visit there are also fountain shows, and sometimes even fireworks displays. Make sure to check the calendar on the official website for details. The gardens are extensive and you could literally spend hours exploring them. Make sure to leave enough time in your itinerary to do so. They also do have restrooms and a small cafe if needed. This brings me to my next point…
Wear comfortable footwear and attire
Versailles involves a lot of walking, even if you get an uber door to door, so be prepared. I highly advise wearing sneakers or other comfortable footwear. The gardens are also true gardens. They can be dirty/muddy depending on the weather that day and the weather from the days prior. Be prepared that you might get your footwear a little dirty.
Sunday can be a win or a miss depending how you look at it
Sundays are always unique in travel. One of my biggest travel tips in general is that you should always be aware of Sundays. You should google if towns or cities have less things open and less to do. While the Palace of Versailles is fully open on Sunday, at least in the morning, much of Versailles actual town was not. We were able to wander around a bit and pop into a bakery for some treats, but there wasn’t much else to see or do.
Depending on how you look at it, you might also find this to be a plus. It was quite quiet and peaceful and it made getting in and out of town very easy.
Take a stroll around Versailles town
If we visited on a busier day, I would have really enjoyed strolling the town. It does look really charming and cute and there are other things you can do in the area as well. If things had been open we’d have had lunch here before heading back to Paris. You could also pair it with a French baking class, or horseback riding in the area etc. It is worth looking into if you want to make more of a day of things.
Run to the hall of mirrors if you want it to yourself (might not be for everyone)
This tip might not be for everyone. If you’re not concerned with crowds when you visit then you should just ignore this tip. If you’re interested in seeing the hall of mirrors with only the Palace employees around, here is what you need to do.
You start by booking the first time of the day and get in the queue early. Then when you enter the palace you do NOT get your audio guide. You walk immediately to the right, through the courtyard, and straight across to the entrance door. When you reach the entrance door and go inside you do NOT turn left (as you will be directed to do). You go straight until you reach a staircase. After you go up the stairs you power your way through the rooms until you reach the hall of mirrors. After you’ve enjoyed seeing it to yourself, go back and get your audio guide, and then take the full tour at your own pace.
You can take a golf cart to explore the grounds
We didn’t do this, but it looked quite fun! I also had no idea you COULD do this, so I’m arming you with this information before you go. You can rent golf carts by the hour to explore the gardens. This could be really useful if you have mobility issues, or you want to see a lot in a shorter amount of time. You may also just want to rent one to have a good time, they honestly looked super cute and fun!
Be Rich (I’m not kidding)
Honestly, the best way I can imagine to see Versailles would be to have enough money to stay at the “Airelles Chateu De Versailles“. This hotel is wildly expensive, but offers private experiences where you can have the Palace to yourself. On the low end you can stay for around 2500 euro per night and some rooms/experiences go up to 15k. If you stay here you have access to an after hours tour of the Palace. They also have an incredible amount of really unique and special experiences ranging from picnics, to feasts, to photo shoots, to horseback riding, and so much more. This is something I think would be SUCH a valuable experience and someday when I have more money I KNOW we will do this!
Wrap Up & Final Thoughts
I hope this helps with your visit to the Palace of Versailles.
If you really don’t want to do it on your own you also have plenty of options for tours.
You can check out Palace of Versailles Tours Here —–> Versailles Tour Options
As always, if you have any questions feel free to comment here or reach out to me at planformedani@gmail.com or planforme.dani on instagram!
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