How to Plan the Perfect Day Trip to Versailles from Paris – A Local’s Guide

How to Plan the Perfect Paris to Versailles Day Trip

This Versailles guide gives information and my best tips to plan the perfect day trip to Versailles from Paris. It also comes with a Versailles itinerary self-guided.

Most people planning a trip to Paris manage to squeeze a day in their itinerary for a day trip to Versailles. And for a reason! The Château de Versailles is a jewel of French Baroque architecture, and the grounds are stunning.

But the Versailles Estate is an enormous site, and there’s lots to know about a Versailles day trip before you go. As a Paris local who visits Versailles regularly, I would recommend a bit of planning.

Table of Contents:

1. Best Time to Visit Versailles
2. Ways to Travel from Paris to Versailles
3. Purchase your Timed Tickets to Versailles in Advance!
4. Why a Day Tour to Versailles from Paris is a Good Idea
5. Things to Do on a Day Trip to Versailles from Paris
6. A Day in Versailles – Itinerary Self-Guided
7. Extend your Versailles Trip
8. Tips for Visiting Versailles (+ Practical Information)

The Château of Versailles is one of the top sights to visit near Paris. I recommend a Versailles day trip to Versailles from Paris in the following Paris itineraries:

• 4 days in Paris itinerary
• 5 days in Paris itinerary
• 6 days in Paris itinerary
• 7 days in Paris itinerary

1. Best Time to Visit Versailles

When is the best time to visit Versailles?

The best time for a day trip to Versailles is in spring or autumn because the site is less crowded than in summer. From April to October, visitors can also enjoy the Garden and Fountain shows. During this time, the gardens that surround the Château are not free to visit, but the extra fee is worth it.

Summer means good weather guaranteed, but the crowds are intense.

Winter is ideal for visiting the Château, but you will miss the beauty of the gardens in bloom, which is a shame. The French-style gardens are free to visit in winter, but many grooves are closed to the public. A day of snow can be nice, but it is rare!

Best Day to Visit Versailles

In my opinion, Wednesdays and Thursdays are the best days to visit Versailles.

Versailles is particularly crowded on Tuesdays and during the weekends. If your schedule is flexible, prioritize Wednesdays and Thursdays, when there are fewer crowds.

3. Purchase your Timed Tickets to Versailles in Advance!

With nearly 10 million visitors every year, the Château de Versailles is one of the world’s most visited historic sites!

If you decide to visit Versailles without a guided tour, buy your tickets well in advance. With the timed entrance, you will choose a date and a time slot, so you are sure to enter the Château within 30 minutes of your time slot.

Versailles offers different kinds of tickets, so it is essential to understand what you can visit with each ticket.

Compare the best Versailles Tickets

DID YOU KNOW? The Paris Museum Pass for 2, 4, or 6 days also includes access to Château de Versailles and the Trianons!

4. Why a Day Tour to Versailles from Paris is a Good Idea

A Versailles tour from Paris is a popular option, especially among first-time visitors. Here’s why you should consider a guided tour for visiting Versailles:

» Your time is limited, and Versailles Estate is huge! Tour guides know how to get the most out of your time on a day trip from Paris to Versailles by showing the main sights at perfect times to avoid crowds.

» Guided tours with a knowledgeable guide are more interesting and interactive experiences. You can always ask your guide as many questions as you want, and they always seem to have many stories to tell.

» Versailles guided tours use a separate entrance to the Château, which is super cool. While Versailles skip-the-line tickets guarantee access to the Château within 30 minutes (the 30 minutes of your time slot), the access to the Château with a guided tour is immediate thanks to this separate entrance.

» Some of these tours also include the pickup and drop off at your hotel. After visiting Versailles for hours, how cool is it to go back straight to your hotel on a comfortable van or coach?

» Some Versailles guided tours allow people to visit otherwise closed rooms. Don’t miss the opportunity to enjoy these unique parts of the Château with a small group and far from the crowds.

Best Versailles Guided Tours in English (with skip-the-line tickets)

5. Things to Do on a Day Trip to Versailles from Paris

Versailles is one of the top places on everyone’s Paris Bucket List. The beauty of this site and its proximity to the French capital make a day trip to Versailles easy to organize.

Versailles is more than a French château; it’s a royal domain that extends over 800 hectares, with many interesting things to visit. Here’s the full list:

Versailles is one of the most popular day trips from Paris. Check out the list of best day trips from Paris.

Château de Versailles

Château de Versailles is the beating heart of the Versailles Estate. One of the most beautiful castles in France, the Palace of Versailles has two floors – the garden floor and the first floor –with a total surface of 63,000 m2 divided into 2,300 rooms and halls.

The most famous room in the Château is the Hall of Mirrors, used for ceremonies and exceptional occasions such as the masked ball for Marie-Antoinette and Louis XVI‘s wedding. But of course, there’s much more!

Don’t miss one of the best castles near Paris. The articles below are in-depth articles about the Château of Versailles and my best skip-the-line tips for visiting it.

Gardens of Versailles (Petit Parc)

Designed by André Le Notre, the same landscaper designer who created the gardens of Château de Chantilly, the magnificent French-style Gardens of Versailles are one of the jewels of the Versailles Estate.

The Gardens of Versailles surround the Château on three sides, and they are decorated with many fountains, grooves, statues, colonnades, and even an obelisk. From April to October, they host beautiful music and water shows, and there’s an entrance fee to access them. The access is free from November to March, but some grooves are closed.

If you want to know more about these stunning gardens, the articles below are in-depth articles about the Gardens of Versailles and the fountains that decorate these gardens.

Versailles Garden & Fountain Shows

If you plan a day trip from Paris to Versailles during the high season (from April to October), you can enjoy beautiful shows around the gardens: the Musical Fountains Show, the Musical Gardens Show, and the Versailles Fountains Night Show.

In this article, you will find the show days and the fountains schedule. You will see the fountains in action only during the Musical Fountains Show and the Versailles Fountains Night Show.

Skip the lines and save money by purchasing the Versailles Passport, with the Musical Gardens or the Fountain Show included

The Estate of Trianon

The Estate of Trianon is home to the Grand Trianon and the Petit Trianon pavilions, the Queen’s Hamlet, and various ornamental gardens.

The Kings built these intimate spaces close to the Palace of Versailles to gain some brief respite from courtly etiquette and enjoy nature. The Queen’s Hamlet was constructed for Queen Marie-Antoinette and her children to play the peasants, and it had a farm, a mill, and many animals.

The Park (Grand Parc)

The Park of Versailles is the green extension surrounding the Grand Canal, and it is always free to visit. This part is very popular amongst locals and Parisians for family picnics, jogging, or bike rides.

The Grand Canal is André Le Nôtre’s most original design. With its huge dimensions (1,700 m east-west and 1,000 m north-south) and 60 m in width, the Grand Canal was used for ship battles by the King and his court.

If you are fit, walk down to the Royal Star, a viewpoint at the edge of the western branch with amazing views.

This area is home to the famous Lime Tree Walk, which links the Château to the Mortemets, the waterfowl reserve within King Louis XIV’s hunting estate.

Le Potager du Roi (the King’s Vegetable Garden)

Le Potager du Roi (the King’s vegetable garden) was built between 1678 and 1683 by Jean-Baptiste La Quintinie at King Louis XIV’s request.

Well known for his experience with fruit gardens and vegetable gardens, La Quintinie was responsible for providing fruits and vegetables at the King’s table. 

The prodigies accomplished by La Quintinie attracted the interest and admiration of his master, the King, who liked to come for a walk in the vegetable garden. A gardening enthusiast, King Louis XIV liked to show his vegetable garden to his illustrious guests, and he even learned how to prune fruit trees with his gardener.

Le Potager du Roi is listed as a historical monument and a “remarkable garden.” Its gardeners perpetuate the art of pruning and grow a wide variety of fruits and vegetables.

Le Potager du Roi is an independent visit, not included in any ticket shown above. The entrance is located at 10 Rue du Maréchal-Joffre. Tickets cost 8€ to 5€ depending on the season (high vs. low season).

The Royal Stables (Gallery of Coaches)

The Royal Stables consists of two buildings – the Great Stables and the Small Stables –identical in size but with different uses.

The Great Stables are where the hunting horses were kept (hundreds of horses according to their race and coat), while the Small Stables were used to keep the carriages, sleds, and coaches.

Today, the Great Stables’ ground floor hosts an impressive display of coaches, mainly grand ceremonial Berlin Coaches from Napoleon I’s coronation and second marriage.

The Royal Stables are located at 1 Avenue Rockefeller, just in front of the Palace, and they are open on Saturday and Sunday, from 12:30 p.m. to 5.30 p.m. November to March, and from 12:30 p.m. to 6:30 pm April to October.

6. A Day in Versailles – Itinerary Self-Guided

Here’s the perfect Versailles day trip itinerary, self-guided, to get the most out of a day in Versailles. For this Versailles itinerary, purchase the Versailles Passport, which gives you access to all the sites described.

1. Book the first time slot to visit the Château de Versailles. It’s when the line to visit the Château is the shortest. Over the day, it will get more and more crowded!

2. Explore the French-style gardens that surround the Château. A good way to optimize your time is to book one of the electric carts (it’s not possible to rent a car for the Gardens). If you visit Versailles during the fountains show, check out my suggested Gardens itinerary, which is planned around the fountains’ running schedule.

3. Lunch time! Plan for a picnic by the Grand Canal, or book a table at La Flottille restaurant.

4. After a coffee and perhaps a short nap on the grass, consider a row boat ride or renting a bike to explore the Park. You have a bike rental post just in front of La Flottille, and here’s how to visit Versailles by bike.

5. Visit the Trianons and the Queen’s Hamlet, which open the doors at 12 p.m. The Trianons are like mini palaces of Versailles. If you decide that visiting the Château’s sumptuous rooms and halls is enough, replace the Trianons with the Gallery of Coaches. During the low season, the Gallery of Coaches is only open on weekends, though.

7. Extend your Versailles Trip

The Versailles Estate is huge, so you’ll probably need more than one day in Versailles to explore everything at a leisurely pace. You will also find yourself staying late if you decide to watch the Saturday night Fountain Show.

Traveling back to your hotel in Paris after the show is not easy because everybody leaves the show at the same time (after the Grand Finale), the train station is always crowded, and taxis (or Ubers) back to Paris are hard to find. 

Fortunately, there are several comfortable and luxurious hotels near the Château that will make your visit more convenient and that extra bit special. Here are the best-rated hotels near Versailles Palace, with something for every traveler. Spend two days in Versailles rather than a day and also visit some of the best things to do in Versailles town.

8. Tips for Visiting Versailles (+Practical Information)

This is what you need to know to plan your Paris to Versailles day trip:

» The Park and the Gallery of Coaches are always FREE to visit. If you only want to visit one of these places, there is no ticket to buy.

» The Gardens (the French-style Gardens around the Château) are FREE to visit from November to March. From April to October, there’s a fee to access the Gardens, and the price depends on the kind of show on that day (Musical Fountains Show or Musical Gardens Show).

Versailles Opening Hours – Low Season (November to March)

• During the low season, Château de Versailles opens from 9:00 am to 5:30 pm. The last admission is at 5:00 pm.
• The Trianon and Marie-Antoinette’s domain opens from 12:00 to 5:30 pm. The last admission is at 5:00 pm.
• The Park and Gardens are open from 8:00 a.m. to 6 p.m., with the last admission at 5:30 p.m. During the low season, some grooves in the Gardens are closed.
• The waiting time to visit the different buildings is definitely shorter during the low season, so your Versailles itinerary can be more flexible.

Versailles Opening Hours – High Season (April to October)

• During the high season, Château de Versailles opens from 9 am to 6.30 pm. The last admission is at 6:00 pm.
• The Trianon and Marie-Antoinette’s domain is open from 12 to 6:30 p.m., with the last admission at 6:00 p.m.
• The Park and Gardens are open from 8:00 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., with the last admission at 7:00 p.m.
• During the high season, the average waiting time to enter the Château is one hour without any Versailles skip-the-line tickets.
• There’s one line to access the Château and one different line to buy the tickets. If you want to buy your Versailles tickets on-site, you need to add one extra hour to this time.

Versailles Main Access Points

The Versailles Estate is vast, with many entrance gates, but some gates are permanently closed for security reasons. Find below the main gates or points of access to the Versailles Estate, which are always open.

GOOD TO KNOW: Remember that due to the anti-terrorist security plan, visitors with large baggage items (exceeding 55x35x20 cm) are not admitted on the domain, and every bag or vehicle is controlled upon access.

» The main entrance to the Place of Versailles is through the MAIN COURTYARD.

• ACCESS A is for individual visitors with their tickets already bought and printed (or on mobile phone)
• ACCESS B, on the opposite side of the courtyard, is for groups with reservations
• If you do not have a ticket upon arrival and are not eligible for free admission, go to the ticket office first, situated on the left in the Main Courtyard in the South Ministers’ Wing, and then to ACCESS A to validate it.

» You can access the Estate of Trianon by the Gardens and Park (entrances located at Allée des 2 Trianons) or from the city via SAINT-ANTHONY GATE (located on the D186 arriving from le Chesnay)

» The DRAGON GATE gives access to the Gardens from rue de la Parroisse.

» The QUEENS GATE, on Boulevard de la Reine, provides pedestrian access and car access to the Park.

» The SAILORS GATE, on the route de Saint-Cyr (D10), provides access to the Park and Sailors Walk.

» Access to the Potager du Roi is at 10, rue du Maréchal-Joffre.

» Access to the Royal Stables is on Avenue de Rockefeller, in front of the Palace.

So there you have it, the ultimate Versailles guide with everything you need to know to plan a day trip to Versailles from Paris. Have fun!

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