A day trip to Chateau de Versailles is the perfect way to add even more grandeur to a visit to Paris. Paris is full of opulence, but Versailles takes it to the next level! Visiting Versailles, France is truly a royal day trip from Paris.
Getting There
Getting to Versailles from Paris is fairly easy. The best way to get there is by train. The RER C line is accessible from the city centre and takes you to the city of Versailles. The RER C line has more than one final destination, so ensure that you are on a train heading toward Versailles-Chateau/Rive-Gauche. Rather than give detailed transit directions here, I will leave it to the experts! Check out this awesome site for step-by-step directions on how to navigate the Paris Metro and RER lines to get to Versailles.
From the train station in Versailles, it is an easy 10 minute walk to the Chateau. Heading out of the station, head right. It’s pretty hard to get lost…just follow the crowds!
Tickets
Chateau de Versailles and the Estate of Trianon are both included in the Paris Museum Pass. The Paris Museum Pass is the best deal going for seeing the sites and museums of Paris and I highly recommend it as a way to save money and time. Kids, magnificently, are FREE!
Once at the golden gates to the chateau, you will need to get in line for tickets, or if you already have your handy Paris Museum Pass, just head straight to the security line.
It is worth noting that they do not allow food into the Chateau itself. At security, they have a bag check where you can leave your picnic lunch (highly recommended to bring one as a picnic in the gardens is so lovely!) during your tour of the Chateau. It will be ready for pick-up at the exit right about when you are ready for a lunch break yourself! It’s perfect!
The Chateau de Versailles
Louis XIV expanded his father’s hunting lodge into a palace and moved his court out of Paris and into the remote setting of Versailles. A succession of French kings continued to embellish the palace each to their own tastes and whims, creating the Chateau that we see today. The palace was home to the kings of France for one glorious century. Now it is a world heritage site that is literally mind-blowing in its grandeur!
There are not a lot of options for how you visit the chateau. The flow of traffic moves in one direction and I’m not gonna lie, it can get really crowded. I’ve visited the Chateau three times in the off-season (fall and spring) and it was still fairly crowded. I can only imagine how crowded it gets in the summer! The beauty of the palace makes it worth it though.
To help you along, there are guided audio tours that you can sign out in multiple languages or you can download your own audio tour app. We used Rick Steve’s Audio Europe app. It gives a simple guided tour of the chateau and gardens and can be downloaded on your phone or personal device before you leave home.
Our favourite room in the Chateau is the Hall of Mirrors. Light from the windows is reflected in the mirrors on the opposite wall and the room is simply filled with light and sparkling chandeliers. You can’t help but look up and gape at the beauty of it.
The other hidden beauty of the palace are the long cordoned off hallways filled with marble statues and light. They just beg to have their picture taken!
Once you exit the Chateau, you will naturally be led out to the gardens. They are an outdoor version of royal splendour!
The Gardens
Depending on the time of year you go, the gardens will have a separate entrance fee. In the off-season when the fountains are not running, entrance is free and open to the public. When the Musical Fountains Shows are running, there is a separate ticket that you must purchase to enter the gardens. Children under the age of 6 can enter for free. Any time of year, the gardens are beautiful, but when the fountains are on and baroque music is playing it is absolutely magical!
We walked through the gardens down towards the Apollo Fountain and then found a sunny spot for a picnic lunch. Perfection!
The Estate of Trianon
After lunch we headed to the Estate of Trianon. There is a train that stops at three stations around the park: The Chateau, Grand Trianon, and Petit Trianon. You can purchase a ticket (cash only) in the gardens outside of the Chateau. The ticket includes round trip transportation. It is totally worth the price of the ticket if traveling with kids! It is a long walk and then even more walking once you arrive at the Estate. I highly recommend the train to save those aching feet!
The Estate of Trianon includes the Grand Trianon Palace, the Petit Trainon Palace and The Queen’s Hamlet. This is by far, my favourite area of the park. It is much less crowded than the Chateau and it feels less stuffy. The Estate doesn’t open until noon and by this point in the day, the crowds have thinned a bit.
The Grand Trianon was built by Louis XIV as a private residence for himself to spend time with Madame de Maintenon. It is filled with light and each room has a view out into the gardens. The pink marble on the exterior as well as throughout the interior is so beautiful and striking!
Petit Trianon
The Petit Trianon Palace is most closely associated with Marie Antoinette. The palace was gifted to her by Louis XVI as she was having difficulty adapting to life in the court. This neo-classical palace is a masterpiece and the star of the show for me! It has a very feminine and “lived-in” vibe that is in contrast to the opulence of the chateau. I love this small palace from the tip of its grand staircase to the bottom of its servants galleys and kitchens!
The Queen’s Hamlet
After taking a short walk through the gardens outside the Petit Trianon Palace, you will find The Queen’s Hamlet. The Hamlet is a rustic model of a French provincial village. It included a windmill and a dairy and still hosts farm animals including goats, pigs, chickens, bunnies and geese. Marie Antoinette used the village for the education of her children but she also used it for entertaining guests.
Its the perfect place for kids to run off steam at the end of a long day touring palaces! Save this little gem of a fairy-tale land for the end as a reward for tired feet. My previously “exhausted” kids found they suddenly had the energy to race around the trails and hunt for fish in the ponds.
The Hamlet is the perfect way to end a visit to Versailles. We were feeling more than ready catch the train back to the Chateau as the sun began to set over the palace.
Visiting Versailles is a full day excursion from Paris but it is truly a “Royal Day Trip” worth taking!
It’s a rainy Monday here and this travelogue was just what the doctor ordered. I feel as if I were there with you. It helped me piece together the photos you’ve posted elsewhere and is now in a guided tour order. Just lovely. Loved the Queen’s hamlet the most.
Glad you enjoyed it! I loved the Queen’s Hamlet too! Too bad sis wouldn’t let me post any pictures with her in them!
Gina
France will be my first stop when I get to visit Europe for the first time and this place looks like a must see! Your pictures are so great!
Hello Amanda!! Apparently I don’t have my notifications on to let me know I actually got a comment!! Hahaha!! Thanks for stopping by! And you will love Paris!!! I hope you guys can make it there soon!