To tour the inside of the palace thoroughly, it takes around 2-3 hours. Allow longer if you want to explore the gardens.
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To make the most of your visit at Versailles, plan to spend a full day in the estate. Read our advices to better organize your visit. Guided tours allow you to visit otherwise closed rooms and then to directly join free visit routes.
Within half a day, you will have the opportunity of discovering all the richness of the castle, visiting the Hall of Mirrors and the royal apartments inside, but also the famous French style gardens. We propose two visits each day, departure from Paris center. The ideal formula to discover Versailles in half a day !
Full-Day Guided Tour of Versailles From ParisOpt for a full-day trip from Paris on this tour. This tour includes transportation to/from Paris, your guide, entrance to Versailles, Gardens, and Estate of Trianon, and lunch in the Palace Garden. This is a great way to get the most out of Versailles and learn more!
How Long is the Line at Versailles? The ticket office line at Versailles can take anywhere between 30 minutes and 2 hours. Afterward, you will need to again wait in line at the main palace entrance, followed by the security check, which can collectively take another 1-3 hours.
bags and luggageNo bags larger than the maximum size (55cm x 35cm x 20cm) will be admitted, and all bags must be checked and left at the left luggage desk.
Avoid visiting on weekends and TuesdaysTuesday is especially busy because other museums, like the world famous Louvre, is closed on Tuesdays, so visitors will flock to Versailles instead.
Water displays of the Musical Fountains Showon Tuesdays and some public holidays (Friday April 7th, Monday April 10th, Monday May 8th, Monday May 29th and Friday July 14th 2023) : from 10am to 6.45pm*, 5 minutes every 15 minutes.
While the Palace of Versailles is open to the public, it is still a Royal Palace and visitors are expected to dress accordingly. This means no sandals, shorts, sleeveless shirts, or hats.
Visitors to the Palace must book in advance and select a specific time slot. We highly recommend that visitors pre-book their tickets online. Once you have booked your ticket online and printed it, go directly with your ticket to Entrance A of the Palace. Visitors eligible for free admission must pre-book online.
VISIT THE TRIANON PALACESIn addition to the Versailles Palace, there are other palaces in the area that you may want to see. The Estate of Trianon is made up of four buildings: The Grand Trianon, The Petit Trianon, the Queen's Hamlet and the Queen's Theatre.
Travelers will usually find more to do in Paris than Versailles, as it is bigger with more sights, attractions, and activities for visitors. Versailles is popular for its long running history and its grand architecture.
The Hall of Mirrors, the most famous room in the Palace, was built to replace a large terrace designed by the architect Louis Le Vau, which opened onto the garden.
As a rule of thumb, it is not recommended that you visit Versailles between 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. without a skip-the-line ticket. Naturally, the off season (November to March) is generally when wait times are the shortest. Also be sure to avoid “deal days” like the Journées du Patrimoine or July 14th.
Passport tickets with timed entry grant priority admission and are valid for thirty minutes every hour, at 9am, 10am, 11am, 12pm, 1pm, 2pm and 3pm. Priority admission to the Palace is permitted once only at the booked time on the ticket. There is no timed entry for the estate of Trianon.
With your Versailles skip the line tickets, you are going to avoid the longest lines. Also, you may want to avoid the biggest crowds when you visit the Palace of Versailles inside. With the crowds, the rooms' staff make visitors circulate faster to avoid bottlenecks, so the visit is less enjoyable.
Make the most of your trip by combining your visit to Paris with a half-day tour to Versailles. This ticket includes a Paris hop-on hop-off bus tour, round-trip transportation from Paris to Versailles by coach, admission to the Palace of Versailles, and a dedicated audio guide.