Is it better to go to Versailles in the morning or afternoon?
We suggest arriving right at opening time—if not a little before. If you did not pre-purchase Versailles admissions or a tour, avoid touring the palace in the late morning and afternoon, when crowds are at their peak.
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Peak times and seasonHere are some handy tips to avoid long wait times. 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.
Consider spending the whole day in Versailles, but if you don't have enough time - coming between 9-10 AM or between 4:30- 5:30 PM would be the best way to avoid the peak hours.
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.
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 !
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.
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.
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.
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.
Each reservations done to the Palace by ourselves is for an exact date and hour. It is not possible to make another way. Thousands of visitors are coming to Versailles every days and the administration of the Palace can't accept visitors who are late.
You can skip the line for the audio guide at the palace by downloading the free app that houses all of the Versailles related audio guides in 11 different languages. To tour the inside of the palace thoroughly, it takes around 2-3 hours. Allow longer if you want to explore the gardens.
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.
The Palace of Versailles is the least crowded on Wednesdays and Thursdays during the week, and Sundays during weekends. The Palace is open on all days of the week except for Mondays. We would recommend avoiding booking tickets for Tuesday, because this is the most busy day for the Palace.
The fountains are spread out over a huge space with a palace as their backdrop and a grand canal in the forefront. I don't think march 31 would be as crowded as July, but even if it was, I'd go. I think that Versailles is at it's most beautiful when the fountains are on!
Visit Versailles and Le Louvre in one day. Our package is all inclusive: it is a combination between our Private Louvre tour & our Versailles half day Unmissables.