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Palace of Versailles (Château de Versailles)

Versailles, Ile-de-France, France

The Palace of Versailles

The Palace of Versailles is a complex of attractions located about 20km from Paris. The Palace was home to the French royal family, and thus the seat of political power in France. In addition to the main Palace building, visitors can also visit The Versailles Gardens and The Trianon Buildings.

An audio tour (available in 10 languages) is available as part of the admission charge to the Palace. Each room has a number, and you type the number into the device to hear the story of that room. The audio tour lasts approximately 45 minutes. We found it to be fairly boring, with lots of talk about paintings. There is at least 20 additional minutes of the audio tour that just talk about a series of paintings about battles.

The palace itself is beautifully decorated. Most of the ceilings are painted very intricately, and are quite impressive. There are some off-limit rooms where private tours are available (like the Chapel), but most rooms are accessible.

When we visited, the palace was full of people and very crowded.

Getting There

The Hall of Mirrors

Take the "RER C" train from Paris. It's in a different transit zone, so you'll need to buy tickets that allow you to get there from Paris. At the time of writing, a single one-way ticket cost 2.95€. Not all RER C trains go to Versailles, so make sure you get on a train that stops at the "Versailles Rive Gauche" station (it will be the last station in the list). The RER stations have TV screens that tell you what stations they stop at, so just make sure "Versailles Rive Gauche" is the last station on the list.

Pricing

The organ and ceiling of the main chapel

The pricing scheme is very confusing. There are a number of different packages and options available, with the most expensive option (granting admission to everything) costing 25€. The Paris Museum Pass is also good for entrance to most, if not all, of the attractions here.

The lines at the Palace are often very long, and if you want to get in a full day of sightseeing, you can purchase admission at one of the many tourist offices located just outside the Palace, on the way to the RER station. These offices usually charge a 2€ fee per ticket, but they can save you much time waiting in line. If you are arriving via the RER C train, you will pass a couple of these offices. They may have people standing outside telling you to come in and purchase tickets.

Estimated Visiting Time

Visitors should expect to spend between 60-90 minutes at the Palace of Versailles, depending on how much time they spend looking at the artwork.