The short version
- Fontainebleau is the château of François I and Napoleon, 60 kilometers south of Paris: 1,500 rooms, the Grands Appartements, the Napoleon I Museum, and gardens and a park that are free. It is closed on Tuesday, costs €17, and opens 9:30 to 17:00 from October to March and to 18:00 from April to September.
- Vaux-le-Vicomte is Fouquet’s château of 1661, the one that got him arrested and gave Louis XIV the team that built Versailles. It costs €18 with an audio headset and opens every day from March 14 to November 1, then for Christmas from November 14 to January 3 on fewer days, then closes until mid-March.
- Our private day does both from your Paris hotel at 8:00 a.m., with skip-the-line entry at each and a lunch stop, nine to ten hours, $495 per person for four.
- There is no bus or train between the two châteaux. Vaux’s shuttle leaves Melun station twice on weekdays, at 10:55 and 13:55, booked online, and Fontainebleau’s last entry is 16:15 in winter, so Vaux first and Fontainebleau second fails on a weekday from October to March. The other order works on any day Fontainebleau is open: the château at 9:30, Melun for the 13:55 shuttle, two hours at Vaux and the 18:30 back, a day of three trains, a bus and a shuttle.
- Fontainebleau on its own is a train ride: Line R from Gare de Lyon to Fontainebleau-Avon, about 40 minutes, €2.55, then bus 3401 to the château. The forest around it reopened after the July 2026 fire except for the Trois-Pignons, Franchard and Faisanderie sectors.
- Until January 27, 2027 Fontainebleau shows Marie-Antoinette and Louis XVI’s last stay, included in the ticket. The first Sunday of the month is free, except in July and August.
What to see
Fontainebleau’s ticket covers the Grands Appartements, with the Galerie François I painted by the Italians the king brought in from 1528, and the Napoleon I Museum, nine rooms and about 650 pieces from the reign. Napoleon signed his abdication here on April 6, 1814 and said farewell to the Old Guard in the courtyard on April 20, at the foot of the Horseshoe staircase. The Imperial Theatre, the Petits Appartements and the Turkish Boudoir are guided tours only, €7 extra. Give it two hours and be inside by 15:00.
The gardens and park are free every day: Le Nôtre’s Grand Parterre, 14 hectares, the carp pond and a canal 1,200 meters long. Beyond them the forest covers 22,000 hectares, about 90 percent open again after the fire of July 2026; stay on the marked trails and keep out of the signed sectors.
Vaux-le-Vicomte was built in five years for Nicolas Fouquet, the finance minister, by Le Vau, Le Brun and Le Nôtre. He showed it to Louis XIV at a party on August 17, 1661, was arrested on September 5, and the king took all three men to Versailles. You visit three furnished floors, from the kitchens to Fouquet’s apartments, then 33 hectares of garden on a perspective three kilometers long, with fountains that still run on gravity alone.
On Saturdays from mid-May to late September the château opens until 21:30 by candlelight, €22, booking required, with the fountains playing from 17:30 to 20:30. At Christmas, from November 14 to January 3, it is dressed for the season, with an ice rink and a projection show on the front, €25.90 on weekdays, timed slots and online booking required.
Barbizon, the painters’ village on the forest’s edge, has the Auberge Ganne museum where Millet and Rousseau’s circle lodged, €8, closed Tuesday. It is a taxi from Fontainebleau; no bus goes there.
Getting there and around
For Fontainebleau, take Line R from Paris Gare de Lyon toward Montargis or Montereau and get off at Fontainebleau-Avon, about 40 minutes, with trains from early morning to late evening, €2.55. At the station take bus 3401 toward Les Lilas to the Château stop, every 15 minutes, on a separate €2.05 bus ticket.
For Vaux-le-Vicomte, take Line R or the RER D to Melun, about 25 minutes, then the estate’s own shuttle from Avenue Gallieni in front of the Café de la Gare. On weekdays it leaves at 10:55 and 13:55 and returns at 15:45 and 18:30; weekends add an 11:55 out and a 14:35 back. Round trips only, booked online, no sales on board. A taxi takes 10 to 15 minutes, about €18 to €20. The old shuttle from Verneuil-l’Étang no longer appears on the estate’s pages.
Between the two there is nothing. By train, do Fontainebleau first at 9:30, take Line R back to Melun for the 13:55 shuttle, and come back from Vaux on the 18:30; the Vaux-first order only works on weekends, when a 14:35 shuttle leaves time for Fontainebleau before last entry. Our private van picks you up in Paris at 8:00, does Vaux in the morning, lunch, and Fontainebleau in the afternoon, back in the early evening, $495 per person for four and $45 for each extra guest up to eight.
If you drive, Vaux has free parking and Fontainebleau’s town car parks are paid; the Faisanderie forest car park by the château is closed since the fire. On October 31 and November 1, 2026 Line R trains between Melun and Fontainebleau-Avon are replaced by buses.
When to go
Vaux-le-Vicomte sets the calendar: open daily from March 14 to November 1, candlelit on Saturdays from mid-May to late September, shut from November 2 to 13, then Christmas from November 14 to January 3, Wednesday to Sunday until December 18 and daily from December 19 except Christmas Day and New Year’s Day, then closed until mid-March. Our tour runs from March to mid-December.
Fontainebleau runs all year except Tuesdays, January 1, May 1 and December 25, with the longer hours to 18:00 from April to September and the free first Sunday outside July and August.
June to August is the warm season for the gardens, and December to February is grey and short, with Fontainebleau closing at 17:00. The forest is at its best in spring and autumn, and summer now brings fire-risk restrictions.
Never plan the pair for a Tuesday, when Fontainebleau is shut, or for the first two weeks of November, when Vaux is.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you visit Fontainebleau and Vaux-le-Vicomte in one day by train?
Yes, with the order right. Fontainebleau opens at 9:30, so start there, take Line R back to Melun for the 13:55 shuttle to Vaux, and return on the 18:30, in Paris after 20:00. Vaux first works only on weekends, when the 14:35 shuttle gets you to Fontainebleau for about an hour and a half before last entry; on a weekday the first shuttle back is 15:45. Our private day does both without the clock, with lunch between them.
How do you get to Vaux-le-Vicomte from Paris?
Train from Gare de Lyon to Melun, about 25 minutes, then the estate’s shuttle, booked online, from in front of the Café de la Gare: weekdays at 10:55 and 13:55, back at 15:45 and 18:30. Or a taxi from Melun station, 10 to 15 minutes, about €18 to €20.
Fontainebleau or Versailles?
Both, if you have two days. Versailles is bigger, busier and run on timed slots; Fontainebleau has no timed entry, far fewer visitors, and 800 years of kings in one house, from François I to Napoleon III. We run a private Versailles trip too.
Is the forest of Fontainebleau open after the fire?
About 90 percent of it, since August 22, 2026. The Trois-Pignons sector, the Franchard gorges, the 25 Bosses trail and the Faisanderie and Franchard car parks stay closed, Trois-Pignons for at least a year. Keep to the marked trails; burned trees can fall long after a fire.
Is there a tour from Paris?
Yes. Our private Vaux-le-Vicomte and Fontainebleau day picks you up at your Paris hotel at 8:00 a.m. with a private driver and van, skip-the-line entry to both châteaux and time for lunch, nine to ten hours, $495 per person for four and $45 for each extra guest up to eight, from March to mid-December. Fontainebleau is closed on Tuesday, so pick another day.
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