The short version
- The palace is closed on Monday and opens at 9:00, until 18:30 from April to October and 17:30 from November to March. A booked time slot is required, and even with one the palace’s own advice is to arrive at 9:00, because the entrance checks can mean a long wait, worst on Tuesdays and weekends.
- Our Private Versailles Trip picks you up at your Paris hotel, takes you in with priority entry and a licensed guide through the State Apartments and the Hall of Mirrors, then into the gardens: four and a half hours door to door, daily except Monday, $1,415 for two.
- The Passport covers the palace, the Trianon estate and the gardens: €35 from April to October and €25 from November to March, when the gardens are free every day. A late-entry Passport, into the palace from 16:00, is €28.
- The fountains play on weekends from April 4 to November 1, 2026 and on Tuesdays in May and June, and the Musical Gardens run Tuesday to Friday in season. On those days the gardens cost €15 unless you hold a Passport.
- The Trianon estate and the Queen’s Hamlet open at noon, a 30-minute walk from the palace or a ride on the little train. Until January 24, 2027 the Petit Trianon shows Sofia Coppola’s Marie-Antoinette exhibition.
- From November to March the first Sunday of the month is free, with a free slot still booked for the palace. The next ones are November 1 and December 6.
What to see
The palace route takes about an hour and a half: the State Apartments, the Hall of Mirrors, the King’s and Queen’s Apartments, the Gallery of Great Battles and the Royal Chapel. The Hall of Mirrors was re-lit in late 2025 with a single row of six chandeliers down the middle, closer to how Louis XIV saw it. The King’s Private Apartments are a separate guided tour, €10 on top of your ticket, through passages too narrow for a crowd.
The gardens, laid out by Le Nôtre from 1661, open at 7:00 in high season and 8:00 in winter, hours before the palace. Walk the main axis to the Grand Canal, 1.7 kilometers long, where you can rent a bike or a rowing boat from spring to mid-November, and come back along the Orangerie, where the orange trees stand out in their tubs from May.
The Trianon estate is Marie-Antoinette’s side of Versailles: the Grand Trianon, the Petit Trianon and the Queen’s Hamlet with its thatched farm. It opens at noon and costs €15 on its own, or nothing extra with a Passport. The little train from the palace is about €5 return.
Two free things most visitors miss: the Gallery of Coaches in the Great Stables opposite the palace, open weekends and holidays from 12:30, and the Royal Tennis Court ten minutes into town, where the Third Estate swore its oath on June 20, 1789, open weekends from 12:30 between May and October and on other days by season. The Royal Opera, built for the wedding of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette in 1770, is seen only at a performance.
In town, the Potager du Roi, the kitchen garden La Quintinie made for Louis XIV, is €8 from April to October and €5 in winter, closed Monday and closed at weekends from November to March. The Notre-Dame market halls are open Tuesday to Sunday.
Getting there and around
Three stations serve Versailles. The RER C from Saint-Michel, Musée d’Orsay, Invalides or Champ de Mars ends at Versailles Château Rive Gauche, a 10-minute walk from the gate. Line N from Montparnasse reaches Versailles Chantiers, 18 minutes on foot, and line L from Saint-Lazare reaches Rive Droite, 17 minutes. All three take under an hour from central Paris, €2.55 each way with the Métro-Train-RER ticket. Buy the return before you leave Paris.
The ticket gets you a slot, not a way around the line. The slot guarantees entry within 30 minutes of the time booked; the entrance checks come after that, and the palace says the wait there can be long. Buy only from the official ticketing, because fraudulent tickets are in circulation.
Our tour is the version without the line: a private van from your hotel, priority entry, a licensed guide in the palace and the gardens, and golf carts on request. For a full day, the Versailles and Giverny trip adds Monet’s house in the afternoon, eight hours, from April to October, $1,975 for up to four.
From November 16, 2026 to the end of August 2027 the Saint-Cloud tunnel on the A13 is closed in the Paris-to-Versailles direction; our drivers use the other routes out. In November the RER C stops running between Versailles and Javel after 23:00 on weeknights, and after 20:00 from November 2 to 6.
When to go
April to October is high season: the fountains and the Musical Gardens, the Passport at €35, and the longest lines. The Night Fountains with fireworks run on Saturday evenings from early June to mid-September, €39 in 2026; the 2027 dates are not out yet.
November to March is quieter and costs less: the Passport drops to €25, the gardens are free every day, and the first Sunday of each month is free. The palace closes at 17:30 and the groves are shut. The King’s Tour, a visit-show in the Hall of Mirrors, runs December 12, 2026 to January 2, 2027.
Rain comes in any month. Summer afternoons on the garden’s main axis are hot with little shade, and in winter the gardens close at 18:00, so the Trianon needs an early start after its noon opening.
Whatever the season, come on a Wednesday, Thursday or Friday if you can, and be at the gate at 9:00. The palace names Tuesdays and weekends as its busiest days.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you have to book Versailles in advance?
Yes. The palace sells timed slots only, and the slot guarantees entry within half an hour of the time booked. The security checks come after that, and the palace itself says to expect a wait, so be there at 9:00. The gardens and the Trianon need no slot.
How do you get from Paris to Versailles?
Take the RER C to Versailles Château Rive Gauche, a 10-minute walk from the palace, or line N from Montparnasse or line L from Saint-Lazare, both about 18 minutes on foot. The ride is under an hour and €2.55 each way. Or let us drive you: our private tour picks you up at your hotel.
Can I visit Versailles on my own?
Yes, with a 9:00 slot and the palace’s free app, which has the audio tour in English. What you give up is priority at the entrance and a guide who takes you through the rooms in order and out to the gardens while the palace fills up behind you.
Which day is best for Versailles?
Wednesday to Friday, from opening at 9:00. The palace names Tuesdays and weekends as the busiest, and Tuesday is the day the Louvre is closed. From April to October a weekday also puts you there for the Musical Gardens, and November to March brings free gardens and the €25 Passport.
Is there a guided tour from Paris?
Yes. Our Private Versailles Trip is a private van from your Paris hotel, a licensed guide in the palace and the gardens, and priority entry, four and a half hours, daily except Monday, $1,415 for two and $67 for each extra person up to six. The Versailles and Giverny day adds Monet’s house, April to October.
Our Most Popular Day Trips From Paris
Vaux le Vicomte & Fontainebleau
Vaux le Vicomte and Fontainebleau in one day, without the Versailles crowds.
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