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Palace of Versailles
Treat it as three separate trips stacked on one site: the palace, the gardens, and the Trianon estate out back. Louis XIV built it up and moved the whole court here in 1682, partly to keep the nobles where he could watch them. The Hall of Mirrors is the room everyone comes for. It is a train ride southwest of Paris, under an hour.
Photos: Myrabella (CC BY-SA 3.0), Jean-Baptiste Tuby / After Charles Le Brun (CC BY 2.0), Claude-Louis Châtelet (Public domain), via Wikimedia Commons
Go, but match your ticket to your day. If you have a morning and just want the Hall of Mirrors, the full Passport is overkill.
Worth it for
- A first visit aimed at the Hall of Mirrors and the State Apartments
- Garden people, especially on Musical Fountains or Musical Gardens days
- Anyone with a whole day free to reach the quieter Trianon and Marie-Antoinette's hamlet
You can skip if
- A long day trip plus palace crowds is more than you want to take on
- You only care about the gardens, which are free to walk on ordinary, non-show days
Tickets & tours for Palace of Versailles
Which ticket should you buy?
From hunting lodge to seat of power
Versailles started as a modest hunting lodge for Louis XIII. His son, Louis XIV, transformed it into an enormous palace and moved the royal court and government there in 1682, partly to pull the nobility close where he could control them. For just over a century it was the center of French political and cultural life, until the Revolution forced the royal family back to Paris in 1789.
The scale is the point. The palace, its outbuildings, the gardens, and the wider estate were designed to project the power of an absolute monarch. Architects, the landscape designer Andre Le Notre, and the painter Charles Le Brun shaped a setting meant to overwhelm visitors, and it still does.
Inside the palace
The Hall of Mirrors is the signature room: a long gallery lined with seventeen mirror-clad arches facing tall windows over the gardens, hung with chandeliers and topped by a painted ceiling celebrating the king's reign. It later hosted major historical moments, including the signing of the treaty that ended World War I in 1919.
Beyond it are the State Apartments of the king and queen, the royal chapel, and rooms heavy with gilt, marble, and ceiling paintings. The crowds inside can be intense, and the route funnels everyone through the main rooms, so an early slot makes the experience far more pleasant.
Gardens and the Trianon estate
The gardens stretch out behind the palace in a geometric plan of clipped hedges, gravel walks, fountains, and a long central canal. They are large enough that many visitors rent a bike or a golf cart, or board the little train, to reach the far end. On most days walking the gardens is free.
Farther into the grounds sits the Trianon estate: the Grand Trianon and Petit Trianon palaces and Marie-Antoinette's Hameau, a mock rustic hamlet she had built to play at country life. The estate is calmer than the main palace and rewards the extra walk or shuttle ride if you have the time.
Planning the trip
Versailles is outside Paris, in its own town, so build in travel time. RER C runs directly to Versailles Chateau-Rive Gauche station, about a ten-minute walk from the palace gates. The journey from central Paris takes roughly 40 minutes to an hour.
The palace is closed on Mondays. Entry is timed and the popular slots sell out, especially in summer, so book a specific time online before you go. The gardens are usually free to walk, but on Fountain Show and Musical Gardens days, typically weekends in the warmer months, the gardens charge admission while the fountains play to music. Check which days those fall on if the fountains are a priority, or if you would rather avoid the extra cost and crowds.
Palace of Versailles: FAQs
No, it is in the town of Versailles, southwest of the city. RER C reaches it from central Paris in roughly 40 minutes to an hour.
Mondays. The gardens and park stay open, but the palace interior and the Trianon estate are shut that day.
Take RER C to Versailles Chateau-Rive Gauche, the closest station, about a ten-minute walk from the palace entrance.
Usually yes. On Fountain Show and Musical Gardens days, mostly weekends in the warmer months, the gardens charge admission while the fountains run to music.
Yes. Palace entry is timed and slots sell out, particularly in summer, so reserve a specific time online before traveling.
A quieter part of the grounds with the Grand and Petit Trianon palaces and Marie-Antoinette's mock village, the Hameau. It is a walk or shuttle ride from the main palace.
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