Day trip to Versailles

Saturday / Sunday are the days both Fountains and Music, it's a win win!

It's Tuesdays that is a bit confusing where staff that turn the water faucets on take a middle of high season vacation break leaving only the music blaring during your promenade.

Musical Fountains Show

Set out to explore the fountains and groves with their water features spouting to the rhythm of music. Several circuits are available to enable you to enjoy the numerous masterpieces of the gardens or lead you to their most secret spots.

On Saturdays and Sundays from March 26 to October 30 2019 (except on May 1st), on Tuesdays from May 24 to June 28 2019 as well as on some additional dates (Friday March 25, Thursday May 5, Thursday July 14 and Monday August 15 2019).

NB: if you benefit from a free admission to the Palace, you only need to buy a ticket for the Musical Fountains Show.

Water displays from 11am to noon and from 3:30pm to 5pm, tuesdays from 11am to noon and from 2:30pm to 4pm

Mirror Fountain : water display every 10 minutes from 10am to 6:30pm

Water Theater Grove : water display the first 20 minustes of every hour, from 10am to 6:30pm

The Neptune Fountain : Water display at 5:20 (no water display on Tuesdays).

Musical Fountains Show Ticket: €9

covering the gardens and the Musical Fountains Show.

Reduced price: €7. Group price: €7.5.

Free admission* for certain visitors.

On-line booking or purchased on the spot (at the entrance to the gardens).

Do the fountains only run during the musical fountain shows on Sat and Sun, or do they run everyday?

Saturday and Sunday mostly

http://en.chateauversailles.fr/news/shows/fountains-shows-and-musical-gardens

Fountains run for an hour or so in the morning and then again late afternoon only on Fountain days. The tickets you buy do allow you to come and go from the gardens all day so you can see the fountains in the morning and then head for the larger estate, the Hameau etc in the afternoon, get lunch at one of the restaurants by the canal etc and then re-enter for the later afternoon fountains.

I would not go with a museum pass because it gives you no line priority; I would get a timed entry. If you can't do that or you already have the museum pass and so can't change that, then be there at least 45 minutes before the chateau opens at 9 so you are fairly close to the front of the blocks long security line for entry. It takes about 15 minutes to walk from the train, so I would aim for an 8 am arrival on the train. You will have to clear perimeter security and then the main security line. With the pass you won't then have to buy tickets, but the real issue is that hellacious security line.

We went to Versailles on a weekend because we could see the fountains. Well, it turned out to be a day that the music and fountains go on all day on a schedule. It seemed that it meant that it was busier, and though we had the museum pass, we had to pay more because it was "fountain show day". We found that to be pretty annoying. Instead of slowly wandering and enjoying the beautiful gardens, we were running around with a map trying to catch each show which lasted 5-10 minutes. We would have preferred a lower cost, and the fountains just running without the shows.

There is no 'show' -- if they are running them for only a few minutes it is about conserving power as they are both delicate and expensive to run not for presentation reasons. When we were there most fountains ran at the same time but for about 90 minutes or so. The largest fountain was run only once around 5 pm. Since you were there recently obviously your experience is more accurate for the moment, although it is possible they differ off and in season.

We were given a schedule that indicated the times that the "show" would happen. It seemed that the fountains would flow naturally, and then there were times that there was a "show", with spurts and lighting and music effects

We will be going on a Tuesday May 7
We have the kings bedroom tour supposedly giving us faster access at 10:30. And then when thats over tour on our own of palace

I will have. Museum pass but on Tuesday there is musical gardens which requires a fee
1. Is that different than musical fountains?
2. Can see any gardens and get to the other parts of Château without the garden fee?
3. Will the Château take up most of our day?
4. I cant figure if water us running or nit to fountains for the musical garden day?

It all seems confusing all the tickets types snd extra fees music garden music fountains

We have in philadelphia musical fountains at DuPont gardens pretty well done
And in barcelona spain a musical fountain show pretty nice

Oh well

We were given a schedule that indicated the times that the "show"
would happen. It seemed that the fountains would flow naturally, and
then there were times that there was a "show", with spurts and
lighting and music effects

I'm not sure what you mean by this. The fountains only run on specific days and at specific times during those days. Music is added during those times, but there is no "flowing naturally" at other times. Never do all the fountains run at once. The only "show" that is a specific event is the Neptune fountain (at the end of the day I believe) and the light show at night at the Neptune fountain.

Douglas, I didn't take any video, and this was a couple years ago. However, I will tell you that we were given a schedule and if we wanted to see particular fountains in action we needed to get to that fountain in an approximate 10 minute time frame. Some of the fountains would have timed spurts that would match the music. I'm looking at the photos right now.

I think that the "takeaway" would be that if I was going to go back to Versailles (not likely) and had to pay extra because the fountains were running, I'd make that my only activity and spend the time leisurely in the gardens. To visit the palace, the gardens (with the fountains) the trianon, etc., was too much for one day and it was aggravating to have to pay extra for the fountains when we didn't have the time to dedicate to actually seeing them in action.

Jules - The confusion was from your statement or implication that the fountains ran outside the time slots given in the schedule, but without the fancy music or show. They do not. Each fountain has a time slot when it operates on the given fountain days. They do not operate otherwise.

Your point otherwise is valid. For those not interested in seeing the fountains operate, there is no reason to pay the extra fee and face extra crowds on "fountain days." And there is definitely far more to Versailles than can be seen in one day.

Douglas, don't want to argue with you, you obviously have more experience with this than I, but I do have photos with water coming out of the features that I know had more going on during the 10 or so minute "special shows". Perhaps it depends on the particular fountain or I just happened to get a photo of a certain fountain that does run at a "lower" level during the rest of the time period. Or maybe it depends on whether Paris is in a drought, etc.