Our kids have free entry (palace and estate) as EU residents under 26. We will be paying (just gardens and estate, no palace).
Do they need to be there early with free admission? Since we have separate entrances, where would be a good meeting place after they see the palace?
(Yes, I posted about Versailles in a separate post, but wanted to address this specifically)
The lines for their entry will be blocks and hours long if you don't get there about 45 minutes before the chateau opens. This is so hard to guess that I would make sure everyone has cell phones in order to connect later. Or you could meet at the base of the gardens (if it is a fountain day everyone will have to pay to enter that but the tickets are good to come and go all day) where the restaurants are. If someone is early they can rent a boat for the canal or have an ice cream cone and contemplate the view. This is not a simple situation, predicting when they will be able to connect will be difficult - you are better off going your separate ways and connecting by phone. If you don't have a phone for each group then set several meeting points. e.g. Meet at base of garden at 11; if that is missed, meet at Petit Trianon at 12 etc. Or just plan to do this separately and meet at a particular fountain in the gardens at the time you want to head back to the train.
