Museum Pass still has LONG queues at Versailles

I was there Tuesday, April 9, and saw the long lines also. I bought a guided tour at the Tourist Information Office in the town of Versailles, hoping that would help the line situation. When I arrived for my 1:30 appointed time, for some reason, we all had to wait at least another hour to get through the security line.

I had the same experience with a museum pass at Versailles. I don't know if its that most arrive to Versailles with ticket or museum pass in hand or what is going on in terms of tickets. In my experience, I believe the line was actually a the security line. We arrived at 8:45 for a day with a 9am opening time. We wished we'd arrived at about 8:30. We waited for about an hour. My suggestion for busy times or quite possibly any time, would be to get the timed tickets

You need to get there early to get a jump on the crowds. We took the train to Versailles and arrived 90 min prior to opening. We got a cup of coffee then got in line. We were among the first few people to enter and went straight to the Hall of Mirrors. We had the place to ourselves for about 15 min. We toured the house then walked down to Marie Antoinette’s Hamlet. When we left several hours later, the line to enter was crazy long.

You might consider a Fat Tire Bike tour or other other group tour that enables you to get priority entry.

What a disappointing experience. My brother and his wife took their 12 year old grand-daughter to Paris for her 12th birthday last summer. They, too, just turned around and went back to Paris after seeing the queue at Versailles.

Does anybody know if the advertised "skip the line" tours are worth it?

You could try going on a rainy day in December -- at least it worked a few years ago. Of course, the gardens aren't so great then...

When I go I get there by 08:00 and have been either the 3rd or 5th person in line. Its still an hour before they open, but I stop off at a Patisserie for a juice and some croissants and I'm good. Sorry for the bad experience.

"Or, just skip the chateau and visit the gardens, trianons, and hameau."

You mean we don't have to wait so long in line to get into the gardens only, correct?

What about the Grand Trianon palace?

No line to go into the gardens, Grand Trianon, Petit Trianon. You can only get to the Hamlet through the Petit Trianon and you have to pay to go into the Petit Trianon (well worth it).

The long line at the Palace is a security line.

In February, we walked right in.

A timed ticket to enter the Palace is now the way to go during tourist season.

The Museum Pass has never guaranteed short security lines at Versailles. There are several strategies to make this more bearable but the Museum Pass has never been one of them. book a KAT to avoid the line completely; book a timed ticket if possible; go late in the afternoon; get there at about 8 or 8:15 to be close to the front of the security line.

Can you please clarify whether the long line was for:

1) Security to enter the main gate or
2) To actually enter the palace

We are planning to go in November and do the King’s Apartment tour, which is a timed entry (and additional expense outside of the Museum Pass). I’m trying to plan what time to schedule the tour, how early to arrive to get through security, etc.

I assume everyone has to go through security. But I know there are separate entrances for general admission (museum pass or regular tickets) vs King’s Apartment tour.

There are two security lines: first for the perimeter security and then the long long long main chateau line. Like you I have KAT tickets upcoming and would like to know when we need to arrive to clear the gate security before meeting up for the tour at 9:30. I am assuming if I arrive at 9 that will be enough but I don't know.

Janettravells44 - while the Museum Pass has never “guaranteed” short lines, Rick Steves has stated repeatedly that it allows you to “avoid” the long lines.

This information is pulled from this website: “Paris: Waiting in long lines for the Louvre, Orsay Museum, Sainte-Chapelle, and Versailles. All can be avoided simply by purchasing the Paris Museum Pass (sold at any city museum).”

For us, and for many other people (see TripAdvisor) this isn’t necessarily true anymore. And the waits are significant. 3 hours is NOT uncommon. The line is in the open with no cover, and there were issues with line cutters. There is very little signage explaining the situation.

I am informing my fellow Rick Steves travelers that this information isn’t necessarily true anymore.

Certainly, a timed entry would reduce the wait time considerably. We didn’t realize it was necessary.

Having said that, it’s possible you would still be dealing with shoulder to shoulder crowds inside. There is a post on TripAdvisor on the same day we went, and the crowds inside were awful. The pictures he posted made us glad we turned around and left.

Anecdotally, we talked to people last week who did wait 3 hours, and said it was so crowded inside you couldn’t really see anything and it was pretty uncomfortable.

This is a very unfortunate situation. Hopefully, they can come up with some plan - reduce crowds, time entries only to alleviate this.

Everyone has different experiences and obviously your mileage may vary. I posted this as a warning to others on this website that the old advice doesn’t necessarily hold true now.

We wasted part of a precious day in Paris, I want to help others avoid the same problem.

The Museum Pass has never allowed people to skip the long security line at Versailles. It does give access to special lines for pass/ticket holders at most museums which can expedite entry and of course you don't have to stand in ticket lines. But I am astonished that anyone ever indicated that it avoided the worst line at Versailles as it never has.

I am still trying to get current information on how long the perimeter security line is at Versailles. Now you wait in two security lines -- bag check at the gate and then the main security line for the chateau.

The initial security line was no more than 30 minutes.

It sounds like nothing has changed since my last visit. Having a Pass only saves waiting in the queue to buy tickets, but doesn't guarantee any faster entry. I should have clued in that it was going to be a long wait when I saw the number of tour coaches parked in the lot.

On my visit to Versailles a few years ago, I waited in the pass holders line for 1 - 2 hours before gaining entry. One important point to note is that the Louvre is closed on Tuesday, so many people head for Versailles that day.