Is it easy to get to Versailles from Paris, tour and get back to Paris in a day?
Yes, it is. Very easy train ride over.
We followed these directions several years ago:
https://parisbytrain.com/how-to-get-to-chateau-de-versailles-via-bus/
The walk from the Metro to the bus stop was short and as I recall we were let off the bus in front of the palace.It was fun seeing the more rural area, maybe 'suburb' is a better term. Fun, easy and cheap, my kind of day trip.
We used the train. The walk from the train station to Versailles is short -- many be a half mile or so. It is flat and easy to do.
The problem is getting from the train station to Versaille…. They are not exactly next door to each other.
There are three main train stations in Versailles:
- Versailles Château Rive Gauche, where RER C trains come in from several stops in central Paris. The easiest option for most people, but also the most prone to closures for engineering works.
- Versailles Rive Droite, where trains from La Défense and St Lazare come in. Convenient if you stay close to Saint Lazare station.
- Versailles Chantiers, where trains from Montparnasse and La Défense stop. Convenient if you stay close to Montparnasse station, especially because some trains only take 15 minutes.
The first one is closest to the palace, a 10 min walk.
The other two are more of a 20 min walk: local buses can help. They use the same tickets or passes as Paris buses.
Go to Rive Gauche and follow the crowds to the Chateau -- it is a short walk. The C is down in central Paris often, but if it is you can usually connect with it at Javel -- every time in the last few years we have gone to Versailles or Chartres, we have had to work around the C in central Paris -- it is not hard to do.
I know this is an unpopular alternative, but last Saturday 3 seniors, one with walking issues, took an Uber from their apartment in the marais to the gates of the chateau in about 40 minutes. 40 euros. We were there by 8;45 for our 9 am ticket. Yes, more than the RER, but it saved probably a mile of walking. Everyone was fresh and cheery for our day at Versailles.
Spending more made sense for us.