would anyone know where I can rent bikes for a few hours to view the palace and gardens ? thanks
You can't bike in the gardens. You can bike on the wider estate.
There is a rental place on the grounds behind the the palace. As I remember off to the right.
Fat tire bike tours has a great tour of Versailles and gardens - you get to see much more than the average person. Lovely!
To get to the rental bikes...walk out the back of the palace, down the stairs, and keep going downhill through the gardens until you get to the Grand Canal. Hang a right and they will be just adjacent to the canal. Riding around the grounds is really amazing...doesn't take long to get out of the crowds and into beautiful small forests, wheat fields, and lovely tree-lined lanes! One of my favorite things to do...
Having just been there and going early and walking to the Hamlet .....I suggest taking the Fat Bike tour. They go later, ride from the train to the outer part of the gardens, have you stop in a market for a picnic (the food we had at Versaille was lousy) and you see the palace after the tour buses leave. As Rick says...it's all about crowd management and the bike tour seems like a good strategy.