I am hoping someone can provide insight. We arrive in Paris Thursday night Sept 1st and leave wed morning Sept 7th.
As side trips we originally planned to go to Versailles on Saturday and Givenry on Monday. I bought a Paris Museum Pass that I understand will cover entry into Versailles multiple times and also bought the Saturday Musical Fountain Garden Show entry for $9. My concern is I just read Rick Steve’s book and saw the suggestion to avoid Versailles Saturday due to crowds. Just checking to see what people thought. Should I sight see just Versailles gardens/fountains then go to Givenry the same day with plans to return Monday for the rest of Versailles? Or are the crowds in early Sept OK on Saturday. Love to hear what you all think. Also what time of day is the best to tour the Palace? And are there other tickets/tours I should be purchasing that are not included in the Paris Museum pass for Versailles?
Thanks everyone!
Posted by
Ohio
2131 posts
Hi Julie, take the first train from Paris and plan to arrive early! We visited Versailles in May (on a Thursday) and were able to get in ahead of most of the crowd.
We had a quick breakfast at McDonalds in Versailles, then walked over to the chateau. We were in line by 8:15 and there were already about 20 people ahead of us. The chateau opened at 9 and we zipped through Security (you still need to go through Security even with a Museum Pass).
We covered most of the house before it began to get crowded. Believe it or not, we have photos of the Hall of Mirrors with zero people in them (the last time I was there I had to hold my camera over my head and the heads of about 200 other people to get a photo)... We walked down to Marie Antoinette's Hamlet, had lunch at a café, and hit the Trianons on the way back. We spent about 6 hours there. As we were exiting at about 3 p.m., the lines were crazy.
I would imagine that Saturday would be more crowded, but if you are planning to go that day, get there early!
Posted by
OP
5 posts
Thank you. Good tips. Sounds like you had a great experience.