Versaille: Guided tour of the King's private apt--Worth it or not

I can only speak from not going on the tour - I feel that the tour would have enhanced my (already great) visit with historical insights and storytelling, and would likely be more interesting to your kids versus going through rooms independently. Along with that opinion, having visited a good portion of the park in the past, I think the kids will really appreciate being outside and enjoy the hamlet, carriage house, and fountains, so I agree you want to have ample time. The carriage house is free and open until 6:30 on Saturday and Sunday. If you have a spare evening before dinner, can youdo a pre-trip to some of the public gardens and carriage house to give you more time flexibility the day of your ticket?

We took the tour back in 2018 as a cheap way to get into the palace (super long lines before timed tickets). Looks like now even with timed tickets it would be a savings of time. You enter in a totally different area and they take you through a part of the palace you cannot access with the audio guide. Once done you get dumped right where you pick up the audio guide for the regular tour with no waiting. We really enjoyed it as it was a small group as well. I would highly recommend if you are willing to stay the day. After the place tour we had time to eat lunch and explore everything before 5:30pm. We took the 9:30am tour. Long day but well worth it.

We did the private apartment and it was a nice tour. We did not do too much of the grounds though. I really am not into touring old palaces so once was enough.

We did this a few years ago to avoid the long lines for security at the Palace. There was a bespoke waiting room with seating for the tour groups and we were taken through security and entry as a group. (you have to have a ticket for the palace as well as the tour and it is checked on entry with the group)

To each his own. I thought it was a waste of time. The private rooms were nowhere near as interesting as the public ones and I have seen many many chateaux and they were much the same as any other set of gilded rooms. What it did is burn up a lot of energy that we would better have expended in the public rooms and gardens.

When you say "worth it" are you talking about saving time, or having an in-depth experience of rooms in the palace that you otherwise wouldn't get to see?

It sounds like your top priority is having time to see the fountains and visit the outlying structures such as the hameau and the two trianons. As such, the guided tour probably wouldn't be worth the extra price. The time you'd save by not having to go through the regular "line" (read "throng") would be offset by the time spent attending the guided tour.

Plus, the level of commentary on the guided tour is more geared to adults, IMO. At least, our guide--who spoke excellent English--was rather like a professor leading a college seminar. I don't think an 8-year-old would have gotten much out of it.

This probably is not an option, but if I had Versailles to do over again, I would not have gone inside and gone through all those gilded, draped, and festooned rooms at all. I much preferred being outside and walking through the gardens and past the fountains. As luck would have it, we just happened to be there the day the fountains were turned back on. Of course I am not one to spend numerous hours in museums either--I tend to take them in smaller doses.