Please sign in to post.

Versaille Palace timed entry vs schedule of the fountains running

I am trying to book 3 Passport passes for Versaille for a Sunday in April (2 of which would be for kids 6-17). I have now read and re-read Rick Steves' Paris book on the Versaille section and I have scoured the Versaille website and app both in English and in French. Please help!
When I select the date and time (before choosing the quantity of tickets--
1. is that the time to enter the entire complex/the grounds? Or
2. is THAT the time for the Palace entry?
If the the time is for the grounds, then where do I pick the time for entering the Palace? (The Passport ticket includes one time entry, so I should not need to buy yet another ticket.) If the time for the palace entry, then when would I be allowed to enter the grounds? I thought you could avoid a line to enter only if you have a timed ticket.

I see that I can book a guided tour for the Louis the IV private apartments. Is that tour going to be IN ADDITION to my one entry and walk through the palace or is it replacing it? Rick Steves' book mentions that I can buy a guided tour of the palace (as opposed to using an audio guide). I cannot figure out how to book that--did I misread this information?

The book mentions the times for when the fountains are actually turned on on the weekends in April, but I cannot find any confirmation of those times (e.g. 11-noon in the morning) on the Versaille website. If you see it somewhere, can you please point me to it?

I know that is a lot of questions ,but if anyone can help with any of it, I would really appreciate it! Thank you.

Posted by
21146 posts

If I read it correctly, with the Passport you can enter any of the palace gates. I also reads that the fountains are turned on at 10:30 am until 7:00 pm. Note that they just turn on different fountains at different times throughout the day. They don't have the water supply capacity to run them all at once. There will be information on what fountains are running when on site.

When we went a few years ago, we entered the palace, toured around and went to the gardens at our leisure, showing our ticket at the garden entrance from the palace. Note that restrooms in the gardens are in very short supply if it is crowded on a fountain day. So in the palace, PB4U go.

https://en.chateauversailles.fr/news/shows/fountains-shows-and-musical-gardens#the-musical-fountains-show