Versaille—-skip the line ticket

I do not see that ticket on the official website. Is it possibly on a 3rd party site?
Your best way to have a shorter wait is to purchase a timed entry ticket from the official site.
It guarantees entry within 30 minutes of your stated time.

We had skip the line tickets, got there at 7 a.m. and still waited an hour. The lines are ridiculously long at Versaille. That being said, the earlier you get there, the better.

The place opens at 9; with timed tickets you use a different line and are guaranteed entrance within 30 minutes of your time reservation . Several people have reported on line using these new tickets and being admitted within 10 minutes of arrival. Private vendors do not have special 'skip the line' tickets other people can't just buy from the site. The official web site of the chateau lists all this rather clearly. Here is an English page that explains the options:

http://en.chateauversailles.fr/plan-your-visit/tickets-and-prices

Buying a timed passport ticket costs no more than a general one i.e. 20 Euro on most days; 27 Euro on Fountain days, the difference being you have to be there at your designated time (or stand in the long long long security line)

thanks for your feedback. We will definitely buy a timed entry ticket online on the official site. thank you for that link

One of the frustrations is that it is often hard to tell which web site is 'official' and which is some middleman trying to masquerade as official but charging more. I assume those charging 30 Euro for this 20 Euro ticket are these scalper sites.

I completely agree! I thought I had the official site but apparently did not! The info I have gotten from travelers on this forum is invaluable. I have copied the link to the official site into my notes. Thank you Janet and everyone else who takes the time to respond to posts!

A friend told me about the "behind the scenes" tour of Versailles. It's a guided tour that shows you a little more than what you'd get with the regular tour. I was happy we did it. I knew I would wonder "Where are those people going?" if I hadn't taken it.

We did the 9:30 tour Tuesday past and glad we did as we did not have skip the line ticket. When we left at 1am the line looped twice (4 long lines) and the wait to get in was 3 hours. The rooms in the morning were full of people, shoulder to shoulder.

Arriving early may not help much as the line was almost an hour long 30 minutes prior to opening.

I am going to give you an insiders tip. It's not for everyone, but we like to support the arts, so it was well-worth it for us. I didn't get the behind-the-scenes tickets early enough and they were sold out. To go through an external company for skip-the-line privileges was going to cost around 40 euros each. Instead, we decided to become members of the museum! Visit https://www.amisdeversailles.com/societe.php?article_id=37 to initiate the process. It costs 90 euros per couple (only 10 euros more than the tour companies) and it came with a lot of worthwhile perks:

• use the member's entrance where there is no line at all
• membership cards, which make nice souvenirs
• come back and visit again at no charge
• member's discount at most of the restaurants and stores
• discounted tickets for partner attractions elsewhere (including in Paris)
• tax-deduction for charitable contribution
• good feeling for helping with restoration projects
• and more!

We corresponded with Benedicte prior to our arrival and she was very gracious and helpful. In fact, when we arrived at Versailles, we stopped in her office for our member cards and she gave us water (we went to France during a heat wave!) and a gift to celebrate our engagement! We will definitely renew our membership when we return.

Only a small portion would be tax deductible, not the entire amount.
The organization would need to have registered with the IRS for it to be deductible for US returns.
Just a minor thing to point out.

Now that there are timed tickets there is not a lot of reason to have a complicated strategy here.

That’s true. We will definitely go with the timed ticket!