Versailles

I like the fat tire bike tour. You meet in Paris, ride the train out, get a bike, go buy a picnic lunch, pedal out through the gardens to see the Hameau and the trianons, have a picnic lunch, return the bikes and then tour the chateau. At that point you can stay in Versailles as long as you want

That would definitely make it an especially fun trip. You'll also get to enter via the reserved "groups" entrance which is about 100x shorter than the snaking line of tourists waiting to get in the main entrance.

I generally do not like group tours, but there is some reason behind doing something like the Fat Bike tour. The chateau is almost always extremely crowded and has long ticket and security lines. Plus, if you want to see the Trianons and Hamlet, the bikes can be a fun and efficient way of getting all the way out to them. And if they offer a picnic lunch in the gardens, that is something I always recommend.

Now you can do all those things on your own (there are bike rentals and advanced ticket options), but this would make it easier for the first-time visitor to the chateau.

Hi Steven, my advice - get a Paris Museum Pass and get there early. We visited on a Thursday in May 2015. Left Paris via train at 7 a.m., arrived in Versailles at 7:40 a.m. We had a quick breakfast at McDonalds across the street from the train station. Short walk to the chateau, we were in line by 8:30 - there were already about 20 people ahead of us. Spent two minutes going through Security. We went straight to the chateau and to the Hall of Mirrors. We have photos of a completely empty Hall of Mirrors, just us - absolutely no other people. We finished our tour of the chateau and then went down to Marie Antoinette's Hamlet. Again, beat the crowds. The key is getting there early! We spent a nice day in Versailles and were back in Paris for a late dinner. Hope you have a great time!

We arrived with nothing prebooked, looked at the queue the whole way around the courtyard, which we estimated was a 2-3 hour wait, so booked into the next kings private apartment tour (20 minute wait), which was only a little more expensive than general entry, showed you areas not accessible for the public and then you are free to roam the rest of the palace. Would definitely recommend. (probably don't leave it to the day like we did - we were just lucky)

I had the same experience as Donna. Got into line at 8:30 and there were four people in front of me. Hoofed it to the Hall of Mirrors and had the entire place to myself. It was magical.

We went on a Wednesday and had a museum pass. Got up early, took the metro from Paris, and got to Versailles by 8 a.m. There was no one there, and it didn't open until 9, so we backtracked a little, found a cafe, had a coffee, and made it back to the entrance by 8:45. There were about 20 people in line. Since we had a museum pass we got in right away. Spent the whole lovely day there. Get there early and have a museum pass or pre-purchased ticket.
Lisa from Tampa