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Versailles and bikes

Hello!

We are planning to go to the Versailles on August 7th. Based on what I had read on the forums, riding a bike sounds like a great idea. We want to do it before going to the chateau and to have a picnic, as many here had advice it.
Since it is necessary to buy the palace ticket on advance the website said that you have to enter to the Palace in the half hour following the chosen time, so if we want to ride bikes (I am planning to renting them for 4 hours, but I am not sure if we will ridden them all this time).

My question is if we want to do this, we will have the restriction of the hour of entrance to the palace. Does anybody has done this before? If yes, how shall we do it?

Thank you

Posted by
2544 posts

The grounds are free and anyone can enter whenever they are open (8am?). If the music is on in the gardens that day, there is an entrance fee for the gardens. So you could schedule your palace entrance time for the afternoon, and do your bike ride before that. Don’t miss the Hamlet, but know that you can’t bring your bikes into the Hamlet grounds.

The timed entry is for the main palace only. You can see everything else (Grand Trianon, Petite Trianon, carriage house, etc) anytime they are open.

Posted by
5 posts

But I just read on the website that , the estate of Trianon: Grand Trianon, Petit Trianon, Queen's Hamlet and their gardens. opens at 12:00 pm
So now I have no idea how people do this!

Posted by
488 posts

We have used the organized trip by Fat Tire bike tours and they will have you meet in Paris, take you to Versailles to get your bike, take you to buy the picnic foods (bring some euros probably), guide you through the gardens and then make sure you are at the Palace on time. If you want the "easy planning" version. After the tour ends, you are on your own in Versailles and can stay longer.

Posted by
8550 posts

You can't ride bikes in the gardens or the Hamlet -- you can ride on the wider estate that links the chateau and gardens with the Trianon and Hameau.