You would think this would be an easy thing to find, but I can't. Are the fountains running in the summer on non-fountain show days? In other words, do the fountains turn on at all on Wednesdays, Thursdays or Fridays in the summer? If they do, is there a schedule somewhere? Can't even find the answer on the official website. Thanks
Posted by
WA
48 posts
This is what I found on the website. It seems to be the fountains are on Tuesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays. The hours are listed here. Hope this helps.
Posted by
Paris
2466 posts
It can be difficult to find the fountains when they are running.
They don't run all the time, and you sometimes have to walk long distances to find them. Note the dates that the fountains are running, especially Neptune.
Here is where they are located:
http://www.chateauversailles-spectacles.fr/sites/default/files/sites/default/files/pj/plan-de-visite-gem2017-weekend-ang-bd.pdf
Posted by
Chicago
8556 posts
they only run on 'fountain days' which are Tues, Sat, Sun. When you buy your ticket they give you a nice map of the gardens (which are not very big) so you ca find the fountains, many of which are hidden in fenced copses of trees and thus not easily found without the map. Here was our experience in October 2015.
https://janettravels.wordpress.com/2016/02/15/fountains-of-versailles-a-little-chaos/
The fountains run for about an hour and a half in the morning and then again in the late afternoon; you can leave the gardens to visit the Trianon or Hameau or whatever on the wider estate, to get lunch or boat on the canal, or visit the chateau and then re-enter with your ticket for the later fountains. We found most of the fountains running during the time period but they do turn some of them off part of the time; we did find one or two that weren't on when we were exploring. The Neptune Fountain is only set off once during the day; my recollection is that it was at 4:50 but you would of course want to double check that on your visit. They really are quite beautiful with water going in them and I highly recommend the visit. We had done the chateau years ago and never want to subject ourselves to that crush again, but we went just to see the fountains.
Posted by
OP
10 posts
Janet, thanks so much what a great blog. I had basically decided to go on a non-fountain day to avoid the crowds, but after your pictures, I don't know, it looks spectacular. We are planning on renting a cart (one of my sisters is a 3 or 4 mile a day top gal) and so we have to follow their route, but I think you can park it and head into the groves and this nooks and crannies you found. Does that match to what you saw that day? thanks again
Posted by
Chicago
8556 posts
I would not count on getting a golf cart; they are snapped up quickly. The garden is small; you don't need a cart for it -- but having a cart for the wider estate (if that is possible) or taking the little train from the gardens to the Trianon/Hameau area will save some steps for sure. I assume you could park the cart to visit a fountain but don't have a positive recollection -- but seriously -- the gardens are quite small and unless disabled, you really wouldn't need a cart for those.