We'll be visiting Versailles in early July and would like to do the guided tour of the Apartments, etc. I see that once the tour is over, you join the crowds to see the rest of the palace. For timing, it seems the lines are shorter and crowds clear out of the palace in the late afternoon, so that's when I'd like to see the interior. But it looks like early July only has a daily tour in English at 9:30 a.m. Is that really correct? Do they open up more times as it gets closer to the date? Or are there more times available when you actually get to Versailles? It's hard to believe they only have one English tour for the entire day. I would appreciate any insight.
Posted by
Paris
2466 posts
I checked the official Versailles website - is this the site you used? - and there are 2 guided tours of the Kings's Apartments in English during the time you mentioned. I didn't check to see if they were sold out for the dates you have in mind, though.
I do suggest that going on the first tour in July would be a much better option, simply due to the weather. There's no shade when you wait in line, and the lines can and do go on forever, depending on how many bus tour groups show up. By the time the afternoon rolls around, you will probably be exhausted.
Posted by
OP
8 posts
The official site is the one I used. I'm planning on Thursday, July 7. But I thought one of the benefits of taking the tour is not having to wait in lines. So I was thinking it would be good to take a tour mid-afternoon, so that when it ends and we head right into the rest of the palace, we don't have huge crowds in the late afternoon. Is that incorrect?
Posted by
Paris
2466 posts
You'll be in high season, and Versailles will be crowded all the time. If you tried to hold out until around 4 PM, you'd only have 2 hours to see the chateau, which I don't think would be enough - and there will still be plenty of people around.
Here's the flow chart for crowds in July:
http://en.chateauversailles.fr/prepare-my-visit-/single/faq-en#prevoir
The good news is that if you pre-purchase your ticket, you avoid standing in the admission lines. Look for the signs for the entrance marked "Ticket Holders" or "King's Apartment Tours", and you'll just go through the Security line at that point, which will be much shorter.
Versailles is truly enormous. If you're going to the trouble to go out there, you should plan on spending at least 8 hours.