We plan to visit Versailles on our last day in Paris. We would like to book a tour that picks us up and returns us to our hotel in Paris. There appear to be a number of options available but would have more confidence in a recommendation coming from fellow travelers.
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23626 posts
May be hard to get a recommendation since it is so easy to do Versailles on your own. Many here have done that. Whatever you do be sure you allow at least a couple of hours to tour the grounds. IMO, the palace is great but the grounds are terrific along with the gardens and fountain.
Posted by
3123 posts
If you go in a van or bus or private car (very expensive) tour door to door from your hotel, you'll be sitting in traffic a fair amount of the time going to Versailles and returning. That's the beauty of the train -- plus, if you're lucky as we were, your train car will be fitted up as a replica of the Hall of Mirrors! We certainly got a much better view of it as a replica than we did in the wall-to-wall-people-packed actual Hall of Mirrors.
Booking a "Visite Guidee" (guided tour) at Versailles is well worth it, IMO, since the starting point is across the courtyard from the general entrance and it allows you to skip the airport-style X-ray screening as well as the mobs in the first few public rooms inside.
I agree with the recommendation to allow time to roam the gardens. Really, allowing 2-3 hours for this is still probably not sufficient, because the distances are considerable. I say this having been to Versailles twice in my life and lacking enough time on either visit to see the Petit or Grand Trianon or the Hameau.