Visiting the Palace of Versailles and The Louvre on the same day?

Versailles is huge and the grounds are extensive so keep that in mind because you will do a lot of walking there. Also, the Louvre is huge too and you will do a lot of walking there. And even though you might just want to see certain things at both places, you might just be tempted to see more. Many people visit the Louvre a view times to get the most out but it can be overwhelming.

It will be a LOOONG day -- make sure you take a dinner break and rest a little between locations. (Cafeteria at the Louvre is nice.) Good idea to prioritize and be selective about what you want to see at the Louvre.

That being said, I wouldn't do it but that's my preference as to sight seeing. I also find the Mona Lisa overrated...

Hello! It's feasible to do both in one day I suppose, but honestly you could spend as much time in the Louvre as you want, so it depends on just how much you want to see, it's massive. Versailles is definitely best visited in the morning, the closer you're there to opening the better, it just gets busier and busier as the day goes on, but really you could spend a lot of time there as well. They're both supremely impressive and extraordinarily massive. You can do an overview of both in one day, but you might want to take more time to appreciate them. The gardens of Versailles alone can take ages to go through (assuming you want to), and 3hrs at the Louvre really isn't that long, though the sheer amount of art and sculpture and what not can get a bit overwhelming after a while.

I'm not sure how long you're going to be in Paris or how many different places you're going to go, but you might want to look into a museum pass while you're there, you can pay by the number of days and essentially skip lines and things to get into some of these places quite a lot faster, they're at the train station, it's worth it if you're planning on making a number of stops within Paris.

That sure sounds like a very long day. As hard as it was, I cut Versailles from our itinerary last year, it was our first time in Paris too. There is so much to see right in Paris that I was glad we didn't take a whole day and see Versailles on that trip, but the thought of that plus a few hours at the Louvre is daunting. We planned on returning to Paris, we'll be there in September for eight nights and we'll see Versailles, Chartres, and lots of Paris. On a second trip we have the luxury of building in some slow days, harder to do on a first trip, but I would encourage you to think quality not quantity. Whatever you do, it will be great.

Alot depends on your stamina.. it can certainly be done.. but I would hate you to cut your visit to Versailles short because you want to rush back to Paris. I consider Versailles to be almost a full day. So many people go and just visit the palace .. missing out on some of the "best" ( to me) parts of the grounds, gardens and the Petit and Grand Trianons ,, and Marie Antionettes Hamlet.. areas many people consider the highlights of their visits to Versailles. The grounds are HUGE....

If you decide to do this be sure to arrive BEFORE it opens.. ( tour buses arrive by 10 and then forget it) with your tickets in hand already. There are two lines.. one for tickets.. and one for security.. so arriving with ticket or museum pass in hand eliminates one line at least.

I wouldn't want to do both in one day. And I would choose Versailles over the Louvre if I had to pick just one. But that's me. I absolutely love Versailles. Both the palace and the grounds. As Pat said, the grounds can be a highlight for many... they are wonderful. So much to see. To cut down on the immense amount of walking you can rent bikes by the Grand Canal, or ride in a large horse-drawn wagon or a motorized "train" for parts of the grounds, or rent a golf cart. We spend the whole day there when we go and even then, I hate leaving. I enjoy the Louvre a lot too, but couldn't do both in the same day.

My wife and I were in paris last sept . You can spend the whole day at the palace and the grounds ,we spent about 5 hours just walking the grounds and the gardens .Take your time enjoy the town ,walk the streets and the cafes when your done the palace ,then take a late train back to paris

My feet ache just thinking about trying to do this. Hopefully you'll think carefully about your footwear. Your plan is doable but the amount of walking will be daunting!

Can it be done? Yes. Will it be a long day? Yes. Should you do it? Why not? My DH is 74 and we think nothing of walking 5 to 7 miles a day and getting the most out of our time in a city. Arrive to Versailles before opening and pre-purchase tickets. You could hire bicycles at Versailles to tour the grounds or take a guided Segway tour - lots of fun! Enjoy your day there and back to Paris in mid to late afternoon - grab a quick bite & enjoy the evening at the Louvre.

Make a list of the thins you want to see - Mona, Venus, Winged Victory, Coronation of Napoleon, Napoleon's Apartments etc,,, Pick up a Louvre map which has the layout and location of major items.

Perhaps a nice dinner after the museum to top off the day.

It all depends on your stamina and knowing if a long day suits you,

You can sleep when you're dead I say!

You might be kind of tired the next day if you do both. But it's so exciting to be in Paris that it's tempting to try to do as much as possible (my own failing) and forget to meander along the Seine or sit in a cafe over a glass of wine and just enjoy being there.

As for the Louvre, our friend Rick Steves has a very good self-guided tour of it in his France book - good directions for this very large museum on how to see the highlights in a manageable way. I used it myself and it was extremely helpful. Bon voyage!!

You might be kind of tired the next day if you do both. But it's so exciting to be in Paris that it's tempting to try to do as much as possible (my own failing) and forget to meander along the Seine or sit in a cafe over a glass of wine and just enjoy being there.

As for the Louvre, our friend Rick Steves has a very good self-guided tour of it in his France book - good directions for this very large museum on how to see the highlights in a manageable way. I used it myself and it was extremely helpful. Bon voyage!!

I have to go along with those who don't recommend this. As pat said, you may find yourself rushing through Versailles to get back to Paris. My sister and I spent most of a day at Versailles (we saw the palace, walked down to the Grand Canal, then to the Grand Trianon, Petit Trianon, and the hamlet before walking all the way back to the palace gift shop and then the train station) and we were worn out. The train back to Paris was packed and to our dismay we had to stand for another 30 minutes in addition to standing and walking all day. We were 31 and 29 at the time and by then were used to walking 5 or 10 miles per day, but for some reason that day exhausted us.

The Louvre is more difficult to navigate than you might think, aside from the size. Some staircases only go down from where you are in the museum and others only go up. We had to walk for several minutes sometimes just to find a way up or down to the next level.

Will you be in Paris for a whole week? If so, visit Versailles one day and the Louvre the next, so you can take your time in each and won't feel like you have to rush.