Visiting Versaille Advise

The palace is not open in the evenings..

The gardens are always free EXCEPT on fountain show days when they close off the formal section near the palace.. and charge a fee.. however the rest of the huge grounds are free.

Some find the palace less busy later in the day.. after 2-3 or so..

I think the best deal is to arrive before it opens .. at least 45 minutes in advance, get in line with ticket or pass in hand ( if you go with no ticket you have to get in TWO lines.. one for ticket,, THEN the security line.. which sucks) .. so arrive with ticket and get in the already forming security line.
Try and get in on first wave, people have reported it being quite pleasant that way.

I have been to Versailles over 8 or 9 times now.. ( over many years of course) and its certainly changed,, it didn't used to be the hellish mosh pit it really can be now.

Also note.. its not air conditioned.. later in day, if its warm.. it can be quite unpleasant.

Don't forget to visit Marie Antionettes Hamlet.. and when visiting the Grand Trianon to walk through to the back garden , the view up the canal to the palace is spectacular..

On a fountain day, are they running from 9-5:30 (same hours as the palace?) or are the hours more shortened?

Would it be possible to still do the fountains and garden first and come back to the palace on the same ticket or would I have to still get to the fountains portion of the gardens via the palace? With the palace and trianon both closing at 5:30, and if I were still set on my original plan, what time would I need to get into the palace to tour that palace and be able to make it to the trianon (thinking of renting bikes) with enough time to experience that as well before close?

Are the fountains tickets part of the regular palace admissions ticket? (Would my museum pass then work?)

I don't know about fountain days, but I think that the strategy of gardens AM > palace PM is good. We did exactly that in June (on a weekday though) and did not see significant crowds anywhere.

There is a city bus from the train that will drop you off by an entrance to the Petit Trianon. From there you can go to the Hameau (which is really nice) and the Grand Trianon, then double back and walk to the palace with further detours possible. Time it right and grab a sandwich near the canal for lunch.

It's a lot of walking but very pleasant and you see a lot. There are also motorized transport options and bicycle rentals.

I should think it would be lovely in May.

Fountain day garden entry is a separate fee you easily pay at the entry to the formal gardens. Lines for the gardens are very short. If you want to avoid the fee for the formal gardens, you have to enter elsewhere away from the palace; the Queen's Gate is typical. I believe they stamp your hand when you pay for the gardens and that let's you come and go all day.

Going to the gardens first is a fine idea and you can easily spend all morning and early afternoon there. Have lunch or picnic if it's a nice day. You can rent bikes, take a tram to the outer reaches, rent a paddle boat, etc... Going to the palace after the tour buses have left seems reasonable to me. Just check the hours and make sure you leave yourself enough time.

Since I can pay the extra fee online for the fountains and thus have my museum pass (for the Trianon) and the gardens pass in hand, will I be able to enter the gardens area from the lower parks area or must you enter them from near the palace?

I am asking because the detour we are taking during the day for the open house that I mentioned is only about a 10 minute walk from the grounds entrance near the Hamlet. So it would be great to spend the morning in the Park and include some time in the gardens, and then also see the gardens again (and neptune at the end of the day) after going through the palace.

Also, since it has been a while since visiting the palace, how much time would you deem appropriate to take in the palace?

I have heard the bike rental is near the canal. Is that right? We will want to head straight there methinks.

Yes, there are entries at the palace and down near the Apollo fountain near the canal. You would show your pass at the lower entry if coming from the Trianons.

I believe the bike rentals are near there too.

I will be curious how this works for you. We will be doing the same thing in August Versailles and a quick trip to see the LDS temple.

We will be visiting Paris for the first time in July and want to tour Versailles but it sounds very intimidating. There sounds like so many options for purchasing tickets & what to see first. Does anyone have any suggestions for taking a guided tour from Paris? Or is not necessary and over priced? Thanks

the fountains run for about 90 minutes in the morning and again late in the afternoon; they require a ticket all day and you can come and go with the same ticket. If you have a ticket you should be able to enter through any of the entrances; we exited at the base of the gardens and then re-entered through the side gate, having bought tickets and entered at the entrance by the Chateau.
https://janettravels.wordpress.com/2016/02/15/fountains-of-versailles-a-little-chaos/
The wider grounds are free all the time although the Hameau and Trianon require tickets.

As far as I know the palace is not open in the evening and if you don't arrive about a half hour before it opens, the security lines get incredibly long. Since the fountains are only on for a short period, you do want to see those when they are on. I don't know if there is an entrance to the chateau from the garden but that would be great if you had the museum pass and could do that. Maybe someone has done that.

I don't know if there is an entrance to the chateau from the garden but that would be great if you had the museum pass and could do that. Maybe someone has done that.

No. In fact, the site has very recently opened a new entry and visitors lobby center. You enter from the King's Court in the front.

The formal gardens can be entered (with a ticket or hand stamp) at any of their normal entry points at any time of the day during "fountain days".

Those with pre-purchased tickets for the palace need only go through the security line (still very long). You at least bypass the buy tickets line.

I will follow up and let you all know what we do and how it worked out.

I went late September 2016 and it wasn't crowded at all plus the fountains were going. Here's my tips/musings.

Why wasn't it crowded? There was rain in the forecast and I think that kept the crowds down. It did rain a tiny amount but we rarely used the umbrella I brought, including eating a leisurely lunch outside in the garden. We went pretty much straight into the palace. They made me check my full size umbrella, a small folding umbrella could have been brought in.

Times of day the fountains run? I had originally wanted to see the fountains, decided they weren't very common outside of main summer months, then decided to skip Versailles altogether until my French girlfriend asked if I wanted to go. We trained there from Paris, walked to the chataeu, toured the very uncrowded interior, then headed for the gardens. Surprise - the fountains are on today, so we paid and started walking. As far as I can tell, the fountains aren't all on at once. This fountain, then that fountain, are turned on and piped in classical music plays in the background while they are on. I expect there's a printed schedule but I never saw one.

How many hours would you allow for visiting Versailles? We can either go mid morning the day we arrive in Paris, or go early the next day but be back in Paris late afternoon to meet our tour group.

Brad,
Just for future reference, here is the schedule.

http://www.chateauversailles-spectacles.fr/en/spectacles/2017/musical-fountains-show

But they do not run all at once because they can't; not enough water pressure.

And this has always been the case. When Louis XIV built the place, the fountains and gardens were arranged such that when he would entertain dignitaries, as they would walk through the gardens, the fountain they were approaching would be turned on and the last one out of sight would turn off giving the illusion that they were all running. It was all about status.

I was just at Versailles 3 weeks ago, and did a fountain day 3 years ago. Be aware that the Queens & Dauphins Apartments are completely closed for renovations. That might impact your decision to enter the chateau (there is still plenty to see if course).

My advice is to go early! Pre-buy your ticket (can be done online and you just show them your barcode) and get through the chateau right away. Once you are in the grounds it's so large that it won't feel crowded.

What did you decide to do that day? We are also going the end of April/beginning of May and plan to see Versailles and the temple open house, but I'm not sure what order we are going to do yet.

We are in Paris April 29-May 3. We are going on the 2nd to Versailles.

Our plan right now is Gardens, Trianons, Hamlet in the morning, lunch, open house, palace in the afternoon and hope to revisit the gardens again before close. There is mixed info about the Neptune fountain running on Tuesday, so we are keeping our fingers crossed. Even an email to Versailles directly did not answer my question about that fountain on that day.

We booked open house tickets for both 1:30 and 6:30 in case we feel we just can't make the 1:30 then we can just go after Versailles closes down.

I plan to report back for how it went.

Reporting back as I said I would.
We arrived to Versailles a little later than I had wanted which was about 9:30. The line to get in was incredible...going down Place d'Armes and making a loop. The line seemed to move somewhat quickly but would have been at least 2 hours. And this was the line at the entrance, not the ticket line...so museum pass was useless to shave any time off. This line is a result of added security (which is everywhere in Paris now...can't even get to walk under the Eiffel Tower without passing a level of securty--plus another level to go up).
But as planned, we headed for the gardens with our internet purchased tickets in hand (which were totally unnecessary as we strolled right in. (The entrance to the gardens is left of the main entrance to the chateau). We spent our desired time here and left for lunch and another tour we had planned. If you want to see everything, fountains, Trianons, and Hamlet, the golf carts are about $30. Well worth it to see it all and go at your own pace. One thing we did not account for, is that we had already walked a couple of miles from the train station before we even got to walking in the gardens...so bear in mind that there will be ALOT of walking. It was our last day in Europe as well, so we should have just sprung for the GC.
Also to note. Fountain days are really not worth it. We went because we never had, but there are only 3 fountains that run...and one was broken and another does not run on Tuesdays. We had thought it was all the fountains that run, but alas, not so much. But the Mirror fountain that was running, was beautiful and the kids enjoyed it. And for our visit, it felt like we were the only people in all the gardens.
We came back to the Chateau around 4:00 and there was no line whatsoever. We walked right in. The palace was not very crowded either. I wanted to arrive a little earlier but this still afforded an average stroll through the palace. If you are interested in soaking everything in and reading all the info on the walls, etc, 2 hours would be sufficient but we did fine in the 1.5 hours we had. Gift shop closes at 6 and not 5:30 so no need to rush out of the palace for that purpose.

Thank you for the update. We are headed there in August and I think I will plan and do what you did with the gardens first and then the palace. I also plan to see the LDS temple. How far was the walk from Versaille to the temple? Good to know that the fountains aren't worth it, but we are still planning on seeing them since our planned visit also falls on a fountain day.

I would also say it is worth seeing them if it is on your planned day anyways.

The walk to the temple was a little longer than we had hoped but we walked from the Neptune exit but we had originally planned to walk from the Saint-Antoine exit (nearest the Hamlet) which is substantially closer. But our walk was also tacked on too so much walking around the gardens in the first place.

If I were doing it again, I would inquire if you can drop the golf carts anywhere near the Trianons and walk from there. And then I would do the gardens and Trianons, leaving the Hamlet last. It looks as though there is a way to 'exit' the hamlet without walking all the way around the hedging. And heat to the temple. They do have a little tram that will drop you at the Trianon areas, so this could be an option to get back to the palace if we reentered the grounds again at Saint-Antoine when walking back.

To give you distances, it is a mile from the Grand Trianon to the temple exiting through the Saint-Antoine gate and from the gate itself it is 3/8 of a mile.

If you are going to do it all (especially if you will be visiting the temple to serve there--but they do have a visitors center if not) you will need to be there at 9 when they open. Fountains don't start till 10. It is a full day.

I would also like to see the gardens first, Palace last but wondering if there is information at the Hamlet & other places while walking that give you history, etc.? Since our group knows very little about the Palace (including my 2 kids) I was hoping to visit the Palace first for a point of reference so they had a better understanding of everything else. I was also wondering if the Private tour of Kings apartments is worth taking in the afternoon?

Thanks

Others could answer better than I how much information you get from just a standard tour of the palace and with a guide on the King's Apartment tour you would certainly be able to ask some questions. But for me, most of my knowledge of the Hamlet and the Trianons came from our chaperon/tour guide the first time I went. As far as info when you are actually at the Hamlet and such, I wouldn't rely on the minimal info there to tell a great story of their significance.

I know there are placards all throughout the rooms when touring the palace so I know you will get some info. But one option could be to do some reading before hand to get a good idea of the history of the Trianons and the Hamlet (even watching the 2006 movie Marie Antoinette can be a good start) and then use the palace tour later in the day to reinforce what you saw.

Another option would be to visit the gift shop first and buy a book on the property and then go out to the area and relax and read while you are there.