We arrived around noon. It was a beautiful sunny day. Walked straight onto the grounds. Did Grand Trianon area first. Had lunch. Saw the gardens. Arrived at the chateau around 3:15. Walked right in. There was not one single person in line. Took our time in the Chateau. Even the Hall of Mirrors wasn’t that crowded. I had read so much about the awful crowds we almost didn’t go. So glad we did!
Posted by
Chicago
8050 posts
Great example of a place where being late rather than early is a good strategy.
Posted by
Braintree, MA
139 posts
I am happy to hear that! We will be there next week and that is our plan. Hope it works for us too. Were you driving or did you take the shuttle bus from the train station to the Queen’s Gate entrance?
Posted by
San Francisco/Marin County
9420 posts
Mary, thanks for posting. This has happened to us too. I think a person’s best chance is on a Wednesday or Thursday.
Posted by
OP
Cleveland
161 posts
Kathy, we took the RER to Versailles. Then took the shuttle to Trinanon. Then walked back. The chateau is very close to the train station.
Posted by
Braintree, MA
139 posts
That is exactly our plan too. glad to hear it worked well!
Posted by
CT
14 posts
We are actually on the RER from Versailles back to Paris as I type this. We did a similar thing. We arrived around noon, saw the gardens, had lunch in the gardens, rented bikes at the grand canal, biked over to the grand/petit Trianon and queens hamlet. We walked right into the palace at 4pm . No lines whatsoever. When we arrived at 12, the lines to get into the chateau were crazy. This is the way to go.
Posted by
2 posts
This a good feedback. My wife and I are travelling late Sept and based on our timeline, we may arrive Versaille close to noon. So, I will follow Mary's strategy.
Thanks.
Posted by
Knoxville, TN, USA
7209 posts
On all the occasions I visited via RER as soon as you exit the station there official looking people giving official sounding instructions as to where to go and what to do. They are all your guides attempting to corral unsuspecting tourists into their group. Just ignore them and keep on walking down the sidewalk toward the palace. It’s a pleasant walk.
Posted by
2 posts
Question. In this situation, you don't need to buy your ticket online, right? You just walk up to the ticket office window to buy entrance to chateau.
Posted by
Florida (previously California)
3694 posts
It's so hot in Paris right now that I think people are worried that Versailles will be too hot to deal with.
Posted by
31 posts
We tried this tact on tuesday - and it did not work. We were out late on Monday night - went to the Us socer game in Reims and did not get back to our apartment until midnight. So we did not get up early for Versailles. It was a fountain day so it cost money to get into the gardens. This was the problems. Had lunch and sat in shade. Around 3:30 went back to see what the line was like. It was still and hour and 40 minutes. It was too hot to wait in the son that long. So we passed. The gardens are really nice and even the outside o the Chateau is impressive. I would just make sure its not a fountain tuesaday, which we did not know about, but it was really the only day we could go.
Posted by
San Francisco/Marin County
9420 posts
Two reasons why i think it didn’t work for you reg,
1. It was a Tues - The Louvre is closed so more tourists go to Versailles
2. It was a Fountain day - more people go to see them
I asked a woman working in reception at Versailles what day is best to visit, she said Thurs #1 and Wed #2.
Posted by
31 posts
Agreed -it was the only day we could go -alas something for next time