How to do the louvre and versailles in day?!

Believe it or not, my family did both Versailles and the Louvre in a single day in August, but, it was Friday and the Louvre is open late. Don't suppose your one day is a Friday? We left our hotel, which was not that far from the Louvre around 8 AM, got to the entrance of Versailles just before 9 AM, and were at Versailles until about 4 PM. About one hour travel back to hotel, a little rest time, and then we spent about one hour in the Louvre (frankly, we were tired!). We were just revisiting highlights, because it was our second time there in two years. On a day the Louvre is not open late, it seems like a push. We saw Versailles quite thoroughly, but there is a lot to see, and my teens thought the actual palace was their least favorite part. But if all you want to see is the main palace, you can probably manage that in 2-3 hours. We took the metro and the RER train; I don't know of a faster way (taxi, maybe), but I am not a Paris expert. If you have never been to Paris before, I would recommend staying in Paris for your one day and saving Versailles for next time. As for tickets, you can buy your Versailles ticket online and avoid the ticket line there. You could also buy a 2 day Paris Museum pass and use it at both Versailles and the Louvre, which probably would not be the best deal money wise, but would help you avoid the lines in both places.

The Louvre is actually open late on Wedsendays and Fridays, it would be ideal if your one day fell on either of those two days.. since you could then easily reverse the plan, Versailles first, then Louvre.

Such luck! We are going to be there on Friday--so, sounds good to begin at Versailes. Then, til closing at the Louvre. Thanks for the tip!

Price the Museum Pass...you might come out ahead using the 1 day pass....it lets you into everything at Versailles (or atleast it used to).

There is no one day Musuem Pass( it comes as a 2, 4, or 6 day pass, and it would not be cost effective to buy the 2 day pass for this) . It would however be helpful( to avoid the almost always long long lines at Versailles) to buy your ticket for Versailles ahead of time. You can do so online . If not, you can also buy them at the tourist information center in Versailles. Or , arrive at Versailles 30 minutes before it opens!

If you enter the Louvre through the shopping mall or underground entrance you will not encounter lines,, I have done this at least 6 or 7 times, in the summer , height of season ,, and never encountered lines there. You purchase tickets from a machine, it is easy and fast.

We have a limited time in Paris next month and purchased Louvre tickets on line from Ticketweb. If you go to the Louvre website, it will refer you to Ticketweb.

I'd skip Versailles, long lines, lines for bathroom, it was just BIGGER than everywhere else. The Nap. apartments at the Louvre and the Louvre itself are a good substitute. As is the Opera House, and the rest of Paris

Crowds are bad at the Louvre too, but the line to get in moved pretty quickly, only 45 min-hour to get in the door! Good cafe there but get there when it opens and beat the line there too.

We jammed too much into our trip, a full day isn't enough to see Paris. But don't take the open top bus tours, unreliable schedule (we waited for 45 min for a bus) and they get stuck in traffic too much.

Lines for bathrooms at Versailles can be very long,, but the tip here is,, do not use the ones in the main Palace,, go to the gardens. There is a free standing washroom building down where the canal starts, near the restaurant,, there are also washrooms near the Petit Trianon. The washrooms in the free standing building are not free, but the ones atand near the palaces are, the fee was cheap,, 50 centimes I think.Children are usaully not charged .

I do agree that seeing Napoleons Apartments is a tiny taste of what you would see at Versailles, unfortunately they are not always open ( they close rooms at Musuems sometimes with no warning,, not enough staff that day,, or cleaning or repairing to be done etc)

About using the restrooms in the gardens. Maybe this only works for Mel Brooks, but in "History of the World, Part One" he would just yell out, "Oh, P**s Boy!" and someone would come running. It's good to be the king.

If you want to be efficient at the Louvre, you should plan it out in advance. The Louvre website has floorplans and self-guided walking tours (Thematic Trails) that can be downloaded. One of the tours is "From Palace to Museum" which, while it does a bit of backtracking, takes you past all the major works in the museum (without describing them).

I used Rick's audio guide in June and found it difficult/confusing, because of some major "re-placements" of exhibits. I regretted not renting the Louvre's audio guide.

Jordon: Just a thought, but is this your "first" trip to Paris? If so, there are MANY things to see in Paris that are much better than being stuck inside the Louvre or fighting throngs of crowds at Versailles.

I can't imagine doing both in one day. It's hard enough keeping each to one day.