I read in the Wall Street Journal that the palace has been overwhelmed by visitors so much that they are advising people not to come. I was wondering if folks who have been there recently could comment? Is it too crowded to see? Thanks so much.
Posted by
Florida
610 posts
When we were there in May, we arrived in line at 8:15 for the 9 am opening and were the first in line. We went through each room while it was empty and it was lovely. It took only about 30 minutes (we didn't do the guide because of the crowds we knew were behind us). After we finished we went back to the beginning to see a couple of rooms we missed and at only 9:30 it was awful. Every room and hallway was a shoulder-to-shoulder mass of people being pushed along and we couldn't see anything over the tour groups and sea of selfie sticks. The gardens are so large that they don't feel crowded, and very few people seemed to make it down to the hamlet, which was peaceful and we loved. We just went in the middle of May, and despite my research and attempts to go there on a less crowded Thursday, it was a bank holiday and an unexpected fountain day, so it may have been more crowded than usual. We loved our visit there, but if we hadn't been the first in the door we wouldn't have enjoyed the palace at all. If you go, it is worth an early wake up time to be in the hall of mirrors completely alone.