Versailles Palace and Gardens Tour by Train from Paris
Description
Join this half-day tour to the prestigious Palace of Versailles and Gardens. Walk in the footsteps of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. See the Hall of Mirrors, lavish staterooms, and beautiful gardens. Your English-speaking guide will lend their expertise to enhancing the experience with historical facts and interesting anecdotes. Take the RER train from Paris and enjoy access.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Meet your guide in central Paris and enjoy a short, escorted train ride to Versailles. On arrival, take a journey in the footsteps of the Kings and Queens of France. During the reign of Louis XIV - the Sun King - Versailles was the place to be and to be seen. Nowadays visitors from all over the world still come to Versailles to marvel at the splendours of this incredible palace. Our skip the line access allows you to bypass the long lines that form each day, and our friendly local guides will steer you expertly through the crowds, bringing the famous figures who once inhabited this palace back to life. Learn how the Kings and Queens lived out their lavish lives in public, how they kept the gossiping courtiers under their thumb, and made Versailles the artistic center of Europe. Discover a typical day in the life of Marie Antoinette; you’ll quickly understand why she hated the palace so much! Her opulent lifestyle here would lead to her tragic demise under the French Revolution.
See the dazzling Hall of Mirrors, and learn the secrets of how it came to be, and the fascinating goings on at the time of the royal court.
After visiting the royal apartments inside the palace, your guide will lead you through the spectacular gardens, once the setting of balls, parties and elaborate firework displays. On fountain show days you will discover the amazing waterworks, still running today as they did in the times of Kings and Queens. The fountains run to a very precise schedule, and your guide will ensure you are in the right places at exactly the right time! At the end of your tour you are free to return to Paris with your guide or to remain in Versailles at your leisure. Your guide will be happy to give you advice on further places to visit or where to enjoy a great meal in this beautiful royal city.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- From 1 April to 31 October, the gardens of the Palace feature special Musical and Fountain Shows. Fountain Shows take place on Saturdays and Sundays, as well as on Tuesdays in May and June and on national holidays. Please note that the fountains operate according to a set schedule — they do not run continuously throughout the day. On the other days of the week during this period, the gardens host the Musical Gardens, where music is played throughout the groves.
- Please arrive at the meeting point 15 minutes before your tour departure time. We have to catch a train to Versailles and we cannot wait for late arrivals.
- The tour of Versailles Palace and gardens is 3 hours guided.
- You need to add approx. 40 minutes each way to get to and from the palace on the train.
- You can cancel your tour up to 24 hours prior to departure and receive a full refund. Please note that refunds are not possible for missed tours.
- If you plan to arrive at the meeting point by taxi, please ensure you leave yourselves plenty of time, it can often take a considerable amount of time to find a taxi in Paris!
Reviews(1,026)
I loved the tour. Everything was seamlessly included, so I could just relax and enjoy without worrying about the details.
Keif was amazing!! He got us there safely and gave us all the instructions and directions needed. Stan was also amazing and the perfect tour guide. This was my second time getting this tour but this time took my mom and sister and they also loved it!! Thank you Keif and Stan!!
We had a lovely tour of Versailles today with guide Anna. She not only explained the purpose and major art in each room viewed, she also tied it into the historical time period covered by the three monarchs. She did an excellent job keeping our group together in a very crowded environment. We also appreciated her personal touch in the gardens, helping us figure out what to see after the official tour. As a heads up for people considering this tour, it involves three hours of walking, and given the setup of the location, very few opportunities to sit and rest until the end.
Thank you, Beth! We're so glad Anna wove the rooms into the story of three monarchs so clearly, that's exactly the kind of thread that turns separate rooms into one continuous history. Keeping everyone together in such a crowded palace takes real skill, and her care in the gardens afterward sounds like just the personal touch that makes a visit memorable. Good note on the walking too, our guides do pace things to keep everyone comfortable, and we always encourage guests to let them know if a short rest is needed, they're happy to help you catch back up after. We'll be sure this feedback reaches her!
Very easy experience for a first timer in Paris. We were met outside a train station in Paris. A guide took us on the train to Versailles and explained the train/metro process on the way. Our Versailles guide (Julie) was wonderful. She very knowledgeable and spoke excellent English. It was obvious she had a great a respect for the palace and the grounds.
Thank you, Chris! We're so glad the whole journey felt so easy for a first visit to Paris, we want to offer the kind of guidance through the trains and metro that really does take the anxiety out of getting around, and our wonderful coordinators are with you all the way. Julie's respect for Versailles comes from genuinely knowing it inside out, the kind of familiarity that only comes from years of walking those halls, and it's wonderful that it came through so clearly. We'll be sure to pass this along to her, and we hope you had a fantastic time in Paris!
This was such a wonderful tour. We had a small group which was very nice. We had one person meet us at the train in Paris, then walked us to the Palace. She did explain how to catch the train back to Paris. Our train tickets both ways were included. She took us right to our guide. It was so nice to be able to skip the lines for our timed tour. I liked that we had the audio pieces to hear with. Our guide was very knowledgeable about the palace and answered a lot of our questions about French history. I would highly recommend this tour. We did do an early morning tour before it got so crowded.
Thank you, Catherine! We're so glad the coordinator made those early steps, the train, the walk, the handover to your guide, feel so seamless. We're glad your guide's depth on French history rounded everything out so well too and we really appreciate the recommendation. We hope you had a fantastic stay here!
Overall, we had a good experience with this Versailles tour, with a few glitches along the way. We specifically chose this option because it included a train ride, thinking it would be fun for the 7 year old in our group. Just know that the “train ride” is basically a subway ride, so that part was a little underwhelming. The meeting point was very easy to find, and being able to skip the lines at Versailles was a huge plus. With the crowds, that alone made the tour worth it. Our guide was knowledgeable and did a good job explaining the highlights of the palaces. The headsets they provided, however, weren’t the best quality and were a little frustrating to use. The tour covers the main highlights of the palace before moving on to the gardens. The palace portion felt pretty rushed, mostly because it was so crowded, which really wasn’t the guide’s fault. Part of our group decided to stay behind and spend more time inside the palace rather than continue to the gardens. Because of that, we ended up missing the gardens altogether, which was disappointing but I think it was a worthy trade off. Overall decent experience.
Thank you, Selina! We choose the train specifically for the flexibility it gives, you're free to stay as long as you like at Versailles and explore more in the gardens or the lovely town at your own pace afterward, rather than for the ride itself. On the gardens: our guides do continue on to lead a guided visit there after the palace, so if your group stayed behind, it would have been that guided portion in the gardens that was missed. You're right that the palace can feel busy and brisk, that's down to Versailles' own crowd levels and the route that all visitors have to take through the palace, rather than pacing choices. Luckily our guides are experts at making the most of it regardless! We're sorry the headsets weren't at their best on the day, crowded settings can occasionally affect things. Glad skipping the queue and Stan's knowledge made it worthwhile overall!
Berek met us at the station and guided us through using the ticket machine and how to navigate around the metro and trains (and how to get back to the hotel afterwards). He was friendly and informative. Cecile our guide for the Palace and Gardens was very interesting and funny. Versailles is incredible and we would highly recommend a visit. But wear comfortable shoes as there is a lot of walking.
Thank you, Julia! We're so glad Berek took the time to actually teach you the ticket machines and metro navigation, not just get you there, and that Cecile's wit and knowledge made the palace and gardens come alive. Versailles really is vast, so comfortable shoes are always well worth the tip. We'll be sure they both see your kind words!
Incredibly well coordinated, our train guide was so patient and funny, and our historian guide really enhanced the experience. The tour made maximizing our time in Versailles so much easier!
Thank you, Jeremy! We're so glad the coordination made everything feel so smooth, from the patience and humour on the train to the depth your guide brought once you reached Versailles. Making the most of your time at such a huge site is exactly what we aim for. Really appreciate the recommendation!
Tour guides made catching the train simple and tour guide for Versailles was amazing! Skip the line and enjoy!
Thank you, Anita! We're so glad the train made things so simple, and that your guide at Versailles made such an impression. Having a timed entry really does set the day off on the right foot. We really appreciate you sharing this and hope you had a fabulous time here!
This was a great tour that was extremely well organised. We were met by Berwick at Montparnesse station and taken to our host for the tour, Amelie at Versailles itself. Amelie was really friendly and knowledgeable, providing an array of insights into the impressive Chateau and gardens. We all had earpieces so we could hear what she was saying without her having to shout unlike some other companies. They could however improve the sound quality a little as occasionally it cut out for a few seconds. Versailles is of course supremely impressive but the Petit Trianon and Grande Trianon are well worth a visit and our tour included admission. This was a great tour made extra special,by Amelie and we would definitely recommend.
Thank you, Orlando, for taking the time to leave us such a detailed review, we very much appreciate it! We're so glad Berek got you smoothly to Versailles, and that Amélie's insight into the château and gardens made such an impression, earpieces meaning you never missed a word without anyone needing to raise their voice. Thank you for flagging the occasional dropout, we're always looking at ways to improve on that. The Petit Trianon and the Domaine of Marie-Antoinette really are special, giving such a fuller picture of her life away from court, and we'd recommend our full day tour to anyone wanting to include that leg of the estate too. We'll be sure Berek and Amélie both see your kind words!
