Have you ever dreamt of visiting the spectacular Palace of Versailles, near Paris? Have you ever wondered what is the easiest and most cost effective way to get there? Discover how easy it is to travel from Paris to Palace of Versailles by train for a wonderful day trip from Paris.
Where is the Palace of Versailles?
The Palace of Versailles is a World Heritage site located about 20 km from the Paris city centre. The Palace of Versailles was first built in 1624 as a hunting lodge. It went on to house the French court and government in 1682. These days the Palace of Versailles has over 2,300 rooms and is spread over 63,154 square metres. It is also a public museum, and makes for a great day trip from Paris.
In this video blog we take the train from our Airbnb accommodation near the Eiffel Tower to visit the Palace. You can view our video by clicking the below link.
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Paris to Palace of Versailles by Train
Getting to the Palace is simple by train. The Paris train network is one of our favourite train networks, it is extremely easy to navigate and also relatively cheap. There are also plenty of customer service windows, and the staff are all quite fluent in English.
The journey took 45 minutes by train from our nearest station at the Eiffel Tower (Champ de Mars station). About the only trick is to get on the RER C line, which is color coded yellow. Once you are on the RER C line, virtually all trains lead to Versailles! Our train tickets cost a total of 23 Euros return fare for 3 people.
@DelarueJC #SOSUsagers@RERC_SNCF #QML @TUForg
⚠sur le #RERC
La voie est en panne à Versailles Château (Rive Gauche) pic.twitter.com/w83vLkpq1X— Dsens (@D_cence) March 23, 2017
There are three train stations in Versailles, the closest one the Palace of Versailles is Versailles Chateau Rive Gauche station. In our case, we just let Google Maps do all the thinking for us, and followed the Google directions. From the station, it is a simple 15 minute walk to Versailles Palace along an easy, flat walking path. Along the way you will find McDonald’s, KFC, other cafe’s and loads of souvenir shops.
Tip: Versailles Chateau Rive Gauche station is about 13 minutes walk closer than the Gare de Versailles Chantiers station. Make sure you get off at Rive Gauche station!
Which Entry Ticket Should You Buy?
When you get to the palace you need to decide which ticket to purchase. Note that the Palace of Versailles is huge, to see the whole place you will need a full day and then some. You would need to arrive very early to see the palace interior as well as the gardens and other inclusions.
Since we arrived around lunchtime we decided that we’d skip the admission tickets into the Palace and the Estate of Trianon. These give access to tour around the massive interior of the Palace, which is undoubtedly the most popular attraction at Versailles Palace. Our theory was that we had only 5 hours of daylight, so a Palace tour and a garden tour was literally impossible.
Instead we opted to tour the expansive gardens behind the Palace of Versailles. Entry is free, all you need to do is walk around the side of the palace and you can wander around to your heart’s content. The gardens are said to cover some 800 hectares, so there’s no problem of running out of gardens.
The Gardens of Versailles Palace
The Gardens of Versailles are a masterpiece, and also part of the World Heritage listing. They are a massive work of symmetry, starting with a complex series of fountains and manicured gardens immediately behind the palace. The gardens were designed and created in the 17th century, they are living medieval works of art.
Our visit was in November, and there was one thing missing. The flower beds were all dug up and barren, with only the green hedges remaining. This made the gardens fairly bland but still amazing. I can see that the attraction of the gardens would be many times greater in spring and summer when the flower beds are in bloom, providing an explosion of colors and aromas.
Behind the flowered gardens are many hectares of wilder gardens. These gardens are still in perfect symmetry and are still carefully manicured, but they are fully grown trees. These are divided up into 12 different areas, each one with its individual them and unique symmetrical patterns. Each of these is a magnificent parkland work of art.
Getting Around the Gardens of Versailles Palace
Little Train
We caught the “Little Train” around the gardens. This is a cute little shuttle train which goes from the Palace of Versailles all the way to the far corners of the property. It is useful for seeing a large amount of garden in a short time, and it’s a hop-on hop-off system. There is a ticketing booth just behind the Palace, and the cost is 7.50 Euros per adult. The little train is great value!
Golf Buggies
You can also hire golf buggies to get around. They are a little more expensive at 34 Euros per hour, and they can carry 4 people. This is a great way to see a lot of parkland in a couple of hours, particularly if you have little ones or elderly people in your group. Once again the hire point is right behind the palace.
Bicycles
Not only is cycling the healthiest option, it is also the most enjoyable option for getting around. The paths are all wide, flat and straight so it’s very easy cycling. Cost is around 8.50 Euros per hour. These are hired from Little Venice at the Grand Canal.
Row Boats
Our hands down highlight for the day was hiring a row-boat in the Grand Canal. The cost is 17 Euros per hour and the boats can take 4 people. It’s not overly exciting, you get to row up some long straight canals lined with symmetrical trees. But it’s an awesome novelty, particularly if you have kids. It’s easier than it looks too.
When to go to Versailles Palace
Our trip in November was thoroughly enjoyable. We had a wonderful day exploring the gardens and Grand Canal. But at this time of year there were some downsides.
- The 300 or so magnificent statues in the gardens were covered up with canvas hoods. We did not get to see any of these.
- The fountains were all turned off.
- The flower beds were all dug up, so there were no blooming flowers on display. As you can see in this tweet, it does get more colourful at other times of the year.
[Oh my France! ] ❤ Have you ever dreamt of living in the beautiful Palace of #Versailles? #LiveTheDream pic.twitter.com/oCpSCuyNuw
— TV5MONDE AsiaPacific (@TV5MONDEapac) December 16, 2017
The upside was that crowds were quite good and it did not feel over crowded. If you are travelling to the Palace of Versailles during the winter months, my advice would be to focus on the Palace Tour (paid tour through the interior of the Palace). That should be a perfect tour all year round. As an added bonus the ticketing office will not have long queues in winter, as they would in summer.
Should You Take a Guided Tour?
Although we found the self-guided train tour easy and inexpensive, you might prefer to take a guided tour from Paris. Here are some great options available for you on GetYourGuide.com.
Back in Paris
The trip back to Paris is just as easy on the RER C trains. When you arrive in Paris you will probably be looking for some new adventures. We have a whole bunch of sightseeing ideas for you on our Paris National Monuments video blog.
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