Day trip to Chateau de Versailles

I decided to relate about my one day trip to the Palace of Versailles in a separate blog post because there is so much to tell about it plus I want to share some tips, so here we go.

Consider visiting the Palace of Versailles with all the gardens and the fountains during a one-day period, because it is huge and there are many things to see first of all, and second there are interesting activities and water-shows that you might want to enjoy, and the last is that it has a huge park with places for picnic where you can relax and relish your lunch.

Before going there you must check online information about opening hours and tickets costs, as there are some discounts if you are younger than 26 years or you are student and so on. You might want to check up on this, since they offer these discounts you can take advantage on them. My ticket was around 27 euros for the Palaces and the gardens. When you will buy the tickets they will offer you the Map Estate of Versailles, take it and follow it step by step, as it is a good way to find yourself in the gardens.

Once you have the ticket and you want to enter, it will happen only after you stay in a queue for at least one hour. Believe me, there is no other way. Nevertheless, it is still worth it. And since you already are reading this before going to Versailles, I recommend to take a book to read or a crossword, or anything you consider it will help you to kill the time.

While in the estate of Versailles, I would recommend to start with the palace. First walk through the three imposing courtyards and then the state apartments and the mirror hall. The King’s apartments where dressed with elegant and fancy furniture. It was really nice to see how the king’s place looked like. I’d suggest though not to spend a lot of time strolling the palace, because for sure it will be crowded and you might face a queue for each room you want to enter, but then – the gardens are just amazing. And what is special and unique about these gardens is that they offer musical shows. You need to check which one at what time starts the show, because not all of them have these shows and not all of these shows are for all day long time.

When you finish visiting the palace you would go toward the gardens. At the entrance in the gardens there will be people checking your ticket, and I assume that there are tickets only for gardens, in case you consider visiting only the gardens. On your right you will find the Orangerie, while in front you will have the Water Parterre.

The map offers several itineraries how to get the most of the fountains and the groves, and is up to you which way you will follow, just make sure you see the most important ones.

 

From the Palace of Versailles to the Grand Canal you make around 15 min, while to the palaces of Trianon and Marie-Antoinette’s Estate will make 25 min on foot.Being so huge the whole estate, there are mini cars which you can rent and drive by yourself. This would be a great solution if you are travelling with parents or children.