When to go to Versailles?
→ The detailed month-by-month page, with real weather records
Best time: April to June and September to October
At a glance
Why go to Versailles?
Versailles is too often reduced to a whistle-stop tour of the palace from Paris. That's a shame, because the town of 84,000 people that Louis XIV had laid out at its gates deserves at least one night. In the evening, once the coaches have gone, the park empties, the palace gates are lit up and the Notre-Dame and Saint-Louis quarters return to their provincial-town life, with their markets, antique dealers and restaurants.
The royal estate unfolds in three stages. The palace and its State Apartments in the morning, before the crowds. Le Nôtre's gardens, with their fountains and groves, brought to life on Musical Fountains Show days. Then Trianon, Marie-Antoinette's private world, where the Petit Trianon and the Queen's Hamlet show another side of the court, more rustic and more personal.
Beyond the estate, the town still bears the marks of its role as a capital: the Jeu de Paume Room, where the Revolution took a decisive turn in June 1789, Saint-Louis Cathedral and its Clicquot organ, and the King's Kitchen Garden with its espaliers. Versailles suits history lovers, families who want space and couples looking for a getaway a quarter of an hour by train from Paris.
Map of Versailles: what is where?
The map shows the 6 places covered in this guide, to picture the distances and plan your route.
- Palace of Versailles
- Trianon Estate
- Musical Fountains Show
- Grand Canal
- King's Kitchen Garden
- Saint-Louis Quarter
How much does a trip to Versailles cost?
| Style | Per day | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Backpacker | €70-100 per day | budget hotel or simple B&B, picnic bought at the market, free park, one paid site a day, train from Paris. |
| Comfort | €150-220 per day | three- or four-star hotel near the palace, a Passport for the estate, the Musical Fountains Show, lunch in a brasserie and dinner in town. |
| Premium | €400 and up per day | a night at Le Grand Contrôle or the Trianon Palace, a private guided tour of the apartments, gourmet dinner and the Night Fountains Show. |
The Passport, €32 for Europeans in high season, is free for under-18s and for Europeans under 26, which makes a big difference to family budgets. From November to March it drops to €22 and the gardens become free. The park is free all year round for pedestrians.
Is Versailles safe?
Versailles is a safe, calm town. Pickpockets gather where the crowds are: the palace queues, the Hall of Mirrors, RER stations and trains at rush hour. Keep your bag closed and your phone in an inside pocket. In the park, the avenues are long and offer little shade: take water and a hat in summer, and check the gate closing times so you don't end up on the wrong side. Hire bikes must stay on the authorised avenues, and swimming is forbidden in the fountains and the Grand Canal.
What to see and do in Versailles
- Palace of Versailles
- Trianon Estate
- Musical Fountains Show
- Palace Park and Grand Canal
- King's Kitchen Garden
- Notre-Dame Market
- Saint-Louis Quarter and Cathedral
- Jeu de Paume Room
Palace of Versailles
In 1623 Louis XIII had a hunting lodge built on a mound in the middle of marshland. From 1661 his son wrapped it in a palace that would never stop growing, with Louis Le Vau, then Jules Hardouin-Mansart, Charles Le Brun for the decoration and André Le Nôtre for the gardens. In 1682 Louis XIV moved the court and government here, and Versailles remained the seat of power until Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette were forced to leave for Paris on 6 October 1789. The tour follows the State Apartments, a suite of salons dedicated to the planets, through to the Hall of Mirrors, 73 metres long with 357 mirrors, where the 1919 treaty was signed. Next come the King's Bedchamber, at the exact centre of the façade, and the Queen's Apartment, recreated with its silks. Turned into a museum of the History of France by Louis-Philippe in 1837, the palace also has the Gallery of Great Battles, a vast hall of paintings devoted to French victories. Book an early or late time slot: between 10:00 and 14:00, the crowd in the Hall of Mirrors is thick.
Trianon Estate
To escape court etiquette, Louis XIV had Jules Hardouin-Mansart build the Grand Trianon in 1687, a single-storey palace in pink Languedoc marble, opening onto its gardens through a peristyle. Napoleon stayed here, and General de Gaulle had a wing fitted out for visiting heads of state. Further on, the Petit Trianon, designed by Ange-Jacques Gabriel for Madame de Pompadour and completed under Louis XV, became in 1774 the personal domain of Marie-Antoinette, who controlled access to it herself. The queen had an English-style garden created with a river, grotto, belvedere and Temple of Love, then, from 1783 to 1787, the Queen's Hamlet by the architect Richard Mique: half-timbered, thatched cottages around a pond, with a mill, dairy, farm and the Marlborough Tower. The farm still keeps animals. The estate opens at noon: start with the palace in the morning, have lunch in the park, then walk to Trianon along the Grand Canal or take the little train.
Musical Fountains Show
The gardens of Versailles, laid out by André Le Nôtre from 1661, never had enough water to run all their fountains at once. Under Louis XIV, the fountain-keepers opened the valves as the king passed, signalled by a system of whistles. The Musical Fountains Show keeps the principle alive: during the day, the 55 fountains and pools and their 600 water jets come to life on a timetable, with Baroque music playing in the groves. Highlights include the Latona Fountain and its figures turned into frogs, the Ballroom Grove with its rockwork cascades, the Enceladus Grove where a half-buried giant spouts his jet skywards, and, in the late afternoon, the Neptune Fountain, the most spectacular of all. In 2026 the season runs from 3 April to 1 November; in summer, the Night Fountains Show turns the gardens into an illuminated trail that ends with fireworks over the Grand Canal. Pick up the timetable map handed out at the entrance.
Palace Park and Grand Canal
The Versailles estate covers about 800 hectares, a large part of it parkland open freely to pedestrians. Its axis is the Grand Canal, dug from 1668: 1,670 metres long and cross-shaped, with a transverse arm that led north to Trianon and south to the Menagerie, now gone. Louis XIV kept a flotilla of gondolas given by Venice and small ships here, whose gondoliers lodged at the Petite Venise, at the end of the canal, where there is now a restaurant and boat hire. Around it, avenues lined with lime and horse chestnut trees can be explored on foot, by bike or in an electric cart, and the lawns serve as picnic grounds for Versailles families. The view from the far end of the canal, with the palace in the distance on its mound, shows the sheer scale of the project.
King's Kitchen Garden
Louis XIV wanted out-of-season fruit and vegetables on his table. Jean-Baptiste de La Quintinie, director of the royal fruit and vegetable gardens, had a marshy plot near the Pièce d'Eau des Suisses drained between 1678 and 1683. The 9-hectare garden is laid out as a large central square of 3 hectares divided into sixteen plots around a pool, and 29 walled gardens whose walls hold the heat for the espaliers. The king entered through the King's Gate, still in place. Open to the public since 1991 and run since 1995 by the École nationale supérieure de paysage, the garden produces dozens of tonnes of fruit and vegetables every year, with more than 460 fruit varieties, mostly pears, trained into trellised shapes of great precision. Come in spring for the blossom, or in September and October for the pear and apple harvest, sold in the shop.
Saint-Louis Quarter and Cathedral
The Saint-Louis quarter was built south of the palace on the old village of Versailles, at the same time as the King's Kitchen Garden. It has a calmer atmosphere than the Notre-Dame quarter, with narrow streets, mansions and gardens hidden behind carriage gateways. At its centre, Saint-Louis Cathedral, built from 1742 to 1754 by Jacques Hardouin-Mansart de Sagonne, grandson of the great Mansart, displays a classical twin-towered façade and a faceted dome topped by a lantern. It is 93 metres long and houses the organ commissioned from Louis-Alexandre Clicquot in 1759, which originally had 45 stops on four manuals and pedalboard, most recently restored from 2018 to 2020. In May 1789 a procession of the Estates General ended here, and on 22 June the deputies renewed the Tennis Court Oath here. The seat of the diocese since 1802, the church was only consecrated as a cathedral in 1843. A few steps away, the Carrés Saint-Louis line up small, low shops built in the 18th century for a market.
How many days, and which itinerary?
A full day is enough for the palace, the gardens and Trianon, provided you set off early. Two days let you split the estate over two visits, add the park, the King's Kitchen Garden, the Notre-Dame market and the Saint-Louis quarter, and enjoy the town in the evening.
🗺️ Day-by-day itinerary · 📓 Free printable Versailles guide (PDF) · 🌍 All of France
weekend (2 days)
Day 1: the palace on the 9am slot, the gardens and the Musical Fountains Show if it's a show day, lunch at the Petite Venise, the afternoon at Trianon and the Queen's Hamlet, back along the Grand Canal at sunset. Day 2: the Notre-Dame market in the morning, the Jeu de Paume Room, lunch in town, the Saint-Louis quarter and cathedral, the King's Kitchen Garden in the afternoon.
4-5 days
Days 1 and 2: as for the weekend. Day 3: the park by bike, the Grand Canal, the Apollo Fountain and the avenues as far as the Queen's Gate, then the Night Fountains Show on a summer Saturday. Day 4: Saint-Germain-en-Laye, its Le Nôtre terrace and the National Archaeology Museum, half an hour away. Day 5: Marly-le-Roi and the Domaine de Marly, or Sceaux and its park.
one week
Days 1 to 3: Versailles in detail, palace, Trianon, park, town. Day 4: Saint-Germain-en-Laye. Day 5: the Chevreuse valley, the Abbey of Port-Royal-des-Champs and the Château de Breteuil. Day 6: Rambouillet, its Queen's Dairy and the Bergerie nationale, the national sheepfold. Day 7: Paris, 12 minutes by train from Versailles-Chantiers.
Getting there and getting around
Three lines link Paris to Versailles: the train from Paris-Montparnasse to Versailles-Chantiers in about 12 minutes, RER C to Versailles-Château-Rive-Gauche, the closest station to the palace, and the train from Saint-Lazare to Versailles-Rive-Droite. All accept Île-de-France transport tickets.
Once there, you can do everything on foot: the Notre-Dame market is ten minutes from the palace, and the Saint-Louis quarter and the King's Kitchen Garden ten minutes as well. For Trianon and the park, the little train or the hire bikes by the Grand Canal will save your legs.
By car, the Place d'Armes car park is paid and fills up quickly in season. The underground car parks in the centre, Notre-Dame, Saint-Louis or Europe, are a better option, less than fifteen minutes' walk from the palace.
Where to stay in Versailles?
Budget: Versailles remains pricier than the Île-de-France average. Small independent hotels in the centre, near Versailles-Chantiers station or in the Saint-Louis quarter, and the town's budget chains cost around €90 to 120 a night on weekdays.
Comfort: three- and four-star chain hotels near the palace and characterful houses in the Notre-Dame quarter charge €140 to 220 depending on the season. At weekends and on show days prices rise, so book early.
Our pick: sleep inside the estate or at its gates. Le Grand Contrôle, set in an 18th-century building beside the Orangery, and the Trianon Palace, on the edge of the park, are luxury addresses. On a more reasonable budget, a B&B in a house in the Saint-Louis quarter offers the calm and charm of the old town.
Our places to stay, stop by stop, at three budgets →
What to eat in Versailles?
The Notre-Dame market is the town's larder: aged cheeses, poultry, Île-de-France fruit, and oysters at weekends. Rue de la Paroisse and Rue du Maréchal-Foch are lined with brasseries, crêperies and bistros where the lunch menu costs around €20 to 30.
On the estate, the cafés and restaurants at the palace and the Petite Venise let you have lunch without leaving, but a picnic in the park, bought at the market in the morning, remains the most pleasant option on fine days. Picnics are banned in the gardens but allowed in the park.
The Saint-Louis quarter and Rue de Satory are home to good restaurants, bistronomic or Michelin-starred. Take home some fruit from the King's Kitchen Garden, and try the chocolates and pastries from the shops on Rue de la Paroisse.
Entry requirements
Schengen area: an ID card or passport for EU citizens, 90 days visa-free for UK, US, Canadian and Australian passports.
Rules change: check your own government's travel advice before you go.
Frequently asked questions about Versailles
When is the best time to visit Versailles?
April to June and September to October, when the Musical Fountains Show is running and the heat on the avenues is still bearable. July and August are the busiest months. Winter is quiet, the Passport is cheaper and the gardens are free, but the fountains do not play.
Can you still buy a ticket for the palace alone?
No. In 2026, access to the palace is through the Passport, which also includes Trianon and the gardens, with a compulsory timed reservation. The Trianon Estate, however, can be bought on its own, at €12 for Europeans.
How long does it take to visit the palace and gardens?
Allow two hours for the palace, two hours for the gardens on show days, and two to three hours for Trianon and the Hamlet. You need a full day to see everything without rushing.
Is the palace open every day?
No, the palace and Trianon are closed on Mondays, as well as on 1 January, 1 May and 25 December. The gardens and park are open every day.
How do you get from Paris to Versailles?
The quickest is the train from Paris-Montparnasse to Versailles-Chantiers, about 12 minutes. RER C goes to Versailles-Château-Rive-Gauche, ten minutes' walk from the palace, and the train from Saint-Lazare to Versailles-Rive-Droite.
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