How to Make the Most of Your Visit to Versailles

No trip to France is complete without a visit to the most opulent palace in the world! The Palace of Versailles was home to the kings of France and became a despised symbol of the huge divide between the starving peasants and their disconnected rulers. The epicenter of the French Revolution still stands as a symbol of power and wealth. It was a truly wonderful experience to tour this stunning palace and property. We ended up spending a full day exploring with our kids and we still didn’t see everything. We learned some things that we wanted to share with you to make your visit spectacular.

How to Make the Most of Your Visit to Versailles

1. Determine the best timing for your visit. The Palace of Versailles is definitely worth at least a full day of exploration. Yes, you will encounter significant crowds no matter when you visit. However, there are strategies to help make the crowds less of an issue. First, consider visiting Versailles in the spring or fall (April and May or late September to October) rather than the busiest months of summer. While the winter months see the lowest crowds, the hours of operation are shorter and your garden experience will not be nearly as robust. Next, give some consideration to the day you’d like to tour. The palace is closed on Mondays but open Tuesday through Sunday. While visiting on a weekend gives you the added benefit of fountain shows, it also comes with the heaviest crowds. We recommend visiting during a weekday. Finally, give some thought to the time of day you would like to tour the interior of the palace. Typically, the best time to tour the palace is either as soon as it opens or late afternoon. Try to stay away from arriving mid-day. Avoiding peak crowds is essential if you’re planning to tour with younger kids. It’s so much easier to keep them in your sight and also for them to see the features and artwork if they’re not lost in a sea of adults.

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1. Book your ticket online to ensure a more efficient entry when you arrive. To minimize your wait time and guarantee your entry to the palace, book your tickets in advance online. There are several ticket options from a timed entry to the palace, to a passport that includes entry to the estate of Trianon, to a 1 year in Versailles card. Once you’ve booked your visit, just show up and get in the proper line for your entry time. The lines might appear long but once your group is admitted, you will advance very quickly. To review all the ticket options or to book your ticket online, click here.

2. Plan ahead to make your child’s experience more fun. Versailles provides some great resources that help your child enjoy their visit. Game booklets for both the Palace and the Coaches Gallery are available - for free - in both French and English. You can download these directly from this link on their website or you can pick one up when you arrive. (The Palace game booklet is available at the information desk in the South Minister’s wing, next to the main ticket office, while the Coaches Gallery game booklet can be picked up at the entrance to the Coaches Gallery.) These booklets provide interesting facts about each room. For example, while visiting the wig room, they’ll learn that the king wore several wigs throughout the day because he had very little hair. These fun facts will help keep them engaged.

3. Manage your own expectations. You know your kids and how to read them better than anyone. Versailles offers free admission for those under the age of 18. (On days of musical fountain shows, free admission is only for those up to 5 years of age). This free admission makes it a little easier to walk away if your little ones have hit their limit. We suggest touring the palace first, grabbing a snack or small lunch from one of the restaurants, and then heading outside to tour the gardens. If your littles are showing signs of boredom or a meltdown is brewing, head outside a little sooner. If food and fresh air don’t bring them around, don’t be afraid to call it a day.

4. Be sure to look UP! Some of the most astounding features throughout the palace are found by lifting your gaze. You won’t want to miss the stunningly detailed artwork, intricately carved moldings, and extravagant chandeliers. This is a particularly helpful tip for your kids. Their low vantage point will have them staring at the legs and backs of the crowds of adults around them much of the day. Make sure to remind them to look up where they can find some great details.

1. Be flexible and patient when taking photos. Versailles is a popular place and there is a crowd everywhere you look. This could make capturing the photos you desire a bit frustrating. First of all, resign yourself to the crowd, maybe even embrace it. You’re going to have people you don’t know in most of your photos. Secondly, get creative with your perspective and your subject matter. Try capturing a close-up of a particular architectural detail from a unique angle. These types of photos are artistic and interesting and often capture something that not everyone takes the time to see or photograph. You can also try aiming a bit higher than you normally would (just over the heads of the people around you). While this may not work in the gardens, it certainly works inside the palace where there are beautiful details and stunning architecture all around you. Lastly, employ a bit of patience. Sometimes getting that great picture without others around is just a matter of waiting in the same area with your camera ready for about 5-10 minutes. More often than not, you’ll get a brief break in the crowd that will allow you to capture that artistic photo or that selfie.

1. Let your kids get creative. Let’s face it, crowded museums aren’t always the most fun for kids. It’s important to let them capture the experience from their own perspective. We’ve found that our youngest loves to take pictures so we will often hand over one of our cellphones and allow her to get creative. While flash photography is prohibited inside Versailles (in order to preserve the priceless paintings), they can freely take non-flash photos. Once you get to the gardens, you can let them click away at all the statues, fountains, trees, and flowers. It’s fun to take a look at their photos later to see what they found interesting and how they captured it. It also gives you an opportunity to discuss the impressions they gained from the whole experience - they just might surprise you!

2. Plan for meals and snacks. You’ll want to have a strategy for meals and snacks to avoid getting hangry. We recommend having a hearty breakfast before arriving to stave off hunger for as long as possible. (We stayed at the Holiday Inn Versailles the night before our visit and took advantage of their free breakfast to fill up before heading to the Palace.) While at Versailles, there are multiple options for dining. There are also some tricks to getting your hunger needs met while remaining efficient. Some of the restaurants have separate lines for snacks and drinks vs the lunch menu. Unless your heart is set on a full lunch, we recommend jumping into the snacks and drinks line where you can grab a baguette sandwich which is plenty to fuel your next few hours. Also, consider stopping to eat in mid-afternoon when the lunch crowds have left. We did just that when we grabbed a late lunch at the Angelina delicatessen, situated next to the Angelina Restaurant and Tea Room.

   Consider bringing your own water bottle. You’ll be doing a lot of walking and you’ll want to stay hydrated. There are several places throughout the palace and the gardens where you can fill your bottle for free. Water bottles must be limited to 50 centiliters (around 16 ounces). Please note that you can only eat and drink in designated areas so you’ll want to keep your water bottle tucked away in your (small) backpack or purse when touring through the rooms. You are also welcome to enjoy a picnic lunch in the adjoining park (not the gardens). For more information on where to find each portion of the estate, click this link for a map.

1. Don’t miss the Hall of Mirrors! If you only see one room in all of Versailles, this one is the most famous of them all. While we definitely recommend spending a few hours touring all of the accessible rooms, this one in particular, is a highlight. There are 357 mirrors in the hall. At the time the palace was built, mirrors were extremely expensive items to possess due to Venice being the only place where artisans knew how to make them. Louis XIV actually had the artisans smuggled out of Venice because the Venetian government threatened to execute any of the artisans who shared their knowledge. (For more Interesting Facts About Versailles, like this one, check out our post from last week here.)

1. Definitely spend a few extra dollars for the audio tour. We made use of available audio tours throughout our various experiences in France and they always enriched our experience. We highly recommend adding the audio tour to your Versailles experience. You’ll get a device with several buttons that looks a little like a phone or a walkie talkie. You just type in the corresponding area you’re touring (which is posted where it will easily be seen) and you’ll receive an audio explanation of the room or item. You’ll learn so much more, keep your children entertained, and leave with a much better understanding of the rich history of Versailles. You can reserve an audio guide when you book your ticket online and pick it up when you arrive.

   You also might want to download the official Palace of Versailles app to your phone. The app includes interactive maps of the entire estate, including where to find restrooms and other services. You’ll also find audio guides (in 13 different languages) for all of the various locations.

2. Dress comfortably and prepare for rain. It’s fine to be fashionable but also keep comfort in mind. It’s perfectly acceptable (and recommended) to wear a comfortable pair of sneakers, even with your skirt or dress. You’ll be walking quite a lot so keep your feet as comfortable as possible. Also, consider bringing a small umbrella or a packable rain jacket in case a shower pops up while you’re touring the gardens.

3. Save a significant amount of time to spend in the gardens. The gardens might have been the greatest highlight of our visit to Versailles. They are painstakingly maintained and offer endless exploration opportunities. You’ll get beautiful bonus views of the exterior of the palace. You might even find a respite from the crowds as you wander from one area to the next. You also might want to plan your time in the gardens to coincide with the most comfortable weather of the day. We visited in October so we enjoyed the cooler early evening temperatures and a beautiful sunset experience. Our kids loved wandering through the gardens. The crowds are much less daunting and they can really stretch their legs and enjoy the vast spaces while getting both exercise and an educational experience. Even though we visited on a day that the fountains weren’t flowing, we didn’t feel like we had missed out at all.

The Palace of Versailles is such a beautiful estate filled with so many priceless pieces of art and so much history. We thoroughly loved our visit and we squeezed every ounce of enjoyment from the hours we had there. That said, we never even made it to the Grand Trianon, the Petit Trianon, or the public Park area. There are so many things we’d love to see on a return visit. It’s important to know what your must-see items are and to prioritize those during your visit in case your time passes too quickly to get to everything, especially if you only have 1 day set aside to visit. We hope our list of tips helps you when you have a chance to visit! Have you ever been to Versailles? If so, are there any tips you would add to our list? We’d love to hear your feedback.