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(1,007)
Beautiful place! Must see. Very very crowded inside the palace. Stanislas our guide was terrific. Loved!
Wonderful time. Our guide Claire was delightful, and we loved her efficiency, trivia and stories, and ability to maneuver around the crowds. The train was easy and practical, allowing for visitors to stay in the gardens for as long as they wanted and return at their convenience. We did the 3 hour tour (there was also a full day option that others in our group did), and that was perfect for our kids (10, 12, 14).
The guide was excellent and the palace is remarkable. It was crowded but to be expected
Spent the most wonderful experience with Seean on the Louvre Highlights tour. His passion for art, history, and engineering was contagious, and he had a unique gift for making each masterpiece feel personal and meaningful. Rather than simply sharing facts, he connected the stories behind the art in a way that brought the museum to life. It was the perfect half-day, and I left with a much deeper appreciation for the Louvre than we ever expected. Thank you, Seean, for sharing your knowledge and enthusiasm. We highly recommend this tour to anyone visiting Paris!
Thank you, Karen! What a wonderful account of your time at the Louvre with Seean, that sense of the art coming alive through the stories behind it is exactly what makes a great guide unforgettable. We hope your visit to Versailles was every bit as memorable!
Great experience and Sylvani had a great knowledge of the palace and its history. Definitely hang around and explore the gardens if you’re able.
Thank you, Harkanwal! We're so glad Sylvanie's knowledge of the palace and its history came through so well. Great tip on the gardens too — we guide guests through them as part of the tour, and they're vast, with so much more to discover if you choose to linger afterward. It's actually why we take the train rather than a coach: you're free to stay as long as you like and make your own way back whenever you're ready. We're glad it made for such a great day and we'll pass your kind words on to Sylvanie.
We thoroughly enjoyed our tour to Versailles! We moved through the castle and gardens with enough time to enjoy the complete experience and our guide was fun and engaging! We highly recommend this tour company!!
Thank you, Julie! We're so glad Claire's fun, engaging style made for such an enjoyable visit, with time to really take in the castle and gardens properly. We really appreciate your recommendation. We'll pass your comments on to Claire, and we hope you and your family had a wonderful time here in Paris!
Ameli was an excellent guide with lots of historical knowledge. She kept our group moving and had very interesting stories to share about Versailles. Oliver did a perfect job of guiding on the train to Versailles and making sure we all knew how to return to Paris.
Thank you, Tamara! We're so glad Amélie's stories and knowledge kept the group so engaged, and that Olivier made sure everyone felt confident about the return journey too. We'll be sure they both see your kind words! We hope you had a wonderful time in Paris!
Incredible experience. Claire was so much fun! Authentic in her enthusiasm, humorous in her perspective; she even sneaked in a bit of education in her entertaining tour. 100% recommend!!
Thank you, Deirdre! We're so glad Claire's humour and enthusiasm made the day so much fun, and that all that education slipped in almost without you noticing - that's exactly the kind of tour we love hearing about. 100% recommend right back at you for sharing this! We'll make sure Claire sees it. We hope you had a wonderful stay here!
Excellent experience all round, from the friendly train guide to the knowledgeable tour guide (Stan). A lovely way to see this stunning site and skip the main queues!
Sophie is very nice and can tell she enjoys her job. She always ensured the group was together and made sure to guide us the whole way with as many facts as possible without making it seem overwhelming. The palace is such a memorable part of my trip and learning about it thoroughly helped me understand its origins, which made it more fun for me!
Thank you! We're so glad Sophie's care in keeping everyone together and her thoroughness came through so well, without ever feeling like too much all at once. Understanding the origins of a place really does change how you experience it, and it's wonderful that it made the palace such a memorable part of your trip. We'll be sure to pass this along to her and hope you enjoyed your time here in Paris!
