Chartres and Versailles Private Full-Day Tour
Description
This private full-day tour to Chartres and Versailles provides convenient transportation from Paris to two of the most popular attractions outside the city. Visit one of the most beautiful and largest cathedral in Europe, a masterpiece of French Gothic Art. Then discover the Palace of Versailles, where you can see the State Apartments, Hall of Mirrors, and gardens. Hotel pickup and a private licensed guide are included.
Tour Options
Itinerary
This excursion will take you to the town and cathedral of Chartres South of Paris in the Beauce plain, the 'Bred basket' of France and to the famous Palace & gardens of Versailles Chartres boasts the most beautiful and the largest cathedral in Europe. Triple masterpiece of French Gothic Art : by the architecture, the sculpture, and the superb 13th century stained glass windows. (their surface extends over more than 3000 square yards). Walk through the old town where beautiful houses line the paved streets. Several "hillocks" lead down towards the Eure valley with its old mills, tanneries, "lavoirs"- riverside wash houses - and bridges. The palace and the gardens of Versailles count among the most prestigious monuments of the world's artistic heritage, a finest and most complete achievement of 17th century French art and the sumptuous theatre of history from Louis XIV to Louis XVI.
This excursion will take you to the town and cathedral of Chartres South of paris in the Beauce plain, the 'Bred basket' of France and to the famous Palace & gardens of Versailles Chartres boasts the most beautiful and the largest cathedral in Europe. Triple masterpiece of French Gothic Art : by the architecture, the sculpture, and the superb 13th century stained glass windows. (their surface extends over more than 3000 square yards). Walk through the old town where beautiful houses line the paved streets. Several "hillocks" lead down towards the Eure valley with its old mills, tanneries, "lavoirs"- riverside wash houses - and bridges. The palace and the gardens of Versailles count among the most prestigious monuments of the world's artistic heritage, a finest and most complete achievement of 17th century French art and the sumptuous theatre of history from Louis XIV to Louis XVI.
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
Meet your guide in your Paris hotel lobby or outside your Paris apartment building.
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Wheelchair accessible
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Specialized infant seats are available
- Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
- Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness
- Please provide the number of children under 18 years when booking
- A maximum of 7 people per booking
Reviews(7)
The ability to customize this visit to meet our specific interests was especially valuable. The guide was knowledgeable.
Vincent was AWESOME! Very informative and friendly! Enjoyed the town and local food and pastries too!
Wonderful tour! Our guide was excellent. This is a great way to fit in two sites in one day if your time in France is short. Our family plans to look up future tours with this guide for our next visit.
The tour started by being picked up by our guide, Alex, at our hotel. It was a very comfortable van, we were 3 in our group. We first drove to Notre Dame de Chartres, it was about an hour and a half drive. Once we arrived, we did a short walk from the parking garage to the cathedral. Alex explained the history of the church construction, which sections were built when and why (damage, etc). We asked a lot of questions and he was able to answer them all. He then us inside and explained the construction and importance of the inside including the coronation of King Henry IV at this cathedral. The meaning of the windows, the 3 rose windows, why some windows are very different, and the sculptures as well as some artifacts displayed. Afterwards we then drove to the palace of Versailles, which took an hour. We had lunch at a local restaurant before going in the palace. He took us through a special entrance where we are able to skip the lines and began explaining the details of the exterior and history of the various king Louis’s. We when went inside and again, very detailed history explanation of the interior, the art works, which ones were painted by famous artists, which ones are duplicates that aren’t as detailed as the first one and where we can see the first one inside the Louvre. We made our way into the gardens of the palace, where again he had a special pass that allowed us to skip the line’s and enters immediately . The garden which is 2,000 acres, and Alex showed us the most impressive parts of the garden, type of garden style and other various historical information. Alex’s professionalism and historical knowledge was amazing. I would highly recommend this tour it’s well worth the cost for the historical experience as well as ease of mind for the pick up and drop off at your hotel, in addition the tickets are included into the palace.
Aside from the weather, which was pretty bad but beyond your control, the tour was great. We saw a lot and were able to get around to all we wanted to see.
Our guide was incredibly knowledgeable on the history and art-historical context of the things we were seeing, and our visits to Chartes and Versailles were deeply enhanced by his commentary. He drew our attention to many small details that would have been easily overlooked otherwise. He adjusted his remarks in relation to our specific interests, and we felt that we had a richer experience as a result. He was able to answer all of our questions and was happy to engage with us in in-depth discussions. He never sounded like he was reading from a script; he clearly has a firm grasp on the content and was able to relay the story rather than just factoids. We would highly recommend this tour!
Both Chartres and Versailles was spectacular! Our tour guide was very pleasant and knowledgeable. We were in awe of how beautiful both attractions were. The architecture and preservation of Chartres and Versailles is incredible.
