Palace of Versailles

Small group

Explore the 2,000-acre grounds of the Palace of Versailles on a full-day bike tour from Paris with a skip-the-line ticket, and discover the unrivaled opulence of the Sun King’s royal residence. Following your transfer from Paris, start the day at the farmers market in the town of Versailles. Select the produce you want for a picnic lunch later in the day, choosing from the mounds of cheeses, fresh fruits, charcuterie, and more. Then, it’s time to cycle the landscaped grounds of the Palace, cruising effortlessly from one picturesque spot to another on lightweight aluminium bikes. Your guide will take you to the outhouse chateaux of the Petit and Grand Trianon, and show you Marie-Antoinette’s private village and farm. Pedal through sumptuous landscapes, ending with a look inside the Chateau of Versailles itself. Here, you will be given plenty of time to focus on what interests you most, using the audio guides to explore at your leisure. Feel free to take a rapid tour in 30 minutes, or loiter for 3 hours to marvel at the Hall of Mirrors, Marie-Antoinette's bedroom, the King’s Royal chambers, and more. Learn about the life, legends, and scandals of the decadent Sun King (Louis XIV) and Marie Antoinette, and the resulting French Revolution that brought about the beheading of the French Royalty.

Learn more about Versailles palace with a 90-minute group tour with no more than 16 people. Avoid the hassle of waiting in long lines with skip-the-line tickets. Meet your local guide at Versailles at the foot of the Equestrian Statue of the Sun King, Louis the 14th. Visit the Royal Apartments. Walk through the palace and learn facinating information about the history of the palace from your expert guide. Following your interior visit of the palace, spend some free time in the gardens, a 2,000-acre (809-hectare) park filled with lovely fountains, statues, and classic formal garden landscaping. See the Musical Gardens show if visiting Versailles on a Tuesday or a Friday. View the Musical Fountains Show if taking the tour on a Saturday or a Sunday (from March to October).

Experience the magic of Versailles at sunset, and be amazed as the gardens are brought to life with lighting, music, special effects, and a stunning fireworks display. Meet your guide in central Paris and head to Versailles by train. After being fitted for your bikes, ride to the market square to buy supplies for a relaxing picnic at the bakeries and shops suggested by your guide. Continue to the grounds of Versailles, cruising along tree-lined trails and paths as you take in the majestic views. Stop at highlights such as Marie Antoinette's hamlet, as you learn the history and tales of life at the royal court from your knowledgeable guide. Pedal over to the Petit Trianon and Grand Trianon, and onwards to the Grand Canal. Stop for a picnic overlooking the sprawling palace, before visiting inside the famous landmark. Skip the lines with pre-reserved tickets and get exclusive after-hours access to the palace. Enjoy plenty of space to marvel the royal chambers, and watch costumed performers as they dance, sing, and play musical instruments. After exploring inside the palace, enter the gardens for a spectacular fountain show at sunset. Enjoy a fantastic evening filled with music, special effects, and an incredible fireworks display over the Grand Canal. Return to Paris by train, where your tour will end.

Explore the royal Palace of Versailles on a 3-hour tour from Paris. Trace the footsteps of royalty as you discover one of the most lavish palaces in the world. You’ll meet your guide in Paris and travel to Versailles by train. Learn about the construction of one of the most famous palaces in the world from your knowledgeable guide. Explore the many apartments that make up the royal residences, and see the famous Hall of Mirrors. After you’ve seen the beautiful palace with your guide, you will have time to walk through the lushous 2,000 acres of gardens. Your guide will provide you with your return train tickets and leave you to explore the gardens at your own pace. To create these manicured gardens, thousands of trees were imported from all over France. When you are ready, you will return to Paris by train.

Touring the Palace at Versailles is simply a must for any visitor to Paris. Initially built as the summer residence for French royalty, Versailles’ legendary grandeur and opulence is unsurpassed. It has since been home to everyone from Marie Antoinette and King Louis XIV to France’s Dauphin and Dauphine. Your Versailles tour is an exploration into the lives of the French royal family and will give you an extraordinary view into the lives of the monarchy before they were overthrown during the French Revolution in 1789. During your tour, you'll get to study your reflection in the same celebrated Hall of Mirrors that Louis XVI did, while also visiting the room where the treaty that ended World War I was signed. Your guided tour of Versailles' palace is followed by a walk through the lush gardens on the grounds that Versailles is famous for. Breathtaking and ethereal, the legendary gardens of Versailles actually served as the inspiration for many of Claude Monet's greatest paintings. Your tour of Versailles was designed to give you a firsthand, truly Parisian experience. Your Versailles tour begins with your exclusive guide meeting your group at your hotel and taking you personally to Versailles. Your quick, 20 minute RER train ride leaves you right near the grounds of the Palace. Once there your guide will lead you on your 4 hour tour. After your tour, you're able to continue exploring the Palace on your own, or heading back to Paris with your guide. The guide can reccomend local restaurants in Versailles to stay for dinner.

For one day, feel like a king or queen when venturing out to the famous and radiant Versailles. Start the tour with a pick-up from your accommodation. In your minibus, relax and meet your guide and get to know each other before your visit. Discover the palace, its spectacular architecture and its splendid rooms like the King and Queen’s Apartments, livings room steeped in stories and the breathtaking Mirror Gallery designed to impress visitors with its 357 mirrors. This visit will finish with a presentation of the Versailles Gardens. After being stunned by this fantastic place, take a deep breath and have a break. You are free to have lunch wherever you'd like in Versailles. Your guide will advise you on a restaurant located in the heart of Pavillon Dufour. Taste refined creations of Alian Ducasse in an exceptional and contemporary setting that remembers the Sun King’s splendor. Dine on preserved duck foie gras, quince and toasted brioche, steamed turbot, truffled hollandaise sauce and green apple pineapple vacherin. Appreciate a stroll at your own pace through the Le Notre’s gardens. Its fountains and sculptures tell mythological and exciting stories that will surprise you. Be charmed by numerous secrets of this natural area.  Finally, be surprised by a complete change of scenery and explore the Marie Antoinette Estate, a place marked by French characters such as the Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte or Marie Antoinette. Wander in the Little and Great Trianons, the most refined monuments in Versailles, and in the cute Queen Hamlet created especially for the famous Queen Marie Antoinette. Your local guide will be there at your disposal all day to answer your questions and to reveal all the secrets of the Versailles Estate.

After a meeting point with your guide in Paris, board the minivan for the drive (roughly 1.5 hours) to Giverny where you will then walk in the footsteps of Claude Monet. When you arrive at Claude Monet's house and gardens, you are free to wander through the rows of vibrant flowers in front of the home and stroll over to the water lily pond and Japanese bridge, which you'll recognize from some of Monet's most famous paintings. Take in a variety of vegetation, including cherry trees, tulips, roses, wisteria, weeping willows and irises. Inside the house, you can see the kitchen, dining room, living spaces and bedrooms and admire his collection of Japanese prints on the walls. The leader of the Impressionist movement of the 19th century, Monet introduced more perception, emotion and light into art of his age, and he spent almost 40 years developing his Giverny property. You can also take a look at his workshop. After Giverny, take a midday break for lunch at the Moulin de Fourges, an 18th-century mill on the Epte River outside Giverny that has been transformed into a restaurant and inn. From there, continue your tour to Versailles. The opulent Palace of Versailles was once the home of King Louis XIV and Marie Antoinette. On a tour of their extravagant apartments, try to imagine daily life for the royal family. Walk through the famous Hall of Mirrors, the Grand Apartments, the Queen's Apartments and more as your guide helps bring history to life for you. Enjoy some free time to wander through the expansive gardens behind the palace at Versailles before your day trip concludes and you travel back to Paris.