Versailles On Our Own?

We are family of 4 adults and 1 child age 9 and would like to goto Versailles on our own. Our hotel is close to the Louvre. Can anyone help give me details on how to do this on our own? We plan to buy the Museum Pass.Thanks!

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You can get to Paris (rather cheaply) by using the RER (which is like a commuter subway/train system). Rather then try to explain it, I am giving you a link which offers excellent step by step directions:

http://www.paristoversailles.com/paris-to-versailles-by-train-rer/paris-versailles-by-train-rer/

Once you arrive in Versailles you still have a walk to get to the Chateau which you do not see from the train station. So it is good to print-out a map or have a guide book (with map). Otherwise you might need to ask any local for directions. But once pointed in the right direction you will soon see the Chateau (and signs). Your day involves a lot of walking so wear comfortable shoes.

Hank

The earlier you start your day, the better. We LOVE gardens and you will find none better than here. In fact, we so enjoyed our time in the gardens that we ran out of time to go inside the palace. It's a spectacular site! Would love to go back.

Enjoy your visit!

Rick Steves has excellent directions in his guidebook on Paris, along with how to get to Versailles once exiting the train station. We followed these directions and had no problems at all. The ride on the RER there and back is pleasant.

Definitely get the museum pass for Paris, we were met with long lines everywhere and figure it saved us several hours standing in line. (Although it doesn't work for the Catacombs, where we waited in line for 3 hours. It was my son's one "must see", so we just toughed it out.)

Thank you!!! Very good tips. Will get museum pass definitely!

http://www.guidatours.com/en/guided-tours-guided-tour-classic-c-101_89.html

I saw this Guidatours.com for Versailles. Should I book it?

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I can't comment on the Guidatour since we "did" Versailles on our own and would do so again. I think the tour would depend on just how much info you really want - but perhaps someone who has taken it could help.

You've gotten great advice already - one suggestion I'd again mention is get there early! We were there in Oct 2012 and arrived just minutes after they opened - no line but had our Museum Pass anyway. We found the Palace inside crowded even at that time! This is NOT a turn off about Versailles just a warning to get there early!

It's also worth scheduling time to include the gardens - lovely even in October! We walked a bit and then took the mini-train since DH has a problem walking long distances. It went around through the woods to the Marie Antoinette area and to the canal where we got off for a wonderful view of the Palace. Can't remember the cost but worth it for us. There's a casual restaurant there - think the name was Flotilla - where we had an early lunch - outside since the weather wasn't too chilly and they had heaters.

Getting the train was easy - Hank's directions were the ones we used - great! We got on at St. Michel station near our hotel and another couple boarded one/two stations later - they looked at us and slowly asked if the train went to Versailles - I answered yes, I hoped it did - and they asked Americans? We all laughed since they thought us natives - which I took as a compliment!!

Hope you enjoy the day!!!

Don't know what your budget is, but you can take a taxi from central Paris to the entrance of Versailles (no walking) for about 50 euros. It is a 35-40 minute ride.

Do buy the museum pass. That allows you to buy tickets for guided tours to Versailles without buying one of their "passport" passes.

http://en.chateauversailles.fr/homepage

Look through the website for guided visits and sign up. You will get a lot more out of the experience.

The walk from the train station to the chateau is an easy 5 minute walk. You will do your major walking once you enter the grounds of Chateau Versailles. It is magnificent!

The earlier you start your day, the better. We LOVE gardens and you will find none better than here. In fact, we so enjoyed our time in the gardens that we ran out of time to go inside the palace. It's a spectacular site! Would love to go back.

 

Enjoy your visit!

We did it on our own, super easy and we also got there early. We were some of the first ones in the palace, in fact when we walked in the hall of mirrorrs, no one was in the room so we got some great pictures.

Mom, my sister, and I did this tour with a private guide for the day. She was amazing, but very expensive. So I suggest that you get an audio guided tour to do on your own or you will not really know what you are looking at in the palaces. You will absolutely need an entire day, and it will mostly likely be crowded inside the Palace. If you have traveled a lot with your kiddos, then you know how to handle that. Always determine a meeting place or emergency plan if you are separated. Phones may not work! The next part are the amazing gardens where a certain fountain area plays music and the water flows high into the air along with it. Finally, you will want to visit the Trianon Palaces and the Queen's Hamlet. Think of it as three separate areas in Versailles. The website is very specific, so visit that. Some parts are closed on certain days, so beware of that so that you are not disappointed. Plan for breaks and food stops. Website says it all. The gift shop has something for everyone in every budget. It was truly one of my most memorable visits and knowing the history of the French Revolution and Marie Antoinette before you visit will make it even more exciting! Have fun!

Here's an exerpt from my journal:

Tuesday September 16

We tried to get up early but had to settle for 9:00 as we had planned to try to get to the Palace of Versailles. We managed to get out of the hotel by shortly after 10:00. We bought RER train tickets for Versailles Rive-Gauche for $6.8eu. each for a return trip. This ticket was also good for the Metro to St. Michel-Notre Dame to catch the C5 RER train. It took us just under an hour to get to the town of Versailles. DW made a pit stop at the McDonald’s after looking around and the washroom line-up was huge. I purchased a breakfast special at McCafe that included a macaroon, 2 other petite pastries, and an Americano for $3.00eu. which I thought was a good deal for France. The small Evian water I bought for Annie was $2.30eu. by itself. The McCafe staff told me the Palace was up the block and to the left. People were buying their Versailles tickets at a store by McCafe but we decided that we would get them at the Palace. We passed by a tourism office and they were lined up out the door with tickets sales as well. We learned that the tourism office added a $3.00eu. surcharge so we continued on. We arrived at the Palace and the line-up for tickets was huge. We figured at least an hour long. As usual, DW had to go to the washroom so she headed off through the gift shop while I waited in line. She came back 15 minutes later with 2 tickets in hand. Next to the washrooms were 8 electronic ticket machines which weren’t being used. That washroom visit saved us at least 45 minutes waiting in line. We spent 2 hours in the Palace before we headed for the gardens. The place is huge and we took our time walking down to the Palaces of Trianon and Marie Antoinette’s Estate. The walk was about 40 minutes and we were gassed by the time we got there. We spent another hour exploring the grounds before we decided to head back. The thought of another 40 minute walk was not appealing so we paid $4.00eu. each to take a tram back. The tram dropped us off at the gardens so we spent some time looking at the east side of them. The Versailles ticket was $25eu. Each but that was a deal compared to $15eu for the Palace, $8eu. for the Gardens, and $10eu. for Marie Antoinette’s Estate. At 6:00 we decided that we should start heading back to Paris.

I hope this gives you an idea regarding difficulty, costs, timeframes, etc.

The electronic ticket machines take credit cards.

The last post (lamchops) brings up a personal observation. Sometimes we think that people/tourists are somewhat like little lambs following their leader. If there are 3 lines (queues) to buy a ticket anywhere, many folks simply gravitate to the longest line! We even see this on cruise ships. Electronic ticket machines are very common throughout Europe at both attractions and for public transit. So it does pay to have somebody take a look around while, perhaps, another person gets in the line. One possible problem for Americans is that a majority of electronic ticketing machines will only accept Chip/PIN credit cards. However many will also accept Euros.

Hank

You can get to Paris (rather cheaply) by using the RER (which is like a commuter subway/train system). Rather then try to explain it, I am giving you a link which offers excellent step by step directions:

http://www.paristoversailles.com/paris-to-versailles-by-train-rer/paris-versailles-by-train-rer/

 

Once you arrive in Versailles you still have a walk to get to the Chateau which you do not see from the train station. So it is good to print-out a map or have a guide book (with map). Otherwise you might need to ask any local for directions. But once pointed in the right direction you will soon see the Chateau (and signs). Your day involves a lot of walking so wear comfortable shoes.

 

Hank

We are planning to go to Versailles via the train..thanks Hank for the perfect directions.

We are planning to purchase a Vista travel card...(Paris Visit (zones 1 to 5) - 5 Days).

My understanding is that we can purchase this card at the airport, use it to get to our hotel, use it all around Paris, including the train trip to Versailles, and then from our hotel to Gare du Nord to board then Eurostar to London. Am I correct?

And should we take the train or the Metro from St Michel/Notre-dame to Gar du Nord to catch the Eurostar.

We did a DIY to Versailles in November 2013.It was our first time to ride a metro train and we did great. We were staying at Hotel Brighton across from the Tuileries Gardens so we just cut through the gardens and caught the RER train by the Musee d Orsay. It dead ends at Versailles so as long as your going the right direction you will be fine. It seems most of the passengers are going to the palace so you can just follow the crowd. We also had a snack at the McDonalds before we boarded the train to return to Paris. Definitely buy the Museum Pass. We bought ours at our hotel and didn't have to pay the shipping charges by buying it online. I've also heard you can buy the pass at the airport near baggage claim. We will be in Paris again this May after a cruise, can't wait, it is such a magical city!

We are planning to go to Versailles via the train..thanks Hank for the perfect directions.

 

We are planning to purchase a Vista travel card...(Paris Visit (zones 1 to 5) - 5 Days).

 

My understanding is that we can purchase this card at the airport, use it to get to our hotel, use it all around Paris, including the train trip to Versailles, and then from our hotel to Gare du Nord to board then Eurostar to London. Am I correct?

 

And should we take the train or the Metro from St Michel/Notre-dame to Gar du Nord to catch the Eurostar.

Regarding the Paris Visite Pass, these are really convenient and can be a terrific option for those who plan on using a lot of Metro and/or RER services. But for us, we have found those passes are really overpriced and not a good deal because of our own travel habits. When in Paris, DW and I prefer to walk just about everywhere and only use the Metro if we have to go a very long distance (at least more than a mile). We love walking in Paris, and often stumble on fascinating shops, places, and neighborhoods by walking as opposed to riding around underground. So before you shell out the big bucks for a Paris Visite Pass you might want to carefully consider your own travel habits and just how many Metro/RER trips you would take.

There are other options. For example, DW and I will usually buy a Carnet which is simply 10 Metro Tickets (you can get this out of the ticket vending machines). The Carnet reduces the price per single Metro ticket to about 1.41 Euros per ride and since the Carnet is simply 10 loose tickets it can be shared by any number of folks. On an average day in Paris we seldom take more then 4 Metro rides which would cost us about 7 Euros per person/day which is still cheaper than buying a 2 day (zone 1, 2) Visite Pass. And if you invest in the Zone 1-5 Pass you need to consider just how many times you would be venturing outside of Zone 1,2 (which covers all of Central Paris). If you are only going to venture out to zone 5 a couple of times (i.e. 2 and from the airport) and perhaps go to zone 4 (Versailles) one time it might be somewhat less costly to use Carnets for Zone 1 and 2 and just buy individual tickets for the few longer journeys.

On the other hand, we have friends that prefer the Zone 1-5 Visite Pass because they say it means mindless unlimited travel with no hassles (all true).

Hank

Regarding the Paris Visite Pass, these are really convenient and can be a terrific option for those who plan on using a lot of Metro and/or RER services. But for us, we have found those passes are really overpriced and not a good deal because of our own travel habits. When in Paris, DW and I prefer to walk just about everywhere and only use the Metro if we have to go a very long distance (at least more than a mile). We love walking in Paris, and often stumble on fascinating shops, places, and neighborhoods by walking as opposed to riding around underground. So before you shell out the big bucks for a Paris Visite Pass you might want to carefully consider your own travel habits and just how many Metro/RER trips you would take.

 

There are other options. For example, DW and I will usually buy a Carnet which is simply 10 Metro Tickets (you can get this out of the ticket vending machines). The Carnet reduces the price per single Metro ticket to about 1.41 Euros per ride and since the Carnet is simply 10 loose tickets it can be shared by any number of folks. On an average day in Paris we seldom take more then 4 Metro rides which would cost us about 7 Euros per person/day which is still cheaper than buying a 2 day (zone 1, 2) Visite Pass. And if you invest in the Zone 1-5 Pass you need to consider just how many times you would be venturing outside of Zone 1,2 (which covers all of Central Paris). If you are only going to venture out to zone 5 a couple of times (i.e. 2 and from the airport) and perhaps go to zone 4 (Versailles) one time it might be somewhat less costly to use Carnets for Zone 1 and 2 and just buy individual tickets for the few longer journeys.

 

On the other hand, we have friends that prefer the Zone 1-5 Visite Pass because they say it means mindless unlimited travel with no hassles (all true).

 

Hank

Thanks Hank, I'll take a closer look. Maybe just buying the Carnet, and then the train ticket from the airport to our hotel and the round trip ticket to Versailles would be less money. I assume we just buy those at the airport/train station? I'm going to 'price it out' a bit more. We love to walk, and if we are lucky with good weather, will probably not use the Metro too much.

What web site is my best bet to price the train ticket from airport to hotel and the one to Versailles?

Thanks Hank, I'll take a closer look. Maybe just buying the Carnet, and then the train ticket from the airport to our hotel and the round trip ticket to Versailles would be less money. I assume we just buy those at the airport/train station? I'm going to 'price it out' a bit more. We love to walk, and if we are lucky with good weather, will probably not use the Metro too much.

What web site is my best bet to price the train ticket from airport to hotel and the one to Versailles?

When it comes to normal transportation tickets (including a Carnet which is simply 10 tickets sold at a discount) the ticket vending machines can be utilized. Within Paris there are some stations that do not have any vending machines or ticket windows, there are others that have just vending machines, and other stations have both a ticket window (with a human) and vending machines. DW and I have sometimes walked into a Metro Station (without a ticket) to find that there is no place to purchase a ticket. When this happens we have to go back up to ground level and usually down other steps (nearby) to another platform that has a vending machine. Fortunately for tourists, most of the more popular Metro stations do have both windows and machines.

We always like to emphasize that Paris has many different transportation ticket options and there is just no one way fits all. Not only do you have the Visite Pass, carnets and individual tickets, but there are also various one-day passes. I think that some guide books (like Rick Steves) do a pretty decent job explaining the options although the pricing is usually wrong due to recent price increases. One thing to keep in mind is that a USA issued magnetic strip credit card is not going to work in the ticket vending machines (you need a Chip card and sometimes a real Chip/PIN card). The ticket windows will usually accept a USA magnetic strip card although we have witnessed one window clerk simply refuse to accept a card. The ticket vending machines also accept cash (Euros) so one might want to always make sure they have enough Euros in their pocket to handle these situations.

Hank

I want to clarify one issue about "Carnet"s. In Paris this simply means 10 tickets and that is what you get. Both the vending machines and the ticket windows will give you 10 separate tickets (identical to a single ticket) at a nice discount. You can then use these as you please on the Metro or buses.

Hank

I want to clarify one issue about "Carnet"s. In Paris this simply means 10 tickets and that is what you get. Both the vending machines and the ticket windows will give you 10 separate tickets (identical to a single ticket) at a nice discount. You can then use these as you please on the Metro or buses.

 

Hank[/quote

 

If we get the Carnet..10 separate tickets, we will still need to buy a ticket from the airport to Paris City Center and from Paris to Versailles and back. I cannot find a web site that would tell me the cost of these tickets. I'm trying to decide the best way to go. if we are talking a huge savings, may give up the 5 day Vista Travel card and go with the Carnet.

Where can I price out these tickets?

 

AND again..thanks for all this great advice.

I may have found my answer. On the SNCF.com site it looks like the airport and Versailles are in zone 5. Therefore the carnet tickets can not be used.

A one way ticket from the airport looks like it would cost about 10 euros each. And a round trip ticket to Versailles about 7.10 euros each. Does this sound correct?

And can we buy the Versailles ticket the morning we want to go, or should we get them when we first arrive in Paris?

I'm thinking the 5 day Vista travel card may be way more than we need.