Paris is likely one of the hottest and most-visited cities on this planet, and is a spot the place you possibly can simply spend per week or extra and nonetheless not see/do all the pieces. BUT, if it is your first journey to Paris and you’ve got various days there, likelihood is you can be tempted to plan not less than someday journey out of the town.
And the preferred day journey from Paris is certainly to go to the Palace of Versailles.
Versailles is situated about 30 kilometers exterior of Paris. The former royal palace is now surrounded by the charming metropolis of Versailles, however the entire place started as a small nation searching lodge utilized by King Louis XIII to flee the town lifetime of Paris within the 1600s.
The palace was remodeled by Louis XIII’s son and successor, King Louis XIV (the Sun King), within the mid-1600s, being expanded into the sprawling, gold-coated palace with greater than 2000 rooms that we all know immediately. The palace was the official royal residence of the kings of France from 1682 till the French Revolution within the early 1790s.
You completely can go to Versailles by yourself by taking an RER practice from Paris and pre-booking a Versailles entrance ticket. But that is a kind of outings that I actually, actually really feel is greatest carried out with a information – as a result of Versailles is large, and will be overwhelming by yourself.
Versailles tour by bike
On our personal journey to Paris, my husband Elliot and I opted to e book a full-day bike-based tour to Versailles that ended up being considered one of our favourite experiences of our whole journey!
We booked this tour with Boutique Bike Tours, which features a fast practice trip to Versailles, a guided tour of the palace, a guided stroll across the gardens and fountains, time to buy lunch at a neighborhood market, a picnic alongside the Grand Canal at Versailles, plus time to go to the Petit Trianon and Queen’s Hamlet.
It feels like so much to suit into simply someday, however the fantastic thing about doing this tour by bike is that none of it felt rushed!
Here’s a extra detailed have a look at this Versailles tour:
Getting to Versailles from Paris
Our tour really started in Paris, the place we met our information at Gare Montparnasse (the Paris-Montparnasse practice station). This was nice, because it meant we did not need to navigate attending to Versailles on our personal. We had been supplied with practice tickets, and traveled as a bunch on the quick practice to Versailles – we had been on the Versailles practice station in about 12 minutes!
Once we arrived, it was a brief stroll to the spot the place we picked up our bikes.
The bikes used on this tour are comfy cruisers with a classic look, and issues like helmets and baby seats (and even youngsters’ bikes) will be supplied on request.
Palace of Versailles
We cruised by way of the city of Versailles as much as the doorway to the Château de Versailles. Here our information Clara gave us an summary of the historical past of Versailles, and likewise laid out the plan for the day.
While some variations of this tour do the gardens and picnic first and END with a guided go to to the Palace of Versailles, our group did issues the opposite manner round, and went into the palace proper when it opened at 9 a.m. Being with a licensed skilled information meant we received to skip the lengthy ticket and entrance traces and enter the palace by way of a separate group entrance with no wait in any respect.
The palace was pretty empty very first thing within the morning, and Clara took her time guiding us by way of all of the opulent rooms and sharing (generally scandalous) tales about numerous members of the French royal household.
We noticed dressing rooms and mattress chambers, a chapel, and naturally the well-known Hall of Mirrors throughout our tour – which after all is just a tiny fraction of the 2300 rooms contained in the grand palace.
Clara mentioned the palace would have value the equal of BILLIONS of {dollars} to construct – and I imagine it. No marvel the French folks had been so fed up with the aristocracy by the point the French Revolution started.
Gardens of Versailles
After our tour contained in the palace, we spent about an hour exterior within the Jardins du Chateau de Versailles. The gardens cowl a staggering 2000+ acres, so even with an hour we solely noticed a small portion of them.
(And be aware that you do not bike within the gardens – this a part of the tour is all on foot, so put on good footwear!)
We visited on a weekend, that means all of the backyard’s fountains had been on, accompanied by baroque music (the fountains run each Saturday and Sunday from April 1-October 29, in addition to each Tuesday from May 2-June 27).
It is fairly unimaginable to suppose that they engineered all these intricate fountains within the 1700s, however didn’t have indoor plumbing!
Versailles market buying
From the gardens, we received again on our bikes and rode again into the middle of city. There, we visited the Place du Marche Notre-Dame, the native market that dates again to the 1800s. We did a cheese tasting, after which had a while to buy issues for our picnic lunch.
This was an unexpectedly enjoyable a part of the day!
Armed with baguettes and cheese and a few stealthily stashed bottles of wine, we received again on our bikes and headed again into the grounds of Versailles.
Grand Canal picnic
We rode our bikes alongside the Grand Canal, inside a big park that is free for anybody to go to. We selected a spot alongside the water and arrange our picnics, with blankets supplied by our information.
We loved our lunch spreads within the sunshine as we watched folks in little row boats paddle across the giant canal. As with most meals in France, nothing was rushed.
Queen’s Hamlet
After lunch, we received again on our bikes and rode to the Le Hameau de la Reine, or Queen’s Hamlet contained in the Trianon Gardens. This a part of Versailles is far much less visited than the primary palace and gardens, that means it wasn’t crowded in any respect even on a busy weekend.
The Trianon Gardens embrace the Petit Trianon, which is a small palace that was constructed within the 1760s by order of Louis XV. The rumor is that he constructed it for his long-term mistress Madame de Pompadour.
When Louis XV died and Louis XVI took over, Louis XVI gave the Petit Trianon and its gardens to his spouse, Queen Marie-Antoinette. It was Marie-Antoinette who expended the gardens and constructed the fairytale-esque “village” of the Queen’s Hamlet, which she escaped to typically together with her kids.
We did not go to the Petit Trianon, however did spend time strolling across the gardens and Queen’s Hamlet, as our information Clara instructed us a lot of tales about Marie-Antoinette.
Back to Paris
After the Queen’s Hamlet, we rode a bit extra by way of the park surrounding Versailles and again into city to the practice station. We received our return practice tickets, and had been again in Paris earlier than supper time!
Both Elliot and I agree that this was a wonderful day journey, price each penny of the value!
Versailles bike tour FAQ
The tour we did is the “Versailles: Food & Palace Bike Tour” with Boutique Bike Tours. The full-day tour consists of practice transport between Paris and Versailles, use of a motorcycle for the day, guided visits to the Palace of Versailles and the gardens, and extra.
They consider all the pieces on this tour, from offering heatsets contained in the palace to picnic blankets alongside the Grand Canal. (They’ll present rain ponchos in unhealthy climate, too!) And the guides are all improbable. (Book the identical tour right here.)
The tour we did prices EUR 145 ($150-$160 USD) per individual.
YES, I positively suppose this Versailles bike tour is price it. Not solely do you get to spend the day with a knowledgable licensed information, however you additionally get to see a lot greater than you’ll if you happen to had been simply visiting on foot. (Versailles is HUGE, and having a motorcycle actually helps you see extra of it.)
Versailles is nearly solely flat, so the bike driving is pretty straightforward. You do need to trip on the street for a short time originally and finish of the tour, however in any other case you are driving totally on park trails.
In complete, you are possibly on a motorcycle for a pair hours all through all the day. As lengthy as you possibly can comfortably trip a motorcycle, you possibly can most likely handle this tour!
Along with a tip on your information, you may additionally have to pay on your picnic lunch on the native market in Versailles. You can spend as a lot or as little as you need (however on the whole you will get bread, cheese, meat, and fruit for a really cheap value!).
Again, you possibly can e book this precise tour right here. (And once more, be aware that the precise order of whenever you’ll see issues might differ relying on the day you go to.)
(If, nonetheless, a motorcycle tour sounds terrible to you however you’d nonetheless love to do a guided tour of Versailles, an alternative choice can be this afternoon tour of Versailles with transport from Paris, or this skip-the-line palace tour that requires you to get your self to Versailles.)
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Is this a manner you’d wish to expertise Versailles?