Your free audio walking tour of the royal estate, custom-built around your half-day or full-day pass. Tell us a story, theme, or vibe and your tour is ready in 30 seconds. Works offline, 9 voiced languages, 30 free minutes on signup.
King's Apartments, Hall of Mirrors, Queen's Apartments, Royal Chapel. 2.5 hrs flat.
357 mirrors, 17 windows, 73 metres of gilded ceiling. The treaty room of 1919.
Her toy peasant village. 12 cottages, working farm, the Tower of Marlborough.
800 hectares of geometry. Parterres, basins, the Grand Canal, the Apollo Fountain.
Pink-marble pavilions away from the main palace. Where the kings could be human.
Lever, breakfast, council, mass, dinner, supper, coucher. Every hour was theatre.
Tue/Sat/Sun, Apr-Oct. The garden fountains choreographed to Lully and Rameau.
The Tennis Court Oath, the women's march, the night the king left. The palace's last days.
The Dauphin's Apartments, the King's Library, the Hall of Battles. Empty galleries.
Boats on the Grand Canal, golf-cart hire, the Hameau goats. Skip the formal galleries.
Type a theme, an angle, a question - we'll build the walk in 30 seconds.
Local knowledge
The things you only learn after you've walked it.
01
Timed entry is enforced. The 09:00 slot is the only one where the State Apartments are quiet for an hour. By 10:30 the tour groups arrive and the Hall of Mirrors is a slow river of people. Online booking opens 3 months out; high season fills up fast.
02
The whole estate. Tour groups try to make do with the gardens, but Monday is genuinely a write-off. The Trianons close Tuesdays from November-March - check before you go.
03
Most visitors do the main palace and stagger out. The 25-minute walk to the Trianons and the Hameau is where Versailles becomes lovely. The Petit Trianon's English garden, Marie Antoinette's grotto, the working farm goats - all empty by 14:00.
04
The Apollo Fountain end of the Grand Canal has shaded benches and tables. The estate restaurants are overpriced and forgettable; the Trianon Café is the one decent option. A baguette from Boulangerie Guinon in town (5 min from the station, before you go in) beats all of them.
05
€38/hour, picked up at the Grand Canal. Saves the legs, makes the Trianons feel doable. Don't rent for the main gardens though - they're walked. Bikes also rentable at the same office.
06
Notre-Dame de Versailles (the king's parish church). The Carrés Saint-Louis market (Wed/Sat morning, real Parisians, real food). Le Potager du Roi - Louis XIV's vegetable garden, still producing. The town deserves the final hour of your day.
How it works
Three things, in 30 seconds.
01
Any room, theme, or vibe. "Hall of Mirrors", "Marie Antoinette day", "Versailles in half a day". iWander writes you the walk in 30 seconds.
02
Louis XIV's lever, Le Nôtre's geometry, Marie Antoinette's milkmaid fantasy, the women's march, 1919. Stories whispered as you cross the galleries.
03
Whose portrait is this? What's the ceiling about? Why this fountain? Point your camera, ask out loud, or type. Your guide answers in seconds.
Works offline · 9 voiced languages · 30 free minutes on signup
How to visit
Tickets, timings, transport - the practical stuff most pages bury.
TICKETS
€21 palace only. €24 Passport (Palace + Trianons + Hameau + Gardens). €32 Passport on Musical Fountains/Gardens days. Under-18s free. EU 18-25 free with ID. Paris Museum Pass covers Versailles (book a timed slot). First Sunday of the month (Nov-Mar) is free.
HOURS
Closed Mondays year-round. Trianons open at 12:00 (close 18:30/17:30). Gardens open 08:00 (07:00 in summer) and run later than the palace - 20:30 in summer. Last palace entry is 18:00 / 17:00.
GETTING THERE
RER C train from any central Paris station (Champ de Mars, Saint-Michel, Musée d'Orsay) to Versailles Château Rive Gauche. €4 each way. Trains every 15 minutes. The palace is a 10-minute signposted walk from the station. Don't take the SNCF train from Saint-Lazare unless you live nearby - the walk from Rive Droite is longer.
CIRCUIT
Morning: enter at 09:00, do the State Apartments and Hall of Mirrors. Lunch at the Trianon Café or a picnic on the canal. Afternoon: walk or golf-cart to the Trianons and Hameau. End the day at the Apollo Fountain in golden light.
FOUNTAINS
Musical Fountains Shows: gardens cost €10 (€32 Passport). Three shows per day - the morning, midday and evening cycles each last 90 minutes. Worth the extra to see the gardens working as Louis designed. Musical Garden days (no fountains, just music) on intermediate weekdays.
SAVE LEGS
The petit train runs from the palace terrace to the Grand Trianon and back - €8 round trip, every 20 minutes. Golf carts from the Grand Canal office: €38/hr (45 min minimum). Bicycles €8.50/hr. Don't try to walk the whole estate in heels - the path to the Hameau is 2.4 km one way.
Questions
Practical info
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Updated 18 May 2026 by the iWander local team · Curated for accuracy