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The château of Vaux-le-Vicomte seen past its flower borders on a clear day
The horseshoe staircase on the Cour des Adieux at the Château de Fontainebleau
Vaux-le-Vicomte lit by candles on a summer evening
Royal tombs with carved effigies inside the basilica of Saint-Denis

Things to do in Île-de-France: Paris and its châteaux

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Photo: Jebulon, Public domain

Fontainebleau

Spend a day at the Château de Fontainebleau

Check dates and prices

Photo: Ymblanter, CC BY-SA 4.0

Maincy, near Melun

See Vaux-le-Vicomte by candlelight on a summer Saturday

Check dates and prices

Photo: Jérémie Szubert, CC BY-SA 3.0

Saint-Denis

See the tombs of the kings at the basilica of Saint-Denis

Tours in Île-de-France

Photo: Rita1234, CC BY-SA 3.0

Île-de-France is the region around Paris, and for most visitors it is Paris plus a ring of day trips. The kings of France spent centuries moving between the capital and their country palaces, so the region is unusually rich in châteaux within an hour of the city: Versailles to the west, Fontainebleau and Vaux-le-Vicomte to the south-east, and the royal basilica of Saint-Denis just north of the ring road.

Public transport makes it easy. A single Métro-Train-RER ticket covers any trip inside the region except the airports, so the train to Versailles or Fontainebleau costs the same as a metro ride across Paris. This page helps you choose; Paris and Versailles each have their own page.

Places in this region

3 things to do in Île-de-France

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The horseshoe staircase on the Cour des Adieux at the Château de Fontainebleau

Spend a day at the Château de Fontainebleau

Fontainebleau

A full day with the trainGo alone or with a tour

Fontainebleau's 1,500 rooms run from Francis I's Renaissance gallery to Napoleon's apartments, and the park and gardens are free.

Check dates and pricesPrivate half day at Fontainebleau from Paris
Vaux-le-Vicomte lit by candles on a summer evening

See Vaux-le-Vicomte by candlelight on a summer Saturday

Maincy, near Melun

An afternoon and eveningBook ahead

On summer Saturday evenings, thousands of candles light the château whose three creators the king then took to build Versailles.

Check dates and pricesChâteau entry with the shuttle bus from Melun station
Royal tombs with carved effigies inside the basilica of Saint-Denis

See the tombs of the kings at the basilica of Saint-Denis

Saint-Denis

Half a dayNo booking needed

The burial place of French kings for over a thousand years, with a choir of 1144 generally held to be the first fully Gothic building.

Tours in Île-de-France

Plan your trip

  • Which places to pick

    Paris needs at least four days on its own. Versailles is the one day trip almost everyone makes, and it deserves a full day. If you have time for a second, choose Fontainebleau for a palace used by kings from the Middle Ages to Napoleon, with a forest around it, or Vaux-le-Vicomte for the château that inspired Versailles, best on a candlelit summer Saturday. Saint-Denis is a half day, reachable by metro.

  • How to combine them

    Base yourself in Paris and go out and back: every place on this page is a day trip or less by public transport. Avoid Mondays for Versailles and Tuesdays for Fontainebleau, their closing days, and do not pair Versailles and Fontainebleau on the same day: they lie on opposite sides of Paris. Disneyland Paris, at Marne-la-Vallée at the end of RER A, is a trip of its own and is not covered here.

  • Getting around the region

    RER C runs to Versailles Château Rive Gauche, Transilien line R from Gare de Lyon reaches Fontainebleau-Avon in about 40 minutes, and metro line 13 stops 100 metres from the basilica of Saint-Denis. Vaux-le-Vicomte is the awkward one: it sits outside Melun, so check the château's shuttle from Melun station or the coach it runs from Paris on candlelit evenings, or drive.

  • When to go

    The château gardens are at their best from April to October, when the Versailles fountains play and Vaux-le-Vicomte holds its candlelit Saturdays. Winter brings shorter hours and fewer crowds; Vaux-le-Vicomte reopens from mid-November for its Christmas season. Heritage Days, on the third weekend of September, open many buildings for free.

Questions travellers ask

What is the best day trip from Paris?

Versailles, for the palace, the gardens and the Trianon estate; give it a whole day and avoid Mondays. For a quieter second trip, Fontainebleau is about 40 minutes by train from Gare de Lyon plus a short bus ride.

Can I use a metro ticket to reach Versailles or Fontainebleau?

Yes. Since the fare reform, one Métro-Train-RER ticket (€2.55 in 2026) covers any single trip within Île-de-France except to the airports, including the trains to Versailles and Fontainebleau.

Is Fontainebleau worth it if I have seen Versailles?

Yes, because it is a different story. Versailles is one king's creation; Fontainebleau was lived in and altered by French rulers for centuries, from the Renaissance galleries of Francis I to the rooms of Napoleon, and its gardens and park are free.

Other places to go

Things to do in France

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