Versailles is three visits in one place: the palace, the gardens and park, and the estate of Trianon, plus a royal town that most day-trippers never see. The Hall of Mirrors is on the France page. This page covers the rest, and the rest is where a Versailles day is won or lost: the fountain timetable, the noon opening of Trianon and the distances, since the park alone covers about 800 hectares.
Two rules shape the day. The palace and Trianon close on Mondays, while the park and gardens open every day. And from April to the start of November the gardens charge for entry on fountain show days, but are free the rest of the time.
Time your garden walk to the Musical Fountains Show
Gardens of Versailles
Half a day in the gardensBook ahead
Le Nôtre's fountains play to baroque music, and the day ends at 17:20 with the Neptune Fountain's final burst of historic jets.
What it is
From April to the start of November the fountains of Le Nôtre's gardens play to baroque music, and the timetable matters more than the route.
How to do it
On show and Musical Gardens days the gardens need a ticket, €15 online on its own or included in the Passport; outside them, the gardens are free.
Good to know
On Musical Fountains Show days (weekends, plus Tuesdays in May and June in 2026) the Latona and Apollo fountains on the Great Perspective run from 10:30 to 12:00 and again in afternoon bursts between 14:00 and 17:00, the groves switch on their waterworks at set times, and the day ends at 17:20 with the Neptune Fountain and its final burst of historic jets. From Tuesday to Friday the Musical Gardens fill the groves with music but run fewer fountains.
Walk out to the Trianon palaces and the Queen's Hamlet
Estate of Trianon
2 to 3 hoursBook ahead
At the end of the Grand Canal, the kings escaped the crowds in pink marble and Marie-Antoinette in a model village.
What it is
The palace is where the crowds are; the estate of Trianon, at the end of the north arm of the Grand Canal, is where the kings went to escape them. The Grand Trianon, begun in 1687 by Jules Hardouin-Mansart for Louis XIV, has pink marble façades and an open colonnade. The Petit Trianon was Marie-Antoinette's retreat, and past its landscaped garden lies her hamlet, a model village of rustic cottages built between 1783 and 1786, with a mill and a dairy; the interior of the Queen's House is shown on guided tours only.
How to do it
Trianon costs €12 alone or is included in the Passport. The walk out is long, and the little train stops at both palaces.
Good to know
It opens at noon and closes at 18:30 (closed Mondays), so see the palace in the morning and come here after lunch.
Stay for the Night Fountains Show on a summer Saturday
Gardens of Versailles
20:30 to about 23:05Book ahead
Fountains play in the lit gardens after dark, then fireworks and more than 500 drones fill the sky over the Grand Canal.
What it is
On Saturday evenings in summer the gardens reopen at 20:30 for the Grandes Eaux Nocturnes: lit groves, light installations along the paths and fountains playing in the dark until about 22:40. At 22:50 a show of fireworks and more than 500 drones fills the sky over the Apollo Fountain and the Grand Canal.
How to do it
The ticket is separate from any day visit, €39 online. The palace sells a combined ticket with the Royal Serenade in the Hall of Mirrors on the same evening.
Good to know
In 2026 it ran every Saturday from 6 June to 19 September, plus a few special evenings such as 14 July. Wear comfortable shoes for the gravel paths, and if you drive, the Place d'Armes car park is free from 20:00 on show nights.
Row on the 1,670-metre canal where Louis XIV sailed Venetian gondolas, or cycle a free park of about 800 hectares.
What it is
Past the gardens, the park of about 800 hectares is free to walk or cycle every day, weather permitting, and it is where Versailles goes quiet. The Grand Canal, dug between 1668 and 1679, is 1,670 metres long; Louis XIV sailed boats on it, including gondolas sent by the Republic of Venice, whose gondoliers lived at the end still called Little Venice.
How to do it
Today rowing boats are hired on the canal, and bikes at Little Venice, with extra hire points at the Saint-Antoine Gate and the Queen's Gate at weekends and on public holidays. Walkers and cyclists enter free; cars pay €6 to drive in.
Good to know
A bike is the easiest way to link the canal, the Trianon estate and the far end of the park in one afternoon.
Watch the riders of the Académie équestre in the Great Stables
Great Stables
Book ahead
Bartabas's riders perform in the wooden riding hall of Louis XIV's Great Stables, just across the square from the palace.
What it is
Facing the palace across the Place d'Armes, the Great Stables built for Louis XIV by Jules Hardouin-Mansart now house the Académie équestre de Versailles, the company and school of riders founded in 2003 by the horseman and director Bartabas. The same building holds the palace's Gallery of Coaches, with royal carriages, which is free.
How to do it
They perform in the wooden riding hall of the Grande Écurie: in 2026 the show La Voie de l'écuyère runs on Saturdays at 18:00 and Sundays at 15:00, followed by a free walk through the stables. Tickets are sold by the Academy on its own website, separately from the palace.
Good to know
On a weekend it makes a good end to a palace day, since you only cross the square.
Walk the King's Kitchen Garden and buy its produce
Potager du Roi
About 1 hourNo booking needed
Louis XIV's kitchen garden is still a working garden, and its harvest of fruit and vegetables is sold on site.
What it is
Louis XIV had his fruit and vegetables grown a short walk from the palace: Jean-Baptiste de La Quintinie laid out the Potager du Roi between 1678 and 1683 to supply the king's table, and it is still a working garden, now run by the national school of landscape architecture. Trained fruit trees line walled enclosures around a large central square with a basin.
How to do it
From April to October it opens Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 to 18:00, and the rest of the year Tuesday to Friday only. The entrance is at 10 rue du Maréchal Joffre, next to the Saint-Louis cathedral, about 10 minutes on foot from Versailles Château Rive Gauche station.
Good to know
The harvest is sold on site, on Saturday mornings from 10:00 to 13:00 in season and on Tuesday afternoons in winter.
Time needed
About 1 hour
Best time
A Saturday morning from April to October, for the produce market
Covered halls and open-air stalls make a market the tourist office counts among the oldest in the Île-de-France.
What it is
The royal town is a separate visit from the palace, and its centre is the Marché Notre-Dame, in the quarter north of the palace that Louis XIV laid out; the tourist office counts it among the oldest markets in the Île-de-France region. It has two parts.
How to do it
The covered halls, with butchers, cheesemongers, fishmongers and bakers, open Tuesday to Saturday from 07:00 to 19:30 and on Sunday from 07:00 to 14:00. The open-air stalls on the square, the Carrés, only set up on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday mornings, from 07:00 to 14:00.
Good to know
Come on one of those three mornings to see both at once, and finish with lunch at one of the cafés around the square before an afternoon at Trianon, which opens at noon.
Stand in the Royal Tennis Court where the 1789 oath was sworn
Rue du Jeu-de-Paume
30 minutesFree
In this royal tennis hall on 20 June 1789, the Third Estate swore not to separate until France had a written constitution.
What it is
About 10 minutes on foot from the palace, on the town side, the Salle du Jeu de Paume was built as a royal real tennis hall. On 20 June 1789 the deputies of the Third Estate, shut out of their usual meeting hall, gathered here and swore not to separate until France had a written constitution: the Tennis Court Oath, one of the founding acts of the Revolution. The bare hall now holds a large painting by Luc-Olivier Merson based on Jacques-Louis David's unfinished drawing of the scene, a statue of Bailly, who presided that day, and busts of deputies, set up when it became a museum in 1883.
How to do it
Entry is free and it opens in the afternoon, 12:30 to 18:30 with last entry at 17:45.
Good to know
The palace lists which days, so check before you walk over.
Walk the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles on a timed ticket
Versailles
A full day with the gardens and TrianonTimed entry
Walk the Hall of Mirrors halfway along the State Apartments on a timed ticket, then head out into the gardens.
Weekend tickets can sell out, with none sold at the gate on a sold-out day, so book ahead; a guided tour with palace entry included also takes you to the Hall of Mirrors.
What it is
The Hall of Mirrors comes about halfway along the State Apartments route, so do not linger in every room before it. The Trianon estate opens at noon, and the gardens are free except on fountain show days.
How to do it
Book a ticket with a palace time slot; you are admitted once, within that slot. From April to 1 November the palace opens 09:00 to 18:30 (last entry 17:45), and from 2 November to March 09:00 to 17:30. Individual visitors go in through Entrance A. From Paris, the RER C to Versailles Château Rive Gauche leaves you about 10 minutes' walk from the gates.
Good to know
The palace is closed on Mondays, and weekends can sell out: the official site has warned that no tickets would be sold on site for a sold-out Saturday.
Three train lines run from Paris, and a standard Métro-Train-RER ticket covers each of them. RER C from the left bank stations to Versailles Château Rive Gauche is the closest to the palace, about 10 minutes' walk. Transilien line N from Montparnasse stops at Versailles Chantiers, about 15 minutes away, and line L from Saint-Lazare at Versailles Rive Droite, closer to the Notre-Dame quarter and the market.
Getting around
Distances inside the estate are the thing to plan for. The little train makes a hop-on loop through the park with stops at the Grand Trianon and the Petit Trianon, bikes are hired at Little Venice by the Grand Canal, and the park is free for walkers and cyclists every day. The town is compact: the market, the Potager du Roi and the Royal Tennis Court are each within about 10 minutes' walk of the palace gates.
How many days
In must30's view, one full day covers the palace in the morning, Trianon from noon and the gardens in between. Add a second half day if you want the park by bike, the Marché Notre-Dame and the town sights, or if you are staying for the Saturday night fountain show in summer.
When to go
From April to the start of November the fountains play: the Musical Fountains Show at weekends and the Musical Gardens from Tuesday to Friday, with the Night Fountains Show on Saturday evenings from June to mid-September. Avoid Mondays, when the palace and Trianon are shut, and expect the heaviest crowds on Tuesdays and at weekends, when the palace itself advises arriving at 09:00. In winter the gardens are free and quiet, but the fountains are off.
Where to base yourself
Most people visit from Paris as a day trip, which works well with the trains above. Sleeping in Versailles makes sense for the night fountain show, which ends after 23:00, or to be at the gates when the palace opens at 09:00. The Notre-Dame quarter around the market is the liveliest part of town for an evening.
Questions travellers ask
Are the gardens of Versailles free?
On most days, yes. From April to the start of November, on Musical Fountains Show and Musical Gardens days, the gardens need a ticket: €15 online on its own, or included in the Passport ticket. The park beyond the gardens, with the Grand Canal, is free every day.
What day is Versailles closed?
The palace and the estate of Trianon close on Mondays, and on 1 January, 1 May and 25 December. The park and gardens stay open every day, weather permitting.
Is the Passport ticket worth it?
If you want the palace, Trianon and the gardens on a show day, yes: it covers the whole estate for the day, at €35 in high season (€32 for EEA residents and nationals). Only the palace needs a timed slot; the other areas are open to you all day. Trianon on its own costs €12.
How do I get to Versailles from Paris?
RER C to Versailles Château Rive Gauche is the closest station to the palace, about 10 minutes on foot. Trains from Montparnasse (line N) and Saint-Lazare (line L) are alternatives. A standard Métro-Train-RER ticket covers all three.
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