Versailles tickets sold out? What still works

Start with the official ticket shop

The Hall of Mirrors is on France's list, and you reach it with one ticket. The palace is run by a public body under the French Ministry of Culture, and its only shop is ticket.chateauversailles.fr; the old billetterie address now redirects there. The home page says that "due to the circulation of counterfeit tickets", visitors should buy "exclusively through the official ticket office".

This is a planning guide, not a report of a recent visit. The rules and prices below come from chateauversailles.fr and its ticket shop, checked on 25 October 2026, and the sold-out slots described are what the shop showed that day.

Why it sells out

Since 14 January 2026 there is no separate Palace ticket. The Passport is the only ticket that includes the Palace, and every Passport comes with a half-hour entry slot. Everyone books one, including free visitors and Paris Museum Pass holders. The palace puts a set number of tickets on sale online and says it can raise or cut that number at any time, and only tickets bought online are guaranteed entry within half an hour of their slot.

What runs out is the mornings. On 25 October 2026, in the French autumn school holidays, Tuesday 27 October was sold out from 9:00 to 14:30, with only the 15:00 to 17:00 slots left. On 28 October nothing was left before 12:00, and on 29 October several morning slots were gone. From 1 November to the end of January every date checked had hundreds of places in every slot. February and March 2027 were not on sale yet, and neither were the free Sundays of 6 December and 3 January.

The palace's own guided tours are much smaller. The English tour of the King's Private Apartment had at most 25 places per tour on the dates checked, several dates were down to one place, and many days had no tour to book.

Official options first

1. Take the late-entry Passport. The palace created it for visitors "who have been unable to find a free time slot to tour the Palace early in the day". It costs €18 for entry from 15:00 between November and March, and €28 from 16:00 between April and October. The catch, in the palace's words: "With the last visiting schedule, it is not possible to visit the entire Palace." must30's advice is to spend the day at the Trianon, which opens at 12:00, and in the gardens, both covered by the Passport, and leave the Palace for last.
2. Keep checking the shop. The palace can add tickets to the online quota at any time. Tickets are not refundable, though, so few come back on their own.
3. Try the ticket office. It sits in the South Ministers' Wing, on the left of the Main Courtyard, and closes at 16:30 in winter and 17:40 in summer. It sells every ticket, but the palace does not say whether it has places once the online slots are gone, and only online tickets are guaranteed entry on time.
4. Book an official guided tour. They cost €10 to €16 on top of a Passport for the same day, open 3 months ahead to the day, and can be booked on the day at the palace if places are left.
5. See the estate without the Palace. The Trianon ticket costs €15, has no time slot and covers the Estate of Trianon, including the Marie-Antoinette exhibition by Sofia Coppola until 24 January 2027. From November to March the gardens are free. From April to October the palace itself suggests a combined Musical Gardens or Fountains and Trianon ticket (€20) "if all Palace tours are fully booked".
6. Go on a free Sunday. Entry is free for everyone on the first Sunday of the month from December to March: 6 December 2026, 3 January, 7 February and 7 March 2027. You still need a Palace slot, and on 25 October those dates were not yet bookable.

Tours and resold tickets with entry included

The palace names no authorised resellers and bans none. It recommends its own shop because of counterfeit tickets, while its terms of sale mention partner sales networks, and tour operators can buy dated, unnamed tickets in bulk. Tickets from the palace's shop are named, personal and may not be resold above face value. Photo ID can be asked for, and the first person to show a ticket is taken as its holder, so a copy is refused.

must30 links to guided tours rather than plain entry tickets. A tour is a paid way round a full morning, and it should state the Palace entry time it includes. Expect to pay well above the €25 to €35 Passport. Ignore skip-the-line wording: the palace says online tickets do not give priority admission, and on crowded days everyone queues at security.

If you book through these links, must30 earns a commission at no extra cost to you.

Timing that helps

The Palace opens from Tuesday to Sunday. From 2 November to 31 March it runs from 9:00 to 17:30, with last admission at 16:45; from 1 April to 1 November it runs from 9:00 to 18:30, with last admission at 17:45. It is closed every Monday and on 1 January, 1 May and 25 December. In winter the gardens open from 8:00 to 18:00, and the Trianon from 12:00, with last admission at 16:45.

Your slot is valid for half an hour from the time you choose, and the palace's terms say no late arrival can be accepted. Without a ticket, go to the ticket office first and then to entrance A. If you are driving from Paris, note that the A13 motorway towards Versailles is closed from 16 November 2026 to 31 August 2027, and the palace recommends public transport.

What not to do

• Do not look for a Palace-only ticket. It was dropped in January 2026; the Passport is the ticket.
• Do not arrive after your slot. The palace does not accept late arrivals for timed visits.
• Do not book the EEA rate or a free ticket without proof. ID, a passport or a residence permit may be checked at entrance A.
• Do not bring a suitcase or a bag over 55 x 35 x 20 cm. Free lockers in the South Ministers' Wing take items up to 46 x 43 x 26 cm.
• Do not plan a Monday. The Palace is open only to school groups.

Keep planning

• France's list, where the palace appears as "Stroll through the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles".
• The case for doing the famous thing early, on timing the big sights.
• The Paris ticket guides: the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower summit and the Sainte-Chapelle.