Versailles map. Palace floor plan

Versailles tour from Paris

You come to Paris for at least two days. Visit the Palace of Versailles, a Unesco world heritage sight and one of the most visited sights in and around Paris.

It takes half a day to visit Versailles on a tour from the city with skip the line ticket. Versailles is crowded. We recommend to come in winter and to avoid Tuesdays. If you have a full day, combine the visit of Palace of Versailles with Giverny, the house and gardens of Monet, near Versailles.

Versailles tour information and booking.

Sight 1 on the map: the Palace

Chateau de Versailles, in French, is a Unesco world heritage sight and one of the most visited sights in and around Paris.

The almighty King of France, known as Sun King, commissioned the Palace and the Gardens to the greatest French artists. The construction ended in 1684 with the Hall of Mirrors. The King wanted to settle at a distance from Paris rebellious inhabitants and close to hunting forests.

Sight 2 on the map: Hall of Mirrors

The Hall of Mirrors is the largest and most famous room of Palace of Versailles, the palace commissionned by Sun King, the most powerful monarch of his time in Europe. Overlooking Versailles Gardens, the 17th century Hall of Mirrors owes its name to the seventeen mirror arches facing seventeen windows overlooking the Park. Each arch contains twenty-one mirrors for a total of 357 mirrors. The Hall of Mirrors' dimensions are 73m × 10.5m × 12.3m . It has beautifully painted walls and ceiling. Hall of Mirrors.

Sight 3 on the map: the Gardens

Versailles Gardens are a perfect example of classical French gardens where nature is ordered geometrically. Although they maintain the symmetry of Italian tradition, the Gardens have a network of axial pathways leading off to the horizon. These paths are cadenced by rond-points, pavilions, arboreal architecture, wider areas that suddenly appear ahead, stairways, terraces, ponds, and monumental fountains that expand the visual perception of space and add a sense of wonder. Versailles Gardens.

Sight 4 on the map: Grand Canal

The Grand Canal is the masterpiece of André Le Notre, the designer of Versailles Gardens. He created a 1 670m long east-west perspective in the axis of the Palace by digging the canal. The works lasted from 1668 to 1679. In 1669, Louis XIV ordered rowing boats and ship models. In 1674, the Republic of Venice sent the King two gondolas. In the summer the King’s fleet sailed along the Grand Canal. In the winter, the Grand Canal was left to skaters. It was the setting for nautical spectacles until 1789. Grand Canal.

Sight 5 on the map: Grand Trianon

Architect Jules Hardouin Mansart described Grand Trianon as "a little pink marble and porphyry palace with delightful gardens". Italian architecture greatly influenced the architecture of the Trianon, which stands between a courtyard and a garden. It consists of a ground floor covered by a flat roof. Pink marble pilasters punctuate the facades. The building has two wings joined together by a peristyle adorned with columns and tiled flooring. Most of the rooms were furnished during Napoleon's time. Grand Trianon.

Sight 6 on the map: Petit Trianon

Queen Marie Antoinette came to Le Petit Trianon to escape the formality of court life. In Versailles, she was under huge pressure from her family and the court. Le Petit Trianon was her place of ease where she rested from those trials. Nobody was permitted to enter without the Queen's permission. Such exclusivity alienated the court nobility, which she did very willingly, since only the queen's inner circle, including the Princess de Lamballe, and the Duchesse de Polignac, were invited. Petit Trianon.