How to get to Versailles palace

Hi all,

We will be staying near to Madeleine metro station after Xmas and would like to visit Versailles for a day.

Which are the easiest and cheapest ways of getting too Versailles ?

Also when you get to the station near Versailles how far is the walk to the palace and is it well marked ?

Thanks.

Ian.

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Hi Ian. We went to Versailles from Paris in late October. We followed the instructions in Rick Steves%26#39; Paris Guidebook and they were perfect. We took the RER line C from St. Michel (although the same line runs from multiple stations in Paris such as Gare d%26#39;Austerlitz, Musee d%26#39;Orsay, Invalides, etc.). When we purchased our round trip train tickets we got the Versailles palace tickets included and saved a lot of time by not having to stand in the line at Versailles to actually be able to get inside. The RER C takes you to Versailles Rive Gauche which is the last stop on this particular route. Look for the word %26quot;Vick%26quot; on the train as it enters the station where you are boarding. Once you get off the train, go into the station, go out of the station to the street and turn Right. Follow this sidewalk to the first %26quot;major%26quot; intersection where you turn Left. This will take you straight to the palace without any other turns. It is well marked and probably everyone else who was on the train with you will be going there as well! Also, the Tourist Office is located on the way to the palace so if you want any extra information, it%26#39;s worth the stop there. It%26#39;s on the left side of the street once you%26#39;ve turned Left toward the palace. The walk takes about 10 minutes maximum. When you return to Paris, retrace your steps and board any train that%26#39;s waiting as they%26#39;re all going back toward Paris. Hope you enjoy it!

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I would like to know where you bought the RER ticket with the Versailles pass as well, and was it a full pass to the palace including the Gardens and the Trianon.

Thanks,

Peter

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The ticket that includes train roundtrip, palace, Grand and Petit Trianon + Marie Antoinettes hamlet is called a %26quot;Forfait Loisirs Chateau Versailles%26quot;.

It is sold in the SNCF-train stations in Paris, that is the big train stations. We bought ours in Gare d%26#39; Austerlitz, where the RER line to Versailles also goes through.

Look for selling booths that say %26quot;Transilien%26quot; - the tickets are NOT sold from the booths where you buy metrotickets.

You will be able to skip the ticket line with a Forfait Loisirs, but there is no way of escaping the equally long security lines to get in the building at all.

http://212.99.40.193/web/site/accueil/citylien/forfaits-loisirs/Chateau-de-Versailles/lang/en

Make a search at the top of the thread for Versailles - and you will get a great number of replys to your questions.

If you want to see it all, both the palace, the park and the minor castles in the park, it is a full day trip. From the parkside of the palace leaves a small train that takes you out into the park - it is 5,80 euro pr. person and it is a hop-on-hop-off train, so you can visit all the places and ride with the train back to the palace.

http://www.train-versailles.com/index.html

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kph:

We toured the Palace in the morning, then walked into town for lunch. Could not tour the gardens because of earlier rain. Took a cab back to Trianon park. Spent the rest of the afternoon there. It was wonderful. Took a city bus from the Trianon to the RER train station. It let us off at the station. Cost about 1.2 Euros per person. We were the only people on the bus. Convenient and cheap!

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kph:

We toured the Palace in the morning, then walked into town for lunch. Could not tour the gardens because of earlier rain. Took a cab back to Trianon park. Spent the rest of the afternoon there. It was wonderful. Took a city bus from the Trianon to the RER train station. It let us off at the station. Cost about 1.2 Euros per person. We were the only people on the bus. Convenient and cheap!

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