Versailles Help Please
May 25th, 2011, 04:06 AM
#1
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Versailles Help Please
Hi,
Trying to refine Paris itinerary for July for 2 adults with 2 college students. Want to go to Versailles, but am overwhelmed with options! Want to try to avoid huge crowds. Should we just use Museum Pass any convenient day and go early to beat the crowds? OR is it worth it to go Sat or Sunday for the Grandes Eaux Musicales and pay extra? OR on Sat July 16th there is La Serenade and Fountains Night Show? If we use museum pass are we on our own with no tour? What about Viator-Skip the Lines 1/2 day tour for 14 people? OR should we go on our own and rent bikes from ASTEL on our own? Read good things about Fat Tire Tours, but not sure I want to lug bikes from Paris when we could rent them there. Help! I have researched too many options and now can't choose! I am looking to you wise Fodorites to share your sage advice. THANKS!
Trying to refine Paris itinerary for July for 2 adults with 2 college students. Want to go to Versailles, but am overwhelmed with options! Want to try to avoid huge crowds. Should we just use Museum Pass any convenient day and go early to beat the crowds? OR is it worth it to go Sat or Sunday for the Grandes Eaux Musicales and pay extra? OR on Sat July 16th there is La Serenade and Fountains Night Show? If we use museum pass are we on our own with no tour? What about Viator-Skip the Lines 1/2 day tour for 14 people? OR should we go on our own and rent bikes from ASTEL on our own? Read good things about Fat Tire Tours, but not sure I want to lug bikes from Paris when we could rent them there. Help! I have researched too many options and now can't choose! I am looking to you wise Fodorites to share your sage advice. THANKS!
May 25th, 2011, 05:11 AM
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In no particular order:
Don't decide now which day of the week to go, check the weather on the "day of". You'll have a wonderful, perfect day even if you miss some event or another.
You don't need a tour, the English language brochure is quite enough.
Get there as early as possible, whichever day of the week you go, to minimize interaction with the hordes.
Rent a bike at the Versailles gardens, don't lug one from central Paris for goodness sake. Biking through the garden paths has to be the type of riding that LEAST needs a "bike tour". Only with a bike can you have the time and energy to see the whole park.
La Flottille is a nice meal break, right on the Grand Canal: http://laflottille.fr/index_gb.htm
In case you've not already read all through this:
http://en.chateauversailles.fr/homepage
Most of all, relax. Sounds like you've already got this thing pretty well researched and covered.
Don't decide now which day of the week to go, check the weather on the "day of". You'll have a wonderful, perfect day even if you miss some event or another.
You don't need a tour, the English language brochure is quite enough.
Get there as early as possible, whichever day of the week you go, to minimize interaction with the hordes.
Rent a bike at the Versailles gardens, don't lug one from central Paris for goodness sake. Biking through the garden paths has to be the type of riding that LEAST needs a "bike tour". Only with a bike can you have the time and energy to see the whole park.
La Flottille is a nice meal break, right on the Grand Canal: http://laflottille.fr/index_gb.htm
In case you've not already read all through this:
http://en.chateauversailles.fr/homepage
Most of all, relax. Sounds like you've already got this thing pretty well researched and covered.
May 25th, 2011, 05:35 AM
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We went to Versailles in September 09' and October 2010 and loved it both times. DEFINITELY get there as close to opening time as possible AND purchase tickets BEFORE you get there, easy to do on line before leaving home, this way you do not have to stand in 2 long lines. We saw the fountain music show this past October and I was not that impressed, it was not as grand as I had expected. I highly recommend renting a bike once you get back to the garden area, we payed a little extra and rented "electric bikes". These bikes have a power assist from a battery and it makes it a lot easier to pedal longer and further. We were able to see lots, and lots of the extensive grounds, spent not quite the entire 1 hour riding and loved it. You will not believe how much you will be able to see and get a real Parisian experience. Also, you can rent bikes in Paris to "tour" the streets but you will need an American Express credit card for these since that is the only credit card with a chip in them and that is what is required to use the Velib Bike Rental system.
May 25th, 2011, 07:13 AM
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Respectfully disagree about ordering tickets before leaving US.
Instead, using your museum pass will also allow you to skip the lines but having the flexibility to go when you want and when it's not raining.
Instead, using your museum pass will also allow you to skip the lines but having the flexibility to go when you want and when it's not raining.
May 25th, 2011, 07:27 AM
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I was just in Paris earlier this month and my friend and I went to Versailles on a Saturday. We purchased our tickets online the night before (the apartment I had rented had internet access but without a printer) and attempted to pick them up at the Online Services Office. It was closed so we just waited in the very long (we arrived around 9:30, if I recall correctly), but pretty quick-moving (maybe 10-15 minutes) security line for folks with pre-purchased tickets, and they looked up my reservation in their computer when I got to the front. No problems there.
We enjoyed the commentary on the included audio guide for the palace, but the place was mobbed (maybe it would have been less so a bit later in the day?). I took no pictures because it was wall-to-wall people. Not so in the Dauphin's Apartments, though.
We wandered the gardens (including over to the Grand and Petite Trianons and one other area I'm blanking on the name of right now) for a few hours (left the grounds at about 5 pm). We loved the fountains, and really enjoyed the music in the background. We did not think it would have been the same had we not seen the fountains in action, and the music just made it all the more special.
We enjoyed the commentary on the included audio guide for the palace, but the place was mobbed (maybe it would have been less so a bit later in the day?). I took no pictures because it was wall-to-wall people. Not so in the Dauphin's Apartments, though.
We wandered the gardens (including over to the Grand and Petite Trianons and one other area I'm blanking on the name of right now) for a few hours (left the grounds at about 5 pm). We loved the fountains, and really enjoyed the music in the background. We did not think it would have been the same had we not seen the fountains in action, and the music just made it all the more special.
May 25th, 2011, 04:38 PM
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Thank you each for responding! Sounds like fountain vote is 50/50. I will follow the suggestions to use the museum pass and check the weather report during the trip to pick the date. If the best weather is a fountain day that will be a bonus, otherwise we will go early and beat the crowds. I guess this is better than locking ourselves in at this point in case it rains. Thank you for the link to La Flottille - looks great for a break! Also will check out "power assisted" bikes as I wasn't aware they existed.
Now here is a crazy follow-up. One student has to get summer distance running training in each day. If 3 of us rented bikes and rode on the ourskirts of the grounds could the runner run along the bikes on paths? Are they all pea gravel or are some dirt or pavement?
Now here is a crazy follow-up. One student has to get summer distance running training in each day. If 3 of us rented bikes and rode on the ourskirts of the grounds could the runner run along the bikes on paths? Are they all pea gravel or are some dirt or pavement?
