sylv

What is the best way to get "skip the line tickets" for Versailles?



Many tour companies advertise the tours as "skip the line guided tours". I would prefer to go on my own and use the audio guide at my own pace to see Versailles. However, I don't want to wait on a long line to get in.



The Versaille web site says that if you purchase a ticket in advance on the site you won't have to stand on line to actually buy the ticket but that there may still be a wait to get in. Is it any different if you take a tour? and if so, what is the best and most comprehensive tour to take?

Christina

Yes, it can be different because tours with licensed guides may have special access to many sites like that and special agreements with them to get in right away. Tours never stand in line that I've ever seen in most places.

But many vendors just sell you an admission ticket, which only lets you skip the ticket-buying line. And they may call that a "tour" from Paris to Versailles, hard to say.

I didn't take a tour, I just stood in line, it wasn't that bad to me, but maybe they've gotten worse (I don't know why more people would want to see Versailles, but who knows, last time I went was several years ago but in July).

I suggest if your main goal is skipping the security line queue, you just buy online in advance the private guided tour of the king's apts. That does have a special entry and if you go there first, you can get entry through them in a special security line and then when that tour is done, you are inside and can visit other things as you wish and your ticket allows. You still have to buy the general palace entry ticket.

you can book that private guided tour here
http://billetterie.chateauversailles...-ei170661.html

dwdvagamundo

Second Christina. Buy the private tour on-line. It's worth the cost as you get to see a lot of things that are not open without it.

And they do police: we were in the chapel (which alone is worth the price) and a couple of men came in on their own but were quickly shooed out.

PalenQ

Doesn't the Paris Museum Card give priority entrance by skipping the normal ticket line?

sylv

Thank you, going through the King's apartment tour is a good idea.

michelhuebeli

Sylv, there's another way to do this: In the morning the plaza is chock full with people waiting to get into the palace, it can take an hour or two to get there.

If you first go to walk the gardens (free to get in, at the top right of that plaza), then aim for the twelve noon opening of the Marie Antoinette buildings. After you've seen them, have a bit o lunch and when you get back to the front the crowds will have thinned massively and the afternoon is not nearly as bad. We walked right in after maybe two o'clock, whereas the morning was impossible.

Maybe this helps: http://en.chateauversailles.fr/disco...n/queen-hamlet

PalenQ

From the Paris Museum Pass site:

The priority access of the PARIS MUSEUM PASS do not apply to the security checkpoints, and is not guaranteed during peak times. It is advised to come in the morning, between 9 and 10 am.>

So Museum Pass does give priority access at least outside of peak periods - they advise coming between 9 and 10 a.m.

cybertraveler

Thank you everyone for your generous sharing of information. We’re planning a visit to Versailles in September, and it’s so helpful to know these tips.

greg

I visited Versailles in May with a museum pass.
I entered the outer security check gate around 8:40am, and in a queue to enter the inner security building around 8:45 am. From that point, it was 5 minutes to the metal detector when the inner security opened at 9 am. At the time the inner security opened at 9 am, the queue to enter the inner security area stretched all the back to the outer security gate. That is what you might expect if you arrive at the opening time of 9 am. If you know just how far away the inner gate is from the outer gate, you would know just how long the queue is.
Leaving the inner security, I crossed the inner court to the entrance to the apartment. There was no queue to enter the apartment at this point.
The only people entering the security area ahead of us were on guided tours.

If you are interested in seeing all the fountains running, you need to be there on weekends in September. The garden area requires additional tickets even if you have a Museum pass on fountain days.
Fountains Shows and Musical Gardens Palace of Versailles
The site is very hard to interpret. The time of one of many fountain event is 3:30 pm to 5:00 pm
The Musical Fountains Show of Versailles Ch teau de Versailles Spectacles
To see events on specific day, consult the event calendar.
Ch teau de Versailles Spectacles

If you are interested in the Trianons or the Hamlet, keep in mind that part does not open until noon.
Practical information Palace of Versailles

cybertraveler

Thanks greg for sharing your experience. It definitely looks like a great option to get there very early.

I've researched many various options for us to get there from our Airbnb in Saint Germain, and most of them looked a bit daunting for an early morning arrival. So, DH made the call for going hassle free, and we've booked a tour that includes the Palace and Trianon with central Paris pickup. For those who might be interested, the tour is called: Viator Exclusive: Versailles Palace and Marie-Antoinette's Trianon from Paris. You can link to it through viator.com.

PalenQ

Tours are fine but getting to Versailles palace from central Paris is a snap -a branch of RER C train line terminates just a few blocks from the palace entry.