Forfait loisir for Versailles?
 

I had read about the one day pass on the Chateau Versailles web site, and initially the concierge at my hotel said that he could get the passes for me. I definitely want to avoid lines as we are going on a Sunday to see the Grandes Eaux Musicales as well as the chateau and the park.

However, now he has indicated that the one-day pass is no longer available.

Previous posters have mentioned the forfait loisir sold by SNCF which combines a one-day pass with RER tickets to and from Versailles. But there seems to be conflicting messages about whether it can be purchased at the St Michel RER station.

Has anyone done this recently? Is the forfait loisir available at that station? If yes, where is this ticket desk within the station?

BTW, the Paris Museum Pass does not cover the grounds on Sunday when the fountains are in full squirt. It also does not cover the private apartments such as the king's apartment. I'm really seeking one ticket which gets me into everything and which I can have in hand when we go to Versailles.

Thanks in advance!

<i>Forfaits Loisirs</i> are sold from the ticket windows at any station that serves Versailles (both RER and SNCF), and a number of others as well (including, I believe, any SNCF station).

I can't answer your question about the St-Michel Notre-Dame RER station, but I know the forfait loisirs is sold at Gare d'Austerlitz, Gare Montparnasse, and Gare St-Lazare. It's probably available at Gare de Lyon and Gare du Nord also.

I just read an official notice on this dated July 2006 from STIF (the organization running transportation in Ile de France), and it says it can be bought in any SNCF station in zones 5-6, and at the Transilien ticket windows in zones 1-4. The Disneyland Paris one is the only one sold at metro stations, it appears.

If you can read French, you can find the brochure on their website at
www.stp-paris.fr/present/transit/f-set.htm

just click on the Guide Tarifaire 2006 pdf.
They just wrote that document a couple months ago.

I would have thought you could buy in at St Michel because SNCF manages the RER C line, all of it. I wonder if he means they were out of it?

The one-day Versailles pass with transportation from Paris would be available only from a SNCF ticket window at one of the Paris train stations or an SNCF boutique, I believe, not at an RER station. I say WOULD because I can find no mention of this offer in the &quot;forfait loisirs&quot; section of the SNCF site, and I wonder whether it was discontinued, though it was supposed to have run through September. Also, if it is still available, the transporation via SNCF would bring you into Versailles at a station twice as far from the chateau as the RER station, so a 20-minute walk, approximately, instead of 10 minutes.

Thank you to all that have replied. I will take this information with me when I arrive in Paris September 22 and make further inquiries.

Bonjour!

Dave, maybe you didn't know, but SNCF manages many of the RER lines, and they manage entire line C. I have bought forfaits loisirs at RER stations before, so I know they sold them (I&quot;ve bought one at Invalides). Just because it is a SNCF ticket promotion doesn't mean you can't use the RER, in fact their instructions and descriptions of the ticket (and this is current as of today) tell you that you can use it on RER C.

http://www.transilien.com/FR/TouSom.htm

In May, I bought the Versailles forfait loisir at the St Michel station. I purchased it at the SNCF ticket desk in the station [sorry, I don't remember how this desk was indicated in the signage--&quot;suburban lines&quot; maybe?]. I do not know if you can buy it at the ticket counter there at the RER platform or not.

Oh, and I should say the SNCF forfait loisir was good on the RER Line C, which I took from St Michel station.

<i>Forfaits loisirs</i> are valid on all RATP conveyances (including bus and M&eacute;tro), in addition to RER and SNCF trains.

They will get you from anywhere in Paris by any means necessary to Versailles and back.