Versailles
 

Planning a day trip to Versailles from Paris on my own, which is the most convenient way to get there? Anything to do besides visiting the Palace?

Take the local train; it's a nice ride. The gardens of Versailles are magnificent. The town has some nice shops and cafes. Enjoy your day!

http://www.frommers.com/destinations/versailles/

Tells you all about your transport options. Most people, myself included, take RER C, but as mentioned above, you can also take a SNCF train.

Hi
You can take the RER line (suburban train line) to the Versailles-Rive Gauche (R.G.). You can catch the RER train in Paris at Invalides, Champ de Mars, Musee d'Orsay, St Michel, and Gare d'Austerlitz (consult your metro map for these stops). Make sure your C train goes to Versailles Rive Gauche as the end destination.You?ll have about a half-mile walk to the Chateau. You don?t want any other Versailles stops as you will be farther from the chateau.

When you leave the Versailles Rive Gauche station you will be on Avenue General de Gaulle. There is (or at least was) a clean bathroom at the MacDonald?s near the RER station?be nice and buy something. Head right on Ave. G deG and then left on the big Avenue de Paris which goes straight to the chateau. Tourist information offices: across the street from the Rive Gauche Station; also one at the chateau at the entrance


www.chateauversailles.fr

You can take the metro on the 'yellow' line from several locations, such as St. Michel, Musee d'Orsay, Champ de Mars, Javel, etc.

It's the RER-C, #5 to Versailles Rive- Gauche. You get off there and head out of the station to the right. In just a couple of blocks, you turn left and you will see it down at the end of the street.

You can return the same way. The palace can take you most of a day, easily. It is beautiful, with much to see, both inside and outside.

We had a lovely day at Versaille. We took the train. But you have to make sure you get on the correct train line that goes to Versaille and use the correct train station. Ask someone to direct you. (We followed the advice in Rick Steves' guidebook for directions.)

We had heard there were very long lines at Versaille (and there were) and we wanted to get there very early. So we decided to leave Paris very early... before breakfast.. and find a place in the town to eat.There was a tourist information office across from the train station. They gave me a map of the town and I asked them for places to eat. They directed me to a town square with lots of little places to eat. As you leave the train station, you would be heading towards the right. We found this town square and in a back corner was the best bakery I've ever been to....the best croissants ever.....(my husband had the chocolate croissants.) There were a few tables inside and a few tables outside. No one spoke English. But language wasn't necessary. We just pointed to what we wanted.

From there we followed the map to the entrance to Versaille. On our way there...down a little side alley... we passed a charming looking cafe with lace curtains in the window and decided we would go back there for lunch.

The lines at Versaille were very long but while we were in Paris we had purchased a museum pass that entitled us to go through a separate entrance without waiting on line.

After seeing the palace we took a walk through the gardens.

For lunch, we went back to that little restaurant we had seen earlier. It was called the Baltika, I think. Again, they didn't speak much English but they were extremely nice and tried to be as helpful as possible. We enjoyed our lunch in very charming surroundings. I think we were the only tourists there. Everyone else looked like business people on their lunch break.

After lunch we explored some of the little side streets in this very old town. There were some interesting grocery stores and butcher shops on the way back to the station. I found it interesting to see how the local people shopped for food as compared to where I live.

At one point I noticed that a young French girl...about age 20...had started following us. Eventually she approached us and seemed to be friendly. But then she started asking for money and we just told her NO.

People were very nice to us in all the shops and restaurants. Enjoy your trip. And make sure you have some croissants!