We're planning on taking a half-day trip to Versailles. We have museum passes so we can get in free to the few accessible rooms and take the Rick Steves Tour of those and then visit the gardens, but I was wondering if it would be worth taking a guided tour to see more rooms, or does that get overly long? Do the guides also lead you through the basic rooms included with the Museum Pass entrance? Thanks for your help.

As far as I remember, it is a self-guided tour anyway. You can get an electronic audioguide if you want some explanations. Versailles is a huge castle with huge surrounding gardens.

We went on a guided tour in English of areas not included with the Museum Pass (I think it was the State Apartments and Opera House). It was quite informative and enjoyable.

We then went to the areas covered by our Museum Pass, and rented the audio tour.

It was not overly long to do both.

Woody

As an alternative to using up a Museum Pass day and paying separately for extras and and transport, you may wish to consider the <i>Fortait Loisir</i> sold by the transit and national train companies. It covers a lot more than the museum pass - holler if you need a translation:

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

Robespierre - I would like a translation. I've been twice, stood in long lines for tickets both times. Taking two teenagers in July, and I want to buy tickets ahead of time this time. Want to see eveything there is to see!

there are several tours not covered by the museum pass. i think the hall of mirrors may still be under renovation.

The Museum Pass covers only the Grand Apartments. Nothing else that's on the <i>Forfait Loisir</i> is included:

<i>Appartements de Mesdames avec un audioguide, Chambre du Roi avec un audioguide, Jardin*, Grandes Eaux Musicales, Grand Trianon*, Petit Trianon*, mus&eacute;e des Carrosses*, mus&eacute;e du Parlement et expositions temporaires.</i>

*Free for under 18yo.

Robespierre,
I went to the website you listed - I know just enough high school French to be dangerous. It appears to me that I could not order anything for July, 2006 yet, but what exactly do the fares listed by zone include? Is this a ticket for entry to all of the Versailles sights, as well as a travelpass for Paris and beyond? My two teenagers are both under 18 - would we have to &quot;buy&quot; something for them to take the standard tour of Versailles?

The SNCF Leisure Package provides admission to everything listed, plus a round-trip train ticket from Paris.

Queen Consort's apartments with audioguide
King's chamber with audioguide
Gardens
Water Music Extravaganza (I love that word)
Big Trianon Palace
Little &quot; &quot;
Carriage museum
Parliament &quot;
Temporary exhibits

I think kids pretty much have the run of the place for free, but check the site for details:

http://www.chateauversailles.fr/en/5...ices.php?idT=2

Thanks so much for your help. One more question - if we are staying in Paris near the Eiffel Tower, we would just need the &quot;Paris&quot; fare, correct?

<i>Oui, bien s&ucirc;r.</i> The other fares are for people coming <u>across</u> Paris from outlying zones.

We did the tour the first time with the guide, could only hear a few things. Very crowded that day and very, very noisy. The second time, my friend and I rented the audioquide, it was so much better. Also, to rent the audio equipment you must leave either a credit card, passport or drivers license.

We had a museum pass that we used to enter the areas covered by the pass and hired an audioguide. We actually intended doing a fat tire bike tour of Versailles which sounded interested, but we ended up renting bikes to take in the gardens, which are massive. Its impossible to get very far on foot.

http://www.fattirebiketoursparis.com/ We did their night tour which was pretty good.

Thanks for the tips! So maybe we can just walk through the Grand Apartments and then decide if we want to buy a guided tour after that.

Topping for my easy reference later.

11op: No big problem topping a thread just so you can find it later. But if everyone did that we'd have all these old threads and newer ones would sink into oblivion.

If a thread is especially important to you - it is much better to simply e-mail to yourself.

I know. I rarely do so. But I did it here because of two additional reasons:

1. Thread is relatively new.

2. I asked a question about Versailles &amp; the Museum Pass in another thread, and this one answers that question.

Instructions for the challenged:

1. Right click on the title at the top of a thread (<i>e.g.</i>, &quot;Versailles Tours&quot.

2. Select &quot;Add to favorites&quot; or &quot;Bookmark this link&quot; or something like that.

3. Save it in your &quot;Fodor's&quot; bookmarks.

If you have a group of four to six, and want to save your feet a little while still seeing the gardens, consider renting a horsedrawn carriage. It's a little pricey for a small party, but split four to six ways, it's a pretty good buy. Take the forty minute tour and you'll see the gardens and fountains near the chateau, and save your feet for other parts of the gardens. It is a particularly grand experience if you manage to do this while the fountains are running (and some folks don't realize that they only run a small part of the time).

I don't keep any bookmarks.

I frequently find your information useful, Robespierre, but it's no secret that I find your playing a pedant annoying.

Let's just leave this to avoid what happened to us a few weeks ago.

I've already explained why I chose to top this thread (besides having this as easy reference).