I am off to Paris in 9 days and would like to spend one day walking the gardens of Versallies. Fat tire bike tours have a day trip of 8 hours for 70 euro and it suggests on its website it is not possible to see all of the gardens on foot.
For 6 euro you can catch the train to Versailles return and hire bikes in the gardens.
Can anyone comment about their experience in the gardens and how much they were able to see in a day?
I'm also wondering how popular the bike rentals i nthe gardens are and if there are plenty available?

Thoughts welcome please!

From Rick Steves:
With the usual lines, allow 1.5 hours each for the Château, the Gardens, and the Domaine de Marie-Antoinette.
Getting Around the Gardens: It's a 40-minute hike from the palace, down to the canal, past the two Trianon palaces to the Hamlet — the heart of the Domaine de Marie-Antoinette. Renting a bike (€6.50/hr, near the Grand Canal) gives you the most freedom to explore the gardens effortlessly, freely, and economically. The fast-looking, slow-moving tram (petit train) leaves from behind the Château (north side) and serves the Grand Canal and the Domaine. You can hop on and off as you like (€7, 4/hr, three stops, commentary is nearly worthless). Another option is to rent a golf cart for a fun drive through the gardens (€30/hr, pick up at Orangerie side of palace or down by the canal, shuts off automatically if you diverge from prescribed route which does not include the Domaine de Marie-Antoinette).
Fountain Spectacles — On spring and summer weekends, classical music fills the king's backyard, and the garden's fountains are in full squirt (April–Sept Sat–Sun 11:00–12:00 & 15:30–17:00, finale from 17:20–17:30). On these " spray days," the gardens cost €8 (pay at ticket booth near golf-cart rental in the gardens; covered by Le Passeport but not Paris Museum Pass). Pick up the helpful Les Grandes Eaux Musicales brochure at any information or ticket booth. Louis had his engineers literally reroute a river to fuel these fountains. Even by today's standards, they are impressive. Also ask about the various impressive evening spectacles (Sat in July–Aug).
For a quick visit
- come in the morning between 9 and 10 am.
- come in the afternoon between 4.30 pm and 5.30 pm (from 1 April to 31 October) and 3.30 pm and 4.30 pm (from 1 November to 31 March).

I've been to Versailles at least a dozen times and never rented a bike or rode on the petit train, and I never had a problem seeing everything there is to see on foot in a few hours' time. I do walk fast, and am used to logging quite a few miles of walking a day, but I don't see this as an issue. I think bike hire companies have a vested interest in telling you you won't be able to see everything on foot in a day - well, you easily can, and for decades before the bike companies existed, everyone did.

Yes I'd agree, mind you I've not been there for 15 years, but I don't suppose it's changed. I've been 3 or 4 times, but the fountains were mostly not operating.

I've never done fat bikes, but I rented from Versailles. That works fine. They have lots of bikes. If you don't fall in a puddle holding on to your umbrella like I did, they work great. I've also taken the train which is fine, as well. All depends upon how fit you are and how much time you want to devote.

http://en.chateauversailles.fr/homepage

Check the website for details of when the fountains are on/ music etc (if it's in French there's an English version if you click on the British flag at the top to the right).

I've only walked around Versailles too but I'd be more inclined to hire a bike and tour solo than join an organised bike tour.

Bookmarked. Thank you.

Tracker - My mum who was 79 at the time,(she turns 90 on Thursday) managed to walk around with our 'guided gardens tour'. (we took a ParisVision bus tour from Paris) This lasted 2 hours and covered all the places of interest in the gardens like the Fountain of Latona, Fountain of Neptune, The King's garden with mirror pool, the Colonade, and included the two Trianons. This was after our tour of the inside of the palace. If she can do it at that age I'm sure you will find it fairly easy if you are still around 21?!
Walking the Grand Canal would be tougher than getting a bike or golf cart.
My DH & I will be at Versailles in August for another look but will try and go on a day or evening when the fountains are in full squirt, as TammyDe put it!

A lot will depend on the weather. I was there one week ago tomorrow, and it was warm. I would have loved to have had the golf cart.

We also had no trouble walking the gardens and all the way out to Marie Antoinette's house, but we took the train back from the restaurant. We had a gorgeous day weather-wise and enjoyed every minute, also had lunch outside by the boat pond, nice break. I have to say the bikes looked interesting and we will try them next time.

Julie----what a mind picture, riding a bike with an open umbrella!

Last year we went out to Versailles at night to see Cyrano de Bergerac firework display at night, quite spectacular.

TPAYT - What month? Maybe date?

Excellant,thanks for the replies.
I have 13 days and about 9 are adlib. I will be keeping an eye on the weather and hoping to catch the Fountains in operation on one of two Saturdays while in Paris, and most likely hire a bike in the gardens .
Is someone able to comment on the fountains? Do they add much visually to the sight of the gardens?
Thanks again

golf carts should be reserved for those with mobility issues, I personally would prefer a bike simply to cover the most ground. I have been to Versailles twice and dedicated the whole day both times but did not cover ALL the grounds, it is simply too large to do that on food and really enjoy and savor the different gardens, forests, palaces and outbuildings. To say otherwise is unfair, even if you indeed walk past all of it and "see" it does not mean you get to really enjoy it, so I would say the bikes would optimize the speed you can cover distances.

I will be visiting Versailles at a casual pace, so thanks for your comments kevdon.

tod---if you mean what month for the Cyrano de Bergerac thing, we were there in Sept. from the 7th to the 22nd, 2009 so it was during that time. Got the tickets at FNAC at the Bastille.

We enjoyed the Fat Tire bike tour for something different. We met a couple from Australia on the train and we spent most of the day with them.
We had a very capable tour guide who was very informative of the grounds/gardens,etc... He was entertaining and fun! I love to bike ride anyway, os for me it was a treat!

We found the Fat Tire Bike tour of Versailles to be one of the most memorable days of our family Europe tour in Oct 2008. It was wonderful with a stop first at the Versailles market and then touring the gardens by bike and foot.Only downside was not seeing very much of Marie Antoinettes hamlet but we had a lovely walk through the Grand trianon parterre area and out amongst the woods following the canal. The Fountains were an extra cost to view and had a couple of jours inside a very crowded Chateau, but we found the outside visit to be amazing.

bookmark

Thanks again,

Annesherrod, could you please indicate your travel method to Versailles with the "Fat Tire Bike " company. Do you catch the train to Versailles and pick up the bikes in the ground?
Thanks in advance

hi tracker,

25+ years ago, DH worked in Paris for a few months, and in a very cold spring [almost as cold as this last one] we managed to get to Versailles on a day that the fountains were operating. I remember them still.

if you get the chance to visit on a day when they are operating, then that's the day to go.