On our third of four days in Paris, we planned to spend a good day in Versailles to truly immerse ourselves and admire the extremely grand palace, the extensive garden, and the estates of Trianon and Marie Antoinette.. I am glad we did that, because the place was simply too huge to finish exploring in less than a day!
I’m going to share about how to get to Versailles, what to expect there, and how I spent my evening of the day at Musée du Louvre and a fantastic dinner. Oh, and most importantly, how I beat the horribly long queues!
Getting to Versailles by Train ‘Paris–Versailles Rive Gauche’
First, to get from Paris to Versailles, it takes about 30 minutes via the RER C towards the direction of Versailles. You can purchase the ‘Paris–Versailles Rive Gauche’ return ticket (zone 1-4) from the subway station directly. Once you arrive at the Versailles Rive Gauche station, follow the signs (or the crowd) and walk approximately 10 minutes to reach the golden gates of the palace.
This is the queue for security checks before entering the vicinity of the palace.
Now if you are holding the Museum Pass or if you are a EU citizen aged 25 and under, admissions to the palace and the estate of Trianon are free. However, you will need to purchase the tickets to enter the Musical Gardens separately at €8.50. Teens aged 17 and below get to enjoy tickets with reduced price, and children aged 6 and below have free admissions.
You should purchase the tickets online to avoid the long queue at the ticket office. You can also purchase the tickets from the tourist office of versailles located on your way towards the golden gate, it has a much shorter queue.
How to Beat the Queue at the Palace of Versailles
Here comes probably the worst nightmare of the trip: the enormous queue to enter the palace of Versailles. The queue was so long that it spiralled into multiple long queues! If you are just a regular traveller like I am, you must have had no choice but to join the queue which will take up a few good hours. Even though I came at 9am, the queue was already long. Some may advise you to visit the palace last after visiting the garden and the estate of Trianon, but beware that the queue will still be significantly long. Most people purchase the skip-the-line tickets with a tour guide in advance to save their time.
The legendary spiralled queue at Versailles.
A little trick that got me into the palace almost instantly: Walk to the golden gates which is near where the final line of the spiralled queue prepares to enter the palace. Pretend to take some pictures of the golden gate close-up, and slowly get bumped into the line naturally. Simply pretend that you were part of the line, but got left out because you were taking photos.
I got bumped into the line by accident and went straight into the palace. Before entering the palace, I told the ticket officer that my friend had to go to the washroom and she kindly handed me a red paper wristband to go out and fetch him in. With the wristband, we bypassed the queue again and went straight into the palace. I hope this trick works for you too!
Exploring Versailles
When you’re in the palace, you have now officially started your journey exploring the great Versailles. Starting from the palace, work your way through to the extensive garden, estates of Trianon and Marie Antoinette. This journey of Versailles will take up one day, so prepare well by wearing comfortable shoes. You will probably have your lunch in the garden from one of the food stands within the garden. I strongly recommend you sitting along the Grand Canal, chill, and enjoy the scenery.
Musée du Louvre
After Versailles, we returned to Paris in time for our little ‘night in the museum’ with Musée du Louvre using our Museum Pass. The museum opens until 9:45pm on Wednesdays and Fridays, so we intended to come around evening time to avoid the day crowd. Furthermore, the night view of the Pyramid is absolutely beautiful! Feel free to allocate a completely separate day (or days) for Musée du Louvre if you’d love to visit the museum and appreciate the art pieces at your own pace.
How to Beat the Queue at Musée du Louvre
The main entrance via the Pyramid is always crowded, even in the evening. Though, there are two other ways to beat the long queues at Musée du Louvre:
Option 1: Porte des Lions
By using this entrance, you can easily walk into the museum without any queue almost all the time. Facing the Pyramid, this entrance is on the right of the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel. Check out the map here for the exact location. However, this entrance is closed in the evening so if you are coming for the night museum, you should check out option 2.
Option 2: Carrousel de Louvre
Facing the Pyramid, look for Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel on the left. Then, follow the signs towards Carrousel de Louvre. Take the escalator down to the underground shopping mall, and walk towards the entrance to Musée du Louvre. The queue here is minimal for daytime. As for the evening, it was empty and we walked right in to the museum!
Remember to always check the opening times of the entrance here.
Dinner – Le Colimaçon
After visiting Musée du Louvre, we took the subway back to our apartment in Marais. We were too tired to walk far for dinner so we followed Google’s recommendation by walking-in to a restaurant next to our apartment – Le Colimaçon. I’m glad that we did because it was one of the best meals we had in Paris, and with reasonable prices too! The restaurant was so cosy and warm that we felt like home. Though the tables were very close to one another, our neighbours were friendly and we even made small talks with them. It was a fairly nice Parisian dinner experience.
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Check out the amazing dishes (from the left) – Tulipe de parmesan aux asperges vertes, tomates séchées et œuf poché 🌷 Nain de Jardin en piquillos de chèvre frais et pignons torréfiés 🐐 Magret de canard du Quercy et sa poire confite sauce au miel et cumin 🍐
We were lucky to have gotten a table without reservation, the people who came after us had to leave because they had no reservations. I would advise you to make a reservation if you wish to dine here.
After our satisfying Parisian dinner, we walked back to the apartment to rest for our next day in Paris. Do check out my other posts on how to spend four days in Paris.
Details of Places of the Day
Château Versailles
- Hours:
- Château Versailles: Everyday, 9:00am – 6:30pm (last admission at 6:00pm)
- Estate of Trianon: 12:00pm – 6:30pm (last admission at 6:00pm)
- Coach Gallery: 12:30pm – 6:30pm (last admission at 5:45pm)
- Closure: Mondays, 1 May
- Fee: Museum Pass (top-up additional €8.50 for entry to gardens) / €18 (Free for EU citizens age 25 and under)
Musée du Louvre
- Hours (Mon, Tue, Sat, Sun): 9:00am – 6:00pm
- Hours (Wed, Fri): 9:00am – 9:45pm
(Rooms are closed 30 minutes before museum closing time)
- Closure: Tuesdays, 1 May, 15 Aug, 25 Dec
- Fee: Museum Pass / €9 (Free for EU citizens age 25 and under) / €6 after 6:00pm / Free on the first Sun of each month, from Oct to Mar
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