Witness the opulence of one of Europe's most magnificent royal residences on a guided tour of the Palace and Gardens of Versailles. Skip the long lines with priority entrance, and explore the decadent salons and chambers where kings and queens of France once held court. Stroll through the expansive, World Heritage gardens, and add a regal flair to your visit with an optional fountain or music show on certain days.

Skip the long entrance lines with priority access
Includes a guided tour of the UNESCO-listed Gardens of Versailles
Witness the famous Versailles fountain show or musical gardens on selected days
Small-group tour, ensuring a more personalized experience

What's Included

Skip-the-Line access to Versailles Palace
Expert, English-speaking guide
The Musical Fountains Show or Musical Gardens experience (when option selected)
Skip-the-Line access to Versailles Gardens (when option selected)
Personal headsets, so you can always hear your guide

Gratuities
Hotel pick-up/drop-off

Meeting And Pickup

Meeting point

Equestrian statue of Louis XIV
78000 Versailles, France
By the statue of Louis XIV (the bronze horseman statue in the Place d’Armes, the square in front of the palace).

End point

Versailles
78000 Versailles, France

What To Expect

Walk in the footsteps of former kings and queens of France on a tour of the Palace of Versailles. Meet your guide and your small-sized group in central Versailles, a short trip outside of Paris, and beat the long entrance queues at the palace with skip-the-line access.

Wander through many of the hundreds of lavishly decorated rooms including the Hall of Mirrors, Royal Apartments, Apollo Room, Coronation Room and Royal Chapel. As you explore, listen to tales of royal intrigue and learn about the history behind the UNESCO World Heritage–listed palace.

After the Palace tour, emerge back into the sunlight for a guided stroll through the stunningly elaborate Versailles Gardens, comprising more than 1,800 acres (728 hectares) of artfully manicured flower beds, hedge art, fountains and statuary. With an optional upgrade, witness the fountains come to life during a spectacular water show, or visit on a Tuesday to enjoy the sounds of classical music cascading through the gardens.

Palace of Versailles

2 hours • Admission Ticket Included

The Hall of Mirrors

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible
Near public transportation
If Private Option is selected, from April to October you’ll enjoy either the awe-inspiring fountain show or the incredible Musical Gardens event. On Wednesdays and Thursdays, when neither show is available, you will have free time to explore the Gardens at your own pace.

Most travelers can participate
Please note that the rest of your group is coming from Paris, we kindly ask you to wait at the meeting point until your guide arrives. There might be delays on some days due to traffic.
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 25 travelers

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.

Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund.
This experience requires a minimum number of travelers. If it’s canceled because the minimum isn’t met, you’ll be offered a different date/experience or a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Traveler Tips

This was 100 worth the money just to skip the line.

Reviews

3.5

117 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

Showing 1-10 of 117 reviews

Versailles

Maranda_W, Mar 2023

I missed my tour due to unforseen circumstances and the company is refusing to wor with me on any resolution other than eat the money shelled out for the tour. I have emailed and talked to several people with City Connect and they are rude and unbending. I will never book with this company again for a tour and I am hoping I will get the see Versailles one day.

Maxim our guide was...

Shannon_M, Mar 2023

Maxim our guide was knowledgeable and entertaining. 90 minutes was just the right time for kids. We took a break and toured the rest of the palace on our own before exploring the gardens.

We missed our time by 5...

Lisa_G, Mar 2023

We missed our time by 5 min guide had already left without us. Train delayed due to strikes. They refused to give us a credit or refund had to pay for individual tickets. Horrible experience with this company.

Response from Host, Mar 2023

Hello Lisa_G, We are sincerely sorry that you were unable to join your scheduled tour of Versailles with us as planned. We know how much these experiences mean to our guests. We understand that the circumstances regarding your tour absence were out of your control, and we apologize that we could not successfully reschedule you on another tour that worked for you as we try to do with all our clients who miss their tours. We also know how difficult it can be to find your way in a foreign city so to help our guests we always provide our contact numbers and we’re happy to offer further assistance when needed. We ask our customers to check in for their tours 15 minutes before the scheduled start time. Unfortunately, however, we cannot wait for late comers as this will result in delaying the whole group. Kind regards, Edgar J. City Wonders

Just buy from palace website

Danielle_D, Feb 2023

Due to the unpredictable Paris transit we arrived a little late. We called explained that we were okay with missing whatever we missed we just wanted to be able to get inside. They were no help didn’t offer us a spot in a later group or just an entry ticket into Versailles. We asked for at least a refund and they said no. It was extremely disappointing. We had to buy tickets through Versailles and that’s what I would recommend people do after this experience. I booked the louvre through visitor and it was great, very easy. This one seemed to be full of issues.

Response from Host, Mar 2023

Hello Danielle_D, We are extremely sorry to hear that you were unable to attend your tour of Versailles with us. We apologize that we were unable to reschedule you on another of our tours to Versailles. When possible, we reschedule our guests onto tours that fit better for them. However, due to strict availability, we were unable to accomodate you this time around. Apologies for any inconvenience caused on your travels. Kind regards, Edgar J. City Wonders

Anna was a great guide. Highly recommend her!

jssantos77, Feb 2023

We enjoyed this tour so much. Anna made it even better, with her knowledge and enthusiasm throughout the entire tour.

So worth it! Eye opening tour to a big part of world history!

Javan_O, Jan 2023

This was such an awesome tour! We had a super knowledgeable tour guide Martha, it was amazing how she explained everything in an orderly logical way that we feel like we really got a good sense of the people that lived in Versailles, their personality, and daily living. I would have never ever got any of that if I just visited the palace with no tour guide because there is no explanations on any walls really. Martha really made it all come to life, 10 stars for the tour!

Rise_K, Oct 2022

Cool to see but guide was monotone, too much superfluous details made it boring. Should announce when leaving room

Response from Host, Oct 2022

Hello Rise_K, We would like to thank you for taking the time to write a review on Viator. While we are happy to have been able to accompany you for your tour, we are by no means satisfied with a mediocre review score. Your feedback, either positive or negative, is extremely valuable to us as it helps us improve the quality of our services wherever possible. We are disappointed to hear that you did not enjoy the company your guide at Versailles. We will work relentlessly to make sure your points of improvement are resolved at City Wonders. Thank you again for your feedback Rise, and we hope you give us another opportunity to provide you with a more perfect experience. Kind regards, Edgar J. from City Wonders

Versailles lived up to expectations

Douglas_H, Oct 2022

Skipping the line was a big benefit of this tour. Our guide was very knowledgeable. She spoke quietly so as not to disturb people not in our group. This sometimes created a problem for myself because I am hard of hearing, but not a major issue. The gardens were beautiful.

Fraud and Scam

mp977jrptp, Sep 2022

After making us wait 35 minutes, this company CANCELED our tour, left us unable to access the palace

Nice experience!...

Henna_A, Sep 2022

Nice experience! Guide was informative Everything went smoothly Highly recommend it 👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻

Unilaterally Cancelled at the Last Minute

Bizhan_B, Aug 2022

Really. You want me to share this story. We travelled from the USA. Excited for the trip. Made lunch reservations and arranged for transportation to Versailles. Of course, we downloaded our tickets. When we arrived, we went to the big plaza where everybody meets their tour guides. We did not see our guide. We called the number on the ticket, and they told me they are very sorry but the tour is cancelled. At first they said their was a minimum capacity, but then backed off when I reminded them that we had booked a private tour. The phone operator could not reach the tour guide, and after some back and forth, they said we could piggyback on and join a group tour that was coming up. No accommodations for the inconvenience we’re offered. We found tickets on sight for a self guided tour. They said they would provide a full refund. Haven’t seen that yet, but it really doesn’t fulfill the experience.

The best Viator (of four) tours we took.

David_S, Aug 2022

The guide was excellent. However, we were initially because the guide was half an hour late and it was exceedingly hot waiting for him in the sun, and we were initially told there would be 15 of us, even though we had paid for a 12-maximum guided tour. The other three, however, did not show up. (Please see my review of our other Viator tours.)

Amazing tour - the only way to go through Versailles

Cheryl_H, Jul 2022

Fantastic tour!! Our guide was very knowledgeable and shared interesting facts that even kept the attention of my 10 and 15 year old. I would definitely recommend the tour bc the castle history made more sense - while it's all pretty, without understanding all the context I feel like we wouldn't have been able to fully appreciate it.

Guide doesn't really speak English.

Paul_B, Jul 2022

The guide was terrible. First we were told that we had to wait because 2 groups were being merged. Then our "priority" access put us in a line behind 500 school children. It was one hour after our scheduled tour start time before we entered. The guide spoke terrible english and was very hard to understand; however, she droned on and on about about minute details (e.g. paintings), in incomprehensible broken english.

Fantastic

Vivian_R, Jun 2022

The guide waa very experienced, knowledgeable and thorough. He was easy to understand and spoke and answered questions as they came up.

Hot and annoyed

Barbara_N, Jun 2022

We stood in the hot sun at the meeting place for an hour after the agreed upon meeting time. Our tour guide never showed up. An alternate guide finally took us inside the gate where we waited another 25 minutes in the heat. The alternate guide finally started the tour an hour and a half late. Very poor management.

Awesome experience and guide!

Joseph_M, Jun 2022

Natalia was an outstanding guide. She was patient, proficient in English, knowledgeable about the history and significance of the many parts of the Palace. It was a truly great experience!

Disappointed

Deirdre_S, Jun 2022

We did not love this tour. It was over 40 min late starting for one. Many people had lunch reservations pre-planned so they had to leave the group early. The tour had too many people and moved too slow to keep us engaged. For the money I expected much more.

A great experience

Shauna_H, Jun 2022

Our guide was very knowledge, funny and nice. I loved her. It was a great tour. I would highly recommend this tour and our lovely guide!!

Guide was late, didn’t understand anything

Dharshini_G, Jun 2022

Booked this just to get priority access. Guide was late and his two staff who came earlier literally said “you just have to wait” in the icy cold wind outside

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