Versailles — Private Excursion from Paris

Versailles is too big to walk — that is the whole problem

Versailles is only about 30 to 45 minutes from central Paris. The journey is not what ruins the day; the size of the estate is. The walk from the palace to Marie-Antoinette's Hamlet alone takes 30 to 40 minutes — each way. Add the State Apartments, the Hall of Mirrors and the gardens before that, and most visitors reach the early afternoon with sore feet and a decision to make.

Almost everyone makes the same one: they give up the Trianon and the Hamlet and go home. The quietest, greenest, most human half of Versailles — the part Marie-Antoinette built to escape the court — is the part that gets sacrificed, every day, by people who travelled a long way to see it.

What a private car can do that nothing else can

A coach parks once and leaves once. The RER C leaves you in the town, a 15 to 18 minute walk from the gates. Neither can move you inside the estate — and that is the only thing that actually solves the problem.

Your chauffeur drops you at the palace gates for your entry slot, waits while you take the State Apartments and the gardens at your own speed, then meets you at the Trianon entrance so the far end of the estate starts on fresh legs instead of footsore ones. When you are done — whenever that is — you sit down and go home. There is no coach to catch and no timetable to beat.

How the day is built around your ticket

Tickets are not included, and that is deliberate: Versailles sells timed entry slots, and we would rather you hold your own than be tied to ours. Book the earliest slot you can get, tell us the time, and we build the departure backwards from it. From a Paris hotel an early slot is genuinely only comfortable by car — the train plus the station walk turns it into a sprint, and organised coaches do not leave early enough to make it at all.

1. Pick-up at your hotel — timed to your entry slot, luggage space if you are arriving or leaving the same day.
2. Drop-off at the gates — not in the town, not in a car park.
3. Palace and gardens — at your pace, with the car waiting.
4. Repositioning to the Trianon — the walk everyone regrets, removed.
5. Home when you say so — or on to Giverny, quoted in advance.

Planning the visit itself? Our complete Paris to Versailles guide compares every way of getting there, including the honest case for taking the RER. Just need the driving on your own schedule, without a package? The Versailles chauffeur service is available by the hour.

Comfort for every group

Couples, families and small groups travel together in a premium Mercedes, with luggage space and a discreet chauffeur. A 5-hour excursion covers the round trip plus ample time at the estate; we can extend it to a full day on request.

Tickets are booked separately (we recommend a timed slot); we provide the comfortable transport and waiting.

Frequently asked questions