Visiting Versailles with Children

Versailles is one of the most special places in Europe. Any adult who appreciates history and culture will enjoy it like a child. However, a child will not always be able to enjoy Versailles like an adult.

Moreover, due to the characteristics of the site, which is very large and can take hours to visit, children can get tired. In this article, I'll give you 10 tips to make your visit with them as optimal and comfortable as possible, and above all to ensure that they and you enjoy yourselves equally!

The Palace of Versailles is a treasure trove of the best French art. Renowned architects, sculptors and painters gave their best to decorate the residence of the kings of France. However, exploring its rooms can be overwhelming without context and information. This can be boring for adults, but even more so for children!

That is why it is a good idea to book an excursion that includes a guided tour with a guide specialising in Spanish, whose explanations will make the visit more bearable, and the children will also be able to learn. However, visiting it is going to take time. That's why I recommend that, whichever way you choose, you consult these tips to make the most of your visit to Versailles.

Hiring an excursion to Versailles with a guided tour is highly recommended because it is more convenient for travelling with children. They depart from Paris, take you directly to Versailles and include a guided tour of the Palace, a visit to the Hall of Mirrors and a tour of the gardens.

Versailles is one of France's most visited tourist attractions. As a result, there are huge queues which, no joke, can be as long as a couple of hundred people. To avoid queues and children getting impatient, the best thing to do is to book a guided tour of the Palace of Versailles without queues.

This option is highly recommended because it will allow you to see the Palace of Versailles in an hour and a half by going straight in, without waiting in line. However, transport from Paris is at your own expense, so you should take this into account when organising your transfers.

Few things make children more impatient than long, boring journeys. And few things annoy adults more than uncomfortable transport with prams in tow, among other inconveniences.

It is therefore advisable to decide how you are going to get to Versailles:

• If you book an excursion that includes a transfer from Paris and admission, everything is taken care of.
• However, if you go on your own, you will have to make a balance between the comfort of the journey and its simplicity.

Below I show you the available means of transport and evaluate them according to these two criteria. However, if you want more detailed information, you can find out how to get to Versailles from Paris in this article.

Bus

You can take bus 171 from Pont de Sèvres. The journey takes around 30 minutes and leaves you very close to the Palace of Versailles. They run every 10 minutes and are active between 0:10 and 23:50.

The bus can be a bit uncomfortable if you are travelling with a pushchair. The best thing is that it drops you off very close to the Palace, so you won't have to add extra walking time to your journey. However, if you are staying far from Pont de Sèvres, you will have to take other means of transport which will make the whole journey more cumbersome and time-consuming.

Train

If you opt for the train, the best option is to take the RER C line. The journey takes 30 minutes and from 4 euros it will drop you off at Versailles Rive Gauche station. Check all the details on timetables and frequencies on the RER line C website.

This is the most convenient option if you plan to bring your baby with you. The disadvantage, although not very serious, is that it does not leave you exactly at the Palace of Versailles, but 10 minutes away. This is a journey you will have to make on foot.

Rental car

Probably the least difficult, whichever way you look at it. However, be aware that parking at Versailles comes with a parking fee available from €12.

Versailles covers an area of almost 800 hectares. This means that, if you want a complete visit, you will spend about half a day there. That's about the time you'll need to visit the main attractions:

• Palace of Versailles: between 1.5 and 2 hours.
• Stroll through the Versailles Gardens: 2 hours.
• Visit to the Grand Trianon, Petit Trianon and the Queen's Village: 1 hour.

The average time to visit the Gardens of Versailles depends, of course, on how long you want to spend in its vast areas. Here you can find out what to see in the Gardens of Versailles.

Therefore, if you are travelling with children, I recommend that you buy your tickets in advance and go in the morning, so that the average 5-hour visit coincides with lunchtime. If you are going on your own, it will be very useful to know all the details about how to buy tickets to visit Versailles.

What time does Versailles open?

It depends on the place:

• Palace of Versailles and palace buildings: From 9am;
• Gardens of Versailles: from 8am.

This way, you can do the maths for whatever is most convenient for you. If you arrive at 9 a.m., you will finish your visit just at lunchtime (around 2 p.m.). If you arrive at 8am, you can start seeing the gardens and finish the whole tour by 1pm. There are restaurants on the grounds where you can get something to eat. There are even picnic areas, so there is no need to return to Paris on an empty stomach.

For more information on opening times, find details of the opening hours of the various attractions at Versailles here.

Who hasn't been there? You're peacefully visiting a museum or monument and suddenly the little ones have an overwhelming urge to go to the toilet. To avoid this unwelcome urge, it's always a good idea for them to go to the toilet before starting the visit. Especially because, as you can see, there are many things to see at the Palace of Versailles.

There are toilets at the entrance, next to the ticket offices and in the cloakrooms. There are also toilets scattered throughout the gardens. These are usually less crowded than those at the Palace of Versailles. Here you can check the locations of the toilets in Versailles.

For safety reasons aimed at optimal evacuation in the event of an emergency, metal prams and baby carriers are not allowed inside the Palace of Versailles. It is therefore recommended that you take a cloth baby carrier with you, which is totally permitted.

However, this does not mean that you can't go to Versailles without a pushchair - it can be very useful for exploring the gardens! All you have to do is leave it in the luggage room once you decide to enter the Palace.

Just because Versailles is a palatial and very 'stuffy' setting doesn't mean that there aren't places where children can feel like they're in a fairytale environment. This is especially true of the Queen's Village. A place that Marie-Antoinette had built for her recreation.

It has various attractions, such as English gardens (which imitate nature) and a lake with marquees and pike. She also had 12 wooden huts built in Flemish and Norman style that will look like something out of a fairy tale to children.

It is located right next to the Petit Trianon, so don't hesitate to go there with the kids. They will have a great time.

You are allowed to enter Versailles with a backpack. You can carry some snacks and drinks in it, in case the children get hungry. However, the gardens of Versailles are full of kiosks and places to buy food. For more information on these, see where to eat in Versailles here.

However, it never hurts to arrive at Versailles well stocked up just in case. In fact, there are areas set aside for picnics. These are:

• Pond of the Swiss
• Versailles Park

What child doesn't love a ride on a little train? Moreover, given the vast size of Versailles, it can be a great way to discover the surroundings without tiring them out. There is a tourist train, called Train Versailles, which you can use in these cases.

The route is quite complete and passes through the Palace, the Petit Trianon, the Grand Trianon and the head of the Grand Canal. Here you can check which are the stops of the tourist train:.

The ticket can be purchased from €7.50 (adults), from €5.80 (under 18s) and free for children under 12. And these are the timetables:

• From 1 November to 31 March: First departure at 11:10 am and last departure at 5:10 pm;
• From 1 April to 31 October: The same timetable except for the last departure, which takes place at 17:50.

Versailles is a place built for the comforts of absolute kings, but it is not without its risks. We recommend that you be especially vigilant in the following contexts:

• Inside the palace: With the number of visitors and outbuildings, it is not uncommon to lose sight of children.
• On the garden paths: Keep a close eye on your children while walking along the paths and trails, as vehicles such as the tourist train or motorised trolleys are often available for quick visits to the gardens.
• In the vicinity of ponds and lakes: Versailles is a place full of fountains, lakes, canals and ponds, so it is easy to become absorbed in the beauty of the surroundings and lose sight of the little ones for a few seconds. It is therefore advisable to be extremely vigilant in these environments.

If you take all these tips into account, you can be sure that your visit to Versailles with children will be as comfortable as possible, and that they, like you, will enjoy the experience just as much!