Morning at the Palace: Small Group Versailles Tour from Paris with Garden Show

27 reviews

4.5 hours

Max 18

Why take this tour?

Highlights

  • Skip the long lines and access Versailles through a special dedicated entrance, being one of the first visitors of the day to step into the palace
  • Sit back and relax on the journey to and from Paris. As the only operator that includes private transfer both to and from the city, we’ve got all the logistics covered.
  • Learn why Versailles is considered one of the greatest achievements in the history of art and architecture as you hear its stories from a passionate guide
  • Take a leisurely guided stroll through the palace’s lush gardens and enjoy the spectacular Garden Show
  • Learn and explore in a small group of just 18 guests maximum
  • Sites Visited
  • Palace of Versailles
  • Gardens of Versailles
  • King's State Apartments
  • Queen's Apartments
  • War Salon
  • Peace Salon
  • Hall of Mirrors
  • Tour Includes
  • Local English-speaking guide
  • Expertly guided walking tour
  • Skip-the-line tickets to Versailles
  • Private round-trip transfer from Paris
  • Headset

Unravel the stories behind France’s most lavish royal residence

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Total Customer Reviews: 27

Verified Ratings
4.4 /5
based on 21 Walks’ customer ratings
Rating summary by category
Guide
4.6/5
Latest reviews
Good
A couple of quick thoughts: - Consistent with other Walks Tours on this trip to Italy and France (we had 8 or 9 tours scheduled in total), the overall quality of English spoken by our guides was fairly disappointing. On multiple tours in 2016 and 2018 in places like Venice, Florence, Rome, Amalfi, Pompeii, Sorrento…the guides were notably fluent and conversational. On this trip, it was quite the opposite. We had a few good ones, but the overall communications skills of the guides was lower across the board in both Italy and France. And that was the case at Versailles. - Versailles Tour had a couple of other opportunities to be better in addition our guide’s poor English. Those would be too little time in the gardens. The guide sent us off on our own, but gave us limited input on what to see or how best to navigate. We had to wing it. We were also given only about 35 minutes. Simply not enough time. We speed walked some sections, but without carts (we should have had golf carts?) it was disappointing to see so little. This under-allocation of time was especially annoying when we got to the end of the tour and had to sit around for 45 minutes on a blustery, cool day waiting for our bus? I still don’t understand why this was the case or where our driver went? I’d have rather spent that 45 minutes touring the gardens than sitting on a bench in the courtyard next to the gift shop. - this is not a Walks comment, per se, but of note that the folks at the Versailles gift shop were kind of snotty. I went in while waiting for our bus to ask to break a Euro 50 bill to have tip money for our guides. They refused, and not in a polite manner. So I bought a post card to get change and the woman at the counter gave me a frown and disapproving look. Not exactly tourist friendly behavior. - many of the other sites we visited in Paris were amazing. At or above expectations. Versailles, not so much. It’s disappointing. The place is underwhelming compared to others we have toured like the Louvre, the Vatican, the Borghese Palace, the Doges Palace, etc…less than I expected and significantly under-maintained. They seem to be doing a lot of works to dress it up before the Olympics. But a long way to go in my opinion. The gardens were weedy, garden fencing was tattered, and the whole place seemed tired. I know it’s a huge property to maintain, but not at all up to our high expectations. The size and scale are awesome to observe, but the maintenance isn’t going to wow any serious gardener. When I asked our guide about all the weeds in the beds right next to the palace, she couldn’t understand what a “weed” meant…even after I pulled one and showed her. I just smiled and gave up. - I guess we are glad we saw it. An historically significant place. But the facility was underwhelming and the time allocation on the tour was poor, as was our guide’s English. She was friendly and cheerful. But not up to standards we have had on prior Walks tours. There are many places you want to go back and see again. Versailles isn’t in that list after this visit. Disappointing overall.
Verified · Timothy · Oct 01, 2023 · USA · Male · 55 to 64 years
Excellent
Our tour guide Steph was absolutely phenominal. What a gem she is to this company! A lively conversationalist who gives you an immense history lesson but in a way that makes you understand and comprehend the information, not just another boring lecture with useless facts. It was an enjoyable visit and tour.
Verified · Christine · Sep 30, 2023 · USA · Female · 45 to 54 years
Great
Hugo was excellent. He was knowledgeable and also very entertaining.
Verified · Robert · Sep 15, 2023 · USA · Male · 55 to 64 years
Excellent
I really enjoyed this tour. It was the perfect length, the guide was knowledgeable, friendly, and very accommodating, and it was a great way to see the palace and gardens. Highly recommend!
Verified · Cassandra · Aug 21, 2023 · USA · Female · 35 to 44 years
Good
This tour was a great overview of Versailles. As someone who had been to the palace before, it was interesting to tour the gardens in addition to just the most famous rooms. However, the expectation from the title of the tour was for the fountain show to involve water spewing from the fountains, not just music playing. I would make that more explicit in the tour title and description.
Verified · Graciana · Jul 24, 2023 · USA · Female · 18 to 24 years

Meeting Point

Meeting Point Map ⟶

Meeting Point
We will meet at 2 Avenue Foch, 75016 Paris. Your guide will have a green Walks sign. Please make sure you are on the right side of the street (look at both sides).

Please meet 15 minutes prior to the tour start time.

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