The Palace of Versailles
The Palace at Versailles is like something out a child’s storybook, a fairytale style place come to life. The opulence and grandeur are on a scale not often matched anywhere in the world throughout history.
Versailles is the name also given to a suburb southwest of Paris proper, and the Palace with its grounds are its main attraction by far. If you are asking for directions to Versailles, it is a given that you are asking for directions to the Palace.
Originally a hunting lodge, the Palace and grounds have gone through many changes since 1623 to become the destination they are today. Over 15,000,000 people visit every year. It wasn’t until much closer to the year 1700 though, that Versailles came to resemble what we see today. That is when Louis XIV, also known as the Sun King, made Versailles his capital. As a palace, a government office, a residence, or a museum, these buildings and gardens have captivated hundreds of millions of people throughout the years with their grandiose, beautiful architecture and well groomed, thoughtfully planned landscaping. Any trip to Paris requires a detour to Versailles, and would be severely lacking without it.
The Palace grounds are open to the public during daytime hours, but access to the Palace itself is limited to those who have purchased tickets and a timed entry. Tickets can be purchased and hours can be checked here.
We suggest that whatever time of year you choose to visit, you choose an entry time earlier in the day. The Palace will fill with crowds, usually before 11 am and if you would like to take in the rooms in relative quiet it is advisable to arrive early. On our last visit we chose the first entry time and while we were not the first into the Palace, we hurried through until we reached the Hall of Mirrors and were able to admire this beautiful and storied room alone and take pictures with only a few people around. We were then able to backtrack and take our time through the smaller rooms.
Alternatively, the busiest times in the offseason, the colder, winter months, as well as almost the entire busy season, can be extraordinarily claustrophobic. We prefer the offseason everywhere we go for this reason. Trips in general are undeniably cheaper on the whole, and in the case of the Palace of Versailles, it is far less occupied. High tourist season can see the Hall of Mirrors shoulder to shoulder almost all day.
Not all of the rooms in the Palace are open to the public but it is an absolutely massive building and if you enjoy architecture and the splendor of kings you can spend an entire day admiring the details and opulence of what was once one of the grandest part-time residences in the world.
The Palace
The grounds are not to be missed on any account either. While each section of the gardens has a name and there are many famous statues and sections such as the Orangery and the Bassin de Neptune, all of the grounds merit the most scrupulous attention. Measuring at about 800 hectares, which is about 3 square miles, the grounds can take multiple days to fully traverse and admire, depending on your pace. The scale is simply mind boggling for a Palace meant for a single man, his family, and administrative staff. The Sun King took his home and lawn very seriously. As a hint into the size of such a project, on some days you can observe rowing practice in the man-made Grand Canal, which is entirely within the gardens.
The Grounds
While the gardens are of course at their most beautiful and cultivated in the warmer months when the flowers are in bloom, it is also busier and more crowded. The colder, winter months offer the same Palace as always, although with some extra scaffolding or workmen preparing for the busier season, and the grounds are actually quite breathtaking due to their size and the artful arrangement and landscaping, even when the flowers are not in bloom.