Express Versailles Tour: Highlights of the Palace and Gardens

Tour Details

Duration: 2.5 hours
Product Type: Tour
Venues: Versailles Palace and Gardens

Photos & Highlights

Let an expert illuminate what matters most at this monumental complex of opulent interiors and immaculate gardens.
Go home with unforgettable insights you'll be sharing at parties for years to come.

Select a date

Experts

Historian

Art Historian

Art Historian

Art Historian

Art Historian

Historian

Storyteller

Historian

Art Historian

Historian and Linguist

Art Historian

Art Historian

Historian

Art Historian

Lavish interiors. Immaculate gardens. Royalty. Revolution. Refinement. Versailles has long been on your bucket list. Whether you’re planning your first trip to Paris, or you just didn’t have time on your last, let a Context expert take the lead and guide you through a concise afternoon of captivating history and unexpected symbolism at France’s most revolutionary site.

Choose this tour if…

You’re excited to venture out of the city and explore further afield.
You want to soak up as much knowledge as possible with limited time.
You don’t want to deal with long lines and huge crowds—let us handle the reservations and seamless navigation through the palace.

Meeting in Versailles, your expert will lead you straight to what many consider the highlight—the gardens. Designed by André Le Nôtre in the 17th century, these landscapes revolutionized garden design as we know it today.

As you wander through tree-lined groves and tucked-away corners, you’ll encounter elaborate fountains brimming with mythological symbolism. Your expert will unveil the significance behind the recurring imagery of Apollo, the Sun King’s chosen emblem, and reveal Le Nôtre’s masterful use of reflection pools and the Grand Canal to manipulate perspective and create breathtaking optical illusions.

Concluding your stroll through the gardens, you'll make your way to the palace itself. From the Queen’s Apartments to the Hall of Mirrors, your expert will unravel the many architectural transformations that shaped the monumental château we see today.

Over the course of your visit, you’ll be drawn into the rich history of Versailles, stepping into the world of the fascinating figures who once roamed its corridors and paths. By the end of your tour, you’ll leave with a deeper appreciation for its visionary design and the extraordinary stories that have unfolded within its walls.

Logistics

Tickets

Skip-the-line entry tickets into Versailles Palace and gardens
With your entry ticket, you'll have access to all sites within the Versailles complex, even those we don't include in our tour (such as Marie Antoinette's Hamlet and the Trianon Palace). We encourage you to stay on your own to explore these sites independently at the end of your tour.

Headsets

Depending on your group size, we may be required by the venue to order headsets. If you would like to guarantee headsets for your tour regardless of your group size, please email us and we’ll be happy to get them reserved for you.

We understand that some of our valued guests may have mobility concerns, and we want to ensure you have a comfortable and enjoyable experience throughout your tour. If there are any accessibility concerns that your tour guide will need to be aware of, please let our team know at the time of booking.

Wheelchair accessibility

While the palace gardens are not easily accessible for people with reduced mobility, we do have the ability to alter the tour route in order to better accommodate mobility concerns.

Please let us know about any accessibility concerns at the time of booking so that we can best advise.

Service dog accommodations

Service dogs are authorized in the palace and gardens.

Where does the tour start?
This tour begins in Versailles. You will meet your expert just outside the palace entrance.

I'm staying in Paris - how do I get to and from Versailles?

If you are traveling from central Paris, we recommend either a Taxi/Uber (approx 1 hour drive) or the RER C train to the Château Rive Gauche train station in Versailles. It is about a 10 minute walk from the station to our meeting point. Download the Paris transport RATP app for detailed transport instructions.

What are skip-the-line tickets?

For this tour, your tickets are pre-purchased which allows you to directly enter the security line at the palace without waiting to purchase tickets. You may still have to wait in a security line or in a line to have your pre-purchased ticket scanned.