An empty Hall of Mirrors, as Art Journey's private tours are always tailored to go around crowds, not into them. Photo © Art Journey Paris. All rights reserved.
A full-day, comprehensive Versailles private tour Discovering the Grand and Petit Trianon, Marie Antoinette's Hamlet, and the King's Private Apartments.
Versailles' gardens are not a mere patch of green, but an immense work of art. The Grand Trianon, photo © Art Journey Paris. All rights reserved.
Why does a private visit of Versailles require a full day?
It took over 60 years to transform a swamp into a World Heritage Site. Why rush, and how does one truly make sense of a 2,000-acre estate?
Versailles' Size Reality Check
What is included with a chauffeured "VIP" half-day tour?
12 miles in a fancy car, one hour inside Versailles' castle, and 12 miles back to Paris.
And what is a genuine private visit to Versailles' castle?
An 8-hour comprehensive private tour that includes:
The castle, the State Apartments, Hall of Mirrors, and Louis XIV's bedroom.
The option of the special access Private Apartments of Louis XV and Louis XVI.
The gardens and, on water display days, the bosquets.
The Grand and Petit Trianon.
Marie Antoinette's Hamlet.
Access to the Private Apartments of King Louis XV and XVI
The reality behind the breathless promises of "exclusive, VIP access" at Versailles is very simple. The amazing State Apartments and Hall of Mirrors are part of the regular visit of the castle, whether on your own or with an expert.
Then there are the intimate, smaller Private Apartments where King Louis XV and then Louis XVI retired for an intimate life away from the thousands of court members.
The King's Private Apartments, with Passemant astronomical clock. Photo © Art Journey Paris. All rights reserved.
Exactly as it was 250 years ago, these rooms, including a second royal bedroom, a library, dining rooms, and the office of Louis XV, are hidden from the crowd, only accessible to a few lucky visitors.
And only those accredited by Versailles Castle can bring visitors there. Marketing does not open doors; credentials and expertise do.
In these quiet rooms, we marvel at a unique treasure: an astronomical clock conceived to keep accurate time until year 9,999. Not a typo: a clock meant to last 7,500 years.
Admiring the desk of King Louis XV, we ponder the discussions that took place there at the time of Louis XVI, following the entreaties of a visitor called Benjamin Franklin, and the era-changing effects of these conversations.
That optional private visit includes either the Royal Opera or the Royal Chapel.
A day private tour of Versailles' castle, gardens, Trianons and Marie Antoinette's Domain
All tours are strictly private, priced per person, for up to five people.
There are different formulas for a full-day private tour of Versailles, all including entrance tickets and a timed reservation to visit the State Apartments:
A day private tour without transport to Versailles:
1 to 2 people - 850 €
3 people - 1050 €
4 to 5 people - 1200 €
Family (two adults, up to 3 children) - 880 €
A day private tour without transport to Versailles, including special access to the King's Private Apartments:
1 to 2 people - 1450 €
3 people - 1650 €
4 to 5 people - 1800 €
Family (two adults, up to 3 children) - 1450 €
A day private tour including a private chauffeur from Paris to Versailles, for a 9-hour day:
1 to 2 people - 2250 €
3 people - 2450 €
4 to 5 people - 2600 €
Family (two adults, up to 3 children) - 2250 €
A day private tour with a private chauffeur from Paris to Versailles, for a 9-hour day, and special access to the King's Private Apartments:
1 to 2 people - 2850 €
3 people - 3050 €
4 to 5 people - 3400 €
Family (two adults, up to 3 children) - 2850 €
An alternative to booking a chauffeur for the entire day:
Why pay a chauffeur to sit idle for hours waiting outside Versailles' castle, only to drive for a 24-mile return trip?
We offer the convenient option of booking you a VIP Taxi, such as a sedan or V-Class Mercedes, for a fixed fee of 200 euros.
Contact
To inquire about booking a private visit of Versailles, please mention the date of the visit as well as the number of participants, thank you.
The Grand Trianon
The Grand Trianon marble colonnade. Photo © Art Journey Paris. All rights reserved.
The Grand Trianon was, in effect, Louis XIV's private residence within Versailles, described as "a palace made of marble, jasper and porphyry with delicious gardens".
Trianon's gardens were reflowered every day, and, during the Little Ice Age, it was even flowered in winter...
Contemplating how the Sun King tamed nature itself, turning a swamp into a gigantic open-air monument, makes sense of his taming of the French nobility, and why he is the first absolute King in French history.
The Petit Trianon
The Petit Trianon, built for Louis XV's mistress, given to young Queen Marie Antoinette, part of the Petit Trianon estate visible during a full day private tour of Versailles. Photo © Art Journey Paris. All rights reserved.
The other candidate for best piece of architecture is the residence that Louis XV had built for Madame de Pompadour, which is why the Petit Trianon always had a feminine touch.
It is said that young Louis XVI offered the Petit Trianon to Marie Antoinette with the words, "You love flowers, Madame, I have a bouquet to give you: the Petit Trianon."
The Petit Trianon became the Queen's private domain where she could shelter from court life, and it would soon transform into an Anglo-Chinese garden with its entire village.
Marie Antoinette's Hamlet
Queen Marie Antoinette's charming Hamlet and farm in the Petit Trianon estate at Versailles. Photo © Art Journey Paris. All rights reserved.
The Hameau de la Reine may look like a village, yet it actually is a royal palace masquerading as a hamlet...
Building Marie Antoinette's private daydream meant bringing thousands of trees, some as far as Lebanon, Virginia, and Japan, and carving a pond.
To make a marble and gilded wood residence look like an old village, fake cracks and bricks were painted on the exterior. A real farm was added, so the Queen and royal children could play.
Not the wisest choice at the time of the American Revolution and soon the French Revolution, but without doubt the most charming part of a Versailles visit.
Practical considerations for a day private tour at Versailles
This private tour is based on years of experience getting around crowds. It involves a lot of walking, but at a strolling pace.
Do not hesitate to inquire about renting a golf cart to cut some of the distance walked. Disabled visitors are welcome; it is possible to enjoy an entire day at Versailles. Please inquire ahead of time for solutions on how to tackle Versailles' estate.
Water display days? Musical gardens? When the gardens are in summer mode, the bosquets hiding sculpted fountains open to reveal Versailles' wonders missed by half-day tours.
Only visible during the 'water displays' weekends, the Bosquets -groves- hide impressive carved fountains. The reward for spending the day at Versailles and walking through its gardens is to admire what most visitors don't take the time to see. And to understand the cost and work needed to turn a swamp into a gigantic open-air work of art. Photo © Art Journey Paris. All rights reserved.
Whoever has never been to Versailles might think its gardens are, well, just another garden decorated with a few statues and ponds.
If so, Louis XIV would like a word. The Sun King even wrote, by his hand, a guidebook, 'How to show the gardens of Versailles.'
And a good reason why Versailles' estate is listed as a World Heritage site is its gardens. Its estate has been copied all over Europe, from Hampton Court to the many 'Little Versailles' in Germany.
Versailles' gardens are an immense open-air work of architecture dominating the forces of nature, given life and order by the sun, the ancient god Apollo, also known as the Sun King Louis XIV.
So, this is not 2,000 acres of grass and flowers, but an open-air monument.
And Louis XIV had solid silver furniture and a new piece of music written every single day, so if he succeeded at impressing dignitaries with these gardens, you will be too once you start to consider how a swamp was transformed into a World Heritage Site.
Can we enjoy a picnic at Versailles during a private day visit?
Absolutely. Provided the weather allows, and ideally on a Sunday when the gourmet food market of Versailles opens, we can discuss setting up an enjoyable picnic.
Understanding the offers of Versailles' private tours, 'semi-private', and 'skip-the-line' promises.
What is a Versailles Private tour ?
A private tour is strictly for you, and only you, from one person up to five people.
What is a Versailles Semi-private tour ?
A "semi-private" visit is a group tour sold as a private experience. It involves individual visitors placed together in one group, regardless of the fact that each person might want to see something different or wish to visit at their own pace.
What do we get to see with a half-day VIP visit ?
Visiting a 2,000-acre site in half a day is impossible. All professionally led tours to the State Apartments are capped at 60 minutes, so a "half-day VIP tour" involves 24 miles of transport, one hour inside the castle, a quick photo of the gardens reaching the horizon, only to be told that is it.
More time is spent in transport than discovering a World Heritage Site.
What do we get to see with this private day-long visit ?
The castle and its State Apartments, Hall of Mirrors, Louis XIV's bedroom. Optionally, a second castle visit to discover the King's Private Apartments, and, depending on the day, either the Chapel or the Royal Opera.
The visit is nearly 8 hours long in Versailles in summer, or 7 hours in winter, including walking into the gardens, visiting the Grand Trianon, then, after a lunch pause at the Petit Trianon, the mansion itself, then Marie-Antoinette's charming hamlet, and its farm.
Yes, there is a royal farm in Versailles; it takes a full day to discover it all.
What does Skip-the-line entail in Versailles ?
Timed entry is mandatory for all professionals, so it goes without saying that professional timed reservations inherently imply 'priority access.'
Furthermore, nowadays, all individual visitors are also required to have timed entry to enter the castle.
"Skip-the-line" is empty marketing, based on images of long lines in front of Versailles' castle that belong to the past.
What does VIP access mean at Versailles ?
Nothing but hollow promises, as VIP treatment does not mean arriving in a black chauffeured luxury car, but what happens once you arrive.
The more anyone affirms that it is VIP, the less likely it is. To begin with, only accredited professionals can open doors into Versailles' castle and the King's Private Apartments at all.
Those promoting "VIP access" are simply reselling tickets. Either you seek a luxurious 12-mile ride to Versailles, or you aim to discover a World Heritage Site away from the crowd and beyond the clichés.
More importantly, VIP treatment is to ensure you do not miss out on the hidden wonders of Versailles and that the pace of the visit is adapted to your rhythm.
Simply, having experienced experts treat you as they would like to if the roles were reversed.
What are the advantages of booking a luxurious chauffeured car or van for a day visit to Versailles ?
The comfort and seamlessness, of course. But do keep in mind that Versailles is only 12 miles from the center of Paris, so if there is no traffic, it will be a 35-minute ride from door to door.
If the plan is to spend one hour in Versailles, like all "VIP half-day privilege visits" do, then the expense is indeed on the luxurious chauffeured car, not on the experience.
For a full-day visit, which ends up being about 9 hours door-to-door from Paris, booking a luxurious chauffeur means having the driver waiting outside Versailles' estate for the entire day while using the car for 24 miles.
A VIP private tour is about delivering on what you dreamt of: Versailles itself.
That is why you have the option of a private day visit without transport, with a chauffeur booked for the entire day, or a set fee to arrange a VIP taxi for both 12-mile rides, for the same comfort and ease.
Can I rent golf carts and borrow a wheelchair ?
This day private tour is done on foot, regardless of the weather and season, as it is the only way to enjoy Versailles and get away from the crowds.
It is possible to rent a golf cart to cut some walking distance in the gardens. If you are disabled, please inquire in advance about practical issues in enjoying Versailles and any wheelchair requirements. Please note that it is possible to borrow a wheelchair to visit the castle.
Is a day at Versailles good for kids ?
Absolutely. Marie Antoinette's Domain did include a farm that is today a working animal refuge, home to rescued pigs, goats, ducks and more. So a day at Versailles runs from marble and gold to pigs and donkeys, with picnic and ice cream in between.
Is Versailles a castle or a palace ?
A palace, from the Latin Palatium, sits inside a city. A castle, from castrum, a fortified camp, is located in the countryside. One of the reasons Versailles is unique is that it is both a castle and a palace.
Pairing Versailles and the Louvre
Louis XIV moved from the Louvre Palace to Versailles, but not without first building the Apollo Gallery, designed by the very same people who then went on to create the Hall of Mirrors. The Sun King told his artists:
You can judge, gentlemen, the esteem I have for you, since I entrust to you the thing in the world that is most precious to me, which is my glory.
Yet Louis XIV's glory was not the wars, famines, and misery. What made the Sun King 'Great' was the art he commissioned. We can discover that after a visit to Versailles, with a private tour of the Louvre Museum.
The Louvre Museum also displays objects owned by Queen Marie-Antoinette, King Louis XV, and many more, as the Louvre Palace was, for two centuries, the residence of the artists and artisans who worked for the Kings...
The other direct link between the Louvre and Versailles is that the Sèvres porcelain displayed for the King in his Private Apartments is now visible in the Louvre.
Inquire about a private access visit to the Sèvres porcelain manufacture near Versailles.
Curated journeys to World Heritage Sites beyond Versailles
Vaux le Vicomte's castle, Versailles' prototype, designed by Le Vau, Le Brun and Le Nôtre, the same genius team who designed Versailles. Photo © Art Journey Paris. All rights reserved.
If you appreciate the logic that a "VIP, exclusive" tour of Versailles is nothing more than a 24-mile luxurious ride to a rushed and forgettable experience, then you would be interested to know that it applies to several World Heritage Sites in France:
Vaux-le-Vicomte, a genuine 'small Versailles'
Vaux-le-Vicomte castle, designed by three geniuses: Le Vau, for the architecture, Le Brun, for the paintings, and Le Nôtre, far more than a 'gardener', a landscape architect.
All three went on to design and build Versailles. Like Versailles, Vaux-le-Vicomte is a World Heritage Site.
The Mont-Saint-Michel
The Mont-Saint-Michel is not just a World Heritage Site, but one that took 500 years to create. Here, the 24-mile luxury ride is replaced by a 450-mile-long drive.
"VIP day tours of the Mont-Saint-Michel" from Paris involve driving over 8 hours. The day is spent on the road, intersected by a mad dash up a small and confusing medieval monument when it is at its busiest, when all the day trippers from Paris line up.
And no time to catch one's breath and contemplate the centuries of work to create a unique monument, with its narrow streets and vast underground spaces.
Why not admire the sunset from the Mont-Saint-Michel instead?
Curating journeys across France's World Heritage Sites
There are 47 World Heritage cultural sites in France, as well as 45,000 monuments...
One should be overwhelmed by these monuments, not underwhelmed.
The most inaccessible part of travel is not "exclusive access" but time.
That is why the value of expert planning lies in knowing how to best spend your precious journey days and hours. It means advising you on what is worth your time and money, and what is not.
And it means introducing you to World Heritage monuments that most travel advisors have never heard of, as well as finding ways around the crowd at the most famous ones, so you have time to take it in.
The goal is that your journey is not a rush from one site to another, remembered dimly once home, but instead not just meeting the dream, but exceeding it.
Ask the experts to plan your journey in France.
What a memorable day at Versailles feels like:
Thank you once again for bringing my family the experience of a lifetime, you showed us the beauty of Versailles under the decadence, it made us appreciate the palace not for its opulence but for its relevance in architecture and history. We loved, loved it.
When we went back to the Louvre ourselves after Versailles, my husband complained it was not the same as the first time you brought us. Therefore, next time in France, we are not going anywhere without you!
Patty, John and Madison
Thank you for guiding us through the Louvre, St Chapelle, and Versailles. Three tours with you and you made all of the time interesting and enjoyable. Thank you especially for your patience and attention toward my 14 year old daughter. Having you along to guide us was such a treat; we had our own art history professor all to ourselves and were able to pepper you with questions and you were always accommodating.
Your warmth and charm and enthusiasm were very much appreciated. Anybody who does not snap up your availability is an idiot.
Thank you and all the best.
Brian and Janey, Hollywood, Florida
The experience was far more than just a tour. It was like having the undivided attention of a teacher in a one-on-one setting who truly loves and appreciates the art with which he is so familiar. We learned a lot and as a result better appreciate the history and evolution of art throughout the centuries. He was able to incorporate information into our experience knowing where we were headed after Paris (Venice and Florence), which helped us appreciate the stylistic differences when we continued our travels in Italy. He also provided great advice on other sites that we should consider while visiting Paris and Italy.
Because it was a private tour, he was able to adapt and adjust to our particular preferences as we spent the days together.
Our second day was spent at Versailles. In addition to seeing the royal château, which was nothing short of amazing, he took us to the less traveled areas in the gardens – The Grand Trianon, The Petit Trianon and Hameau de la Reine, which were well worth it and a nice change of pace away from the crowds of the château. I would not have made it to these areas had he not taken us there. Having done both private and group tours, a private tour is well worth it. Next time we return to Paris, we will be calling on Art Journey for our next tour.
David and Tracy, Tallahassee, Florida
