Best Time to Visit Versailles 2026: Days, Hours and Seasons

Booking choice: The guided Palace tour with gardens access, from $79 per person. Check dates Compare the options below

Versailles is not one visit but three: the Palace, which works on time slots, the gardens and Park, and the Estate of Trianon, which opens only at noon. The best time to go depends on which of those you want, the day of the week, and whether the fountains are running.

This guide covers the days to avoid, morning against afternoon, the official ideal day, how many hours you need and whether half a day works, the seasons and show days, and the dates when the gardens close early. For the show days themselves, see the Musical Fountains Show guide.

The quick answer

Avoid Tuesdays and weekends if you can: the official FAQ names them as the most crowded days, and advises visiting the Palace as soon as it opens at 9:00. The Palace is closed on Mondays, when the gardens are free. The château's ideal day is the Palace at 9:00, the gardens and Park from 10:00 to noon, then the Trianon from noon to 16:30, and it recommends the whole day. Half a day is possible with a short guided tour.

The south parterre with a round fountain and clipped hedges — The parterre beside the palace, quiet before the Palace opens.

What days to avoid Versailles?

Tuesdays and weekends, which the official FAQ names as the most crowded days. On Mondays the Palace and the Trianon are closed.

The château does not say why; it simply names Tuesdays and weekends and advises arriving at the Palace when it opens at 9:00. Mondays are a different case: the Palace is closed, and so is the Estate of Trianon, but the gardens are open and free, and so is the Park.

The Palace also closes on 25 December, 1 January and 1 May.

The Royal Courtyard with a flag above the palace roof — The Royal Courtyard: be here at 9:00 on the busiest days.

What is the least busy day at Versailles?

The château names its busiest days, Tuesdays and weekends, but no quietest one. That leaves Wednesday, Thursday and Friday as the Palace days it does not flag.

Whatever the day, the official advice is the same: arrive when the Palace opens at 9:00. Book the time slot ahead so your hour is fixed. A guided tour with skip-the-line entry, like the Palace tour with gardens access, does that part for you.

From April to October, Wednesday to Friday are also Musical Gardens days, so the gardens cost €15 then, or come with the Passport.

Skip-the-line Palace entry and a 90-minute guided tour, meeting a few minutes from the Palace.

Check dates for the guided Palace tour with gardens access

Is it better to visit Versailles in the morning or afternoon?

The morning for the Palace, from 9:00; the afternoon for the Trianon, which opens at noon.

Opening hours decide most of it. The Palace opens at 9:00, last admission 17:45 in the high season and 16:45 in the low season. The Estate of Trianon opens only at 12:00. The gardens open early: 7:00 in the high season and 8:00 in the low season.

If you can only come in the afternoon, the late Passport is cheaper: from 16:00 in the high season for €28 (EEA €25), from 15:00 in the low season for €18 (EEA €15). That leaves enough time for the Palace, but not much else.

The Marble Court with black and white paving in front of the palace — The Marble Court in the morning.

What is the ideal day at Versailles?

The château's own plan: the Palace as soon as it opens at 9:00, the gardens and Park from 10:00 to noon, the Trianon and Marie Antoinette's Estate from noon to 16:30.

It follows the opening hours neatly. Leave time for the walk between the gardens and the Trianon: about 30 minutes on foot, or 20 minutes by little train or electric vehicle. Picnics are not allowed in the gardens, only in the Park and at the Pièce d'Eau des Suisses, so plan lunch there or at a restaurant on the estate map.

Time	Where (official ideal day)
9:00	The Palace, as soon as it opens
10:00 to 12:00	The gardens and Park
12:00 to 16:30	The palaces of Trianon and Marie Antoinette's Estate

The whole day planned for you: train from Paris, Palace, both Trianons and a market picnic in the Park.

★ 4.9 633 reviews · 8 hours · from $122

Explore the bike day with the Palace and the Queen's farm

How many hours do you need in Versailles?

The whole day, according to the château: “To make the most of your visit of the Palace and Estate, you should spend the whole day at Versailles.”

The estate is large: the gardens and park cover 800 ha, and the Trianon is about 30 minutes' walk from the Palace. The full-day tours reflect that: the bike day and the skip-the-line bike tour take 8 hours from Paris, the golf cart and bike tour 6 hours.

A long tree-lined avenue running through the park — The Park's avenues: the estate is bigger than it looks from the terrace.

Can you do Versailles in half a day?

Yes, if you limit it to the Palace and a little of the gardens. The shortest guided tours here take 1.5 hours to 1.5 to 2 hours.

The Palace tour with gardens access lasts 1.5 to 2 hours and meets a few minutes from the Palace. The guided tour with a Passport has a 1.5 hours guided part, and the Passport lets you stay on afterwards if you change your mind. From Paris, the guided Palace tour by train takes 3 hours including the round trip by train.

What you give up is the Trianon, which opens only at noon, and most of the gardens. If half a day is all you have, the train guide helps you save time getting there.

A half-day from Paris: round-trip train tickets and a guided Palace tour, from $70.

Check dates for the guided Palace tour by train

Is it better to visit Versailles in the high or low season?

The high season, April to October, brings the fountains and longer hours; the low season, November to March, brings lower prices and free gardens every day.

Bike hire closes from mid-November to mid-February and the rowing boats from mid-November to late February. In exchange, the low season is the only time the gardens are free every day, and the Passport costs €10 less.

	High season (1 April to 31 October)	Low season (1 November to 31 March)
Passport	€35 (EEA €32)	€25 (EEA €22)
Palace	9:00 to 18:30	9:00 to 17:30
Gardens	7:00 to 20:30; paid on show days	8:00 to 18:00; free; some groves closed
Fountains	Musical Fountains Show at weekends	No shows

Rowing boats moored on the Grand Canal — Rowing boats on the Grand Canal, closed from mid-November to late February.

Which dates close early at Versailles in 2026?

The gardens close at 17:30 on the last show days: the Fountains Show on 25 October, 31 October and 1 November, and the Musical Gardens on 27 to 30 October.

In summer the gardens also closed at 17:30 on Saturdays, from 6 June to 19 September, and on 14 July, for the Night Fountains on summer Saturday evenings. With the Palace's last admission at 17:45, an early closing mostly affects a late walk in the gardens. After 1 November the gardens go back to free entry every day, from 8:00 to 18:00. Prices for every ticket are in Versailles tickets explained.