Palace of Versailles Guided Tour with Optional All Access Ticket

We're so glad to have booked our expert guide Eric for our first visit to the Palace of Versailles! Without his expert guidance the sheer size and splendour of the place, together with the inevitable crowds, would have been bewildering and overpowering. Eric's calm, knowledgeable and authoritative knowledge made our visit a real joy, truly a life experience.

The tour is very well organized. First, you get a guided tour of the palace itself, and then you’re given a pass that lets you explore the gardens and the buildings within them—the Grand Trianon, the Petit Trianon, and Marie Antoinette’s village—at your own pace. Just watch out for the swans; they like to steal food, ha ha ha.

An exceptional guide who weaves together French history and anecdotes from everyday life back then. A real treat—and she’s Brazilian, too! Bravo

The guide was extremely knowledgeable and used simple language so we could easily understand the whole story; my 4-year-old daughter paid attention the entire hour and a half!

The tour guide was very enthusiastic about Versailles and had a lot of interesting facts and stories to share. Sometimes it was a lot of info and too much for the younger crowd, but the older folks enjoyed it! We were there on Easter weekend and the palace was packed, which some found a bit overwhelming. The grounds were beautiful and the queue to enter only took a few minutes. The table-service restaurant in the gardens was pretty and the food was ok but pricey (the menu descriptions were a bit off - one dish was described as having several kinds of couscous but it looked like one kind of grain that was probabably bulgur, which is not good for people who need to avoid gluten). I'd recommend checking out the dining option where you order your own food from a counter - it looked like a much more economical and possibly larger menu. We didn't get to enjoy all of the grounds as we were with bored & lazy teenagers, but I'd say it would be easy to spend 1-2 hours wandering around. There are also extras such as golf carts, a small 'train/bus', and boating on a large pond. Fairly easy to get to by public transport but we took ubers.

Our guide Marion's detailed explanations were excellent. The tour started late and there was a technical issue, which meant we entered the palace 40 minutes later than expected. And they're usually so strict about the schedule. I don't think it's good value for money.