Tours in Versailles

The first thing you notice at Versailles is how far you can see. Stand at the top of the garden steps behind the Château and the lawns, the water and the long line of trees all pull your eye in one direction, away from the building and toward the horizon. It was meant to feel that way. The whole estate is arranged so that you keep walking just to see what is at the end.

Give the gardens most of your day. Walk down past the fountains and the clipped hedges, then step sideways into the bosquets, the small groves tucked off the main paths. Each one has its own mood. Some are shady and quiet, some built around a pool or a statue, and you can pass several without realising they are there unless someone points them out. The Orangerie sits below the terrace, and the Grand Canal stretches out beyond it. Walk toward the canal and the crowds thin out quickly. Little Venise, at its edge, is a good place to sit down for lunch.

Then head for the Trianon side of the estate, which feels like a different place altogether. The Grand Trianon is low and pink and calm. The Petit Trianon is smaller and more private. Beyond it is the Queen's Hamlet, a made-up village of thatched cottages around a pond, where the court once played at country life. You can walk the whole thing in a few minutes and still feel how odd and charming it is.

The Château itself is the part everyone expects: the State Apartments, the Hall of Mirrors, the grand rooms that line up one after another. It rewards a slow visit, and it helps to have the gardens behind you first, so you understand what those windows look out on. The town of Versailles, with its market and its quiet streets, is worth a little time too. If there is something here you want to see that is not on our list, ask. A local guide can build the day around it.