The Palace of Versailles

The Golden Gates of the Palace of Versailles

Brief History

Louis XIII began building the Palace of Versailles in 1631. He chose the site because it was a great place for hunting, and had earlier built a small residence to stay in while hunting. Louis XIV first arrived in Versailles when his father sent him and his brother there to escape the smallpox epidemic. As he grew older, he loved staying at the palace more and more and continued to build onto it until the time of his death. Louis XV didn't spend as much time in Versailles as his predecessors, but he did get sent to Versailles in 1774 when he contracted smallpox, and that's where he died. Louis XVI became king before he was 20. He and his wife Marie-Antoinette spent most of their time at the Palace of Versailles. On October 5 and 6, 1789, the Women's March on Versailles resulted in King Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette being forced to move the royal family to Paris rather than Versailles. Between the years of 1793 and 1794 many pieces of art were moved to the Louvre, and many of the furnishings of the palace were sold to merchants. In 1796 the palace became a museum, but only until 1803. Eventually Napoleon III used the palace for major events, such as to host Queen Victoria in 1855, and the declaration of the German Empire, signed in 1871. Perhaps the most notable piece of history at the Palace of Versailles was the signing of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, which occurred inside the Hall of Mirrors. The Palace closed during WWI. John D. Rockefeller made major donations to restore the Palace. Famous people like John F Kennedy, Jimmy Carter, and Queen Elizabeth II visited Versailles. In 1999 the grounds were destroyed in large part by an extreme storm. Beginning in 2000, restoration of the gardens and the interior of the Palace began. It has been in its current state since 2016.

Visiting the Palace

The official website of the Palace of Versailles is here: Palace of Versailles

It is located at Place de Armes, 78000 Versailles. It is open every day except Monday beginning at 9 am. It costs 32 euro to visit for the day, and I highly recommend buying your tickets and booking your reservation early! You can buy tickets 3 months in advance.

There is plenty of free parking at the Palace. The time on your ticket is the earliest you can enter the Palace. So if your ticket says 11 a.m., you'll wait in a separate line that says 11 a.m. and then any time between 11 and 11:30 you'll be able to enter the Palace (usually after waiting in line). If you get there more than a half hour after your entrance time, you will not be permitted to enter. If your ticket is for 11 a.m. and you show up right at 11, the line for others with 11 a.m. tickets will probably be very long. So I'd recommend arriving about 20 minutes before your appointed ticket time so that you can wait in the line to be permitted entrance right at your appointed ticket time. Before waiting in any line, check to be sure it's the right one!

Getting to the Palace

I would recommend taking an uber to the Palace. You could technically ride a combination of metro and bus and then walk, but ubers really aren't that expensive, and it's definitely worth the savings in time and confusion. Definitely use an uber over a taxi in and Versailles -- it will save you money. An uber can drop you off right in front of the Palace. I visited the Palace of Versailles in November of 2024 and again in March of 2025. In November 2024 we drove a car there and parked in the parking lot. In March 2025 we were also visiting the Paris Temple, which is only a 5 minute drive from the Palace. We decided to walk between the Paris Temple and the Palace of Versailles, which was just a 30 minute walk and brought us through the gardens of the Palace.

The parking lot at the Palace of Versailles

The gates surrounding the parking lot

statue at the entrance from the parking lot

The gates to enter the grounds

inside the palace complex. This is where you'll find the lines to enter the Palace. You can take photos in front of the golden gate, but that gate is not actually the entrance to the Palace.

This building is the entrance, and the lines with time stamps is where you'll wait to enter

We were early so we went to check out the gardens before waiting in line

We waited in the line for our specified ticket time

When my daughter and I came in March 2025, we walked through the gardens first because we had walked from the Paris LDS Temple.

We were in the 11:30 ticket time

This is what greets you once you enter and go through security

In March 2025 there were so many visitors that we could barely move from room to room. We weren't able to get to the front of each room to see what was on display, so it was a bit frustrating.