Sign in with Facebook6 Impasse De Clagny, Versailles, 78000, France
The gardens
Fountain of Neptune
Chateau de Versailles, Versailles, France 1996
Chateau de Versailles - the golden cage
We intend to visit the Chateau at Versailles but it must be on Tuesday 4th August. I am unsure about the pricing for my children who are 14, 12 and 6 years of age as it seems to be a musical fountain day.
It appears that the best value for us adults would be the 25 euro musical fountain pass, and although the children appear free, there is a mention that the musical fountains are not free of charge. Does this mean that we cannot visit the gardens unless we pay for the children and if so I cannot see how much we must pay.
Is it possible to visit just the gardens and not see the fountain display?
It appears to be an expensive family day out and we are on a budget!! please help someone!! Thank you
My family is also traveling to France in August, and this site has been very helpful!
The Le Passport would be the way to go for you and your husband. It gives you access to pretty much everything at Versailles. But I did not think that the musical fountains would be available on a Tuesday. From everything I've read, they are only avaialable on the weekends. If they are available when you go, I've read that you can pay 8 euros each for the kids to see the gardens; they are free for the rest of Versailles.
If you buy your passport in Paris before you go, at the TIs or the FNAC stores, I've been told you can get your free pass for the kids there, too, so you don't have to queue up in the ticket lines at Versailles.
Hope this helps - maybe we'll cross pass in Paris!
Hi Liz,
Thanks for your reply.
That was what I thought following guidance on this site, however the Official Chateau de Versailles Guide (can be downloaded at www.en.chateauversailles.fr/) states that between 12th May and 29th September on Tuesdays and Weekends, the Passport costs £25 and includes access to the Grandes Eaux Musicales. It doesn't then say how much it costs for children on these days so I am unsure if it will just be £8 or if it may be more! If I were you I'd go Wed/Thu/Fri, I would if I could but we are only there Saturday til Tuesday and the palace is closed on Mondays.
A round tour of the whole estate cost 20 euros including the Grand Trianon but I paid 16 euros in total to enter only the state apartments and the garden (8 euros each). Spent half a day in the garden and troves, basking in the warmth of the sunny weather. Found a companion during my train ride and we both decided to walk and explore the place together.
I packed some sandwich and had my lunch in a corner of the park (although picnic is not officially allowed)
The Castle of Versailles is open every day, except mondays and certain French public holidays, or when official ceremonies are held
There are three different ways to explore the Chateau of Versailles, its gardens, and the Grand and Petit Trianons: independent visit, audiotour, or guided tour.
We took an individual and also an audiotour , special audioguide covers Louis XIV's suite, the Hall of Mirrors, and the apartments of the Dauphin and Dauphine. The audioguide is available in eight languages (French, English, German, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Russian, and Mandarin Chinese).
The tour lasts one hour.
The landscape surrounding the main palace is as impressive as the building itself. Carefully manicured vegetation is placed all around the palace grounds in various shapes and patterns. On a pleasant day, this will be a highlight of a trip to this region. There are also many fountains on the grounds. The Latona fountain near the chateau itself is one of the more famous ones. If you have ever been to Chicago and seen the Buckingham fountain, then you will notice that fountain was greatly inspired by the Latona fountain.
Ever since Versailles and is gardens were built, many other rulers have made attempts to build something as grand as this. Linderhof and Herrenchiemsee in Germany are two such examples. Also, Peterhof in St. Petersburg has some techniques that were borrowed from Versailles. Although, I think Peter the Great did build a superior fountain system.
When we visited, it was a crowded Sunday. However, that is the day that all the fountains are turned on and classical music is played. therefore, you get a tradeoff. Come on Sunday, you get the display and the crowds. It will be a battle to take a photo of those fountains since one person always has to get in everyone elses picture. If you come on another day, it may not be as crowded, however you do not get the fountain display. My suggestion? Since there is a lot of room outside, take two days to visit Versailles. On Sunday, see the fountain display. On another day, tour the inside of the palace and see other areas of the grounds. Fountains coming to life with classical music is certainly part of the Versaille experience
The most common European emergency number 112 (following Directive 2002/22/EC: Universal Service Directive) and also standard on GSM mobile phones. 112 is used in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Republic of Macedonia, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine and the United Kingdom in addition to their other emergency numbers.
Here are some useful phone numbers that you might need while in France:
Police: 17
Hospital-based Ambulance (SAMU): 15
Fire Service-based Ambulance: 18
Fire: 18, 112 calls are answered by 15 or 18 dispatchers, depending on the caller's location. 115 for homeless.
If I found the garden crowded, then the palace was packed. There were lots of tour groups around and the flow of tourists just never stopped. I tried to squeeze into some of the tour groups to listen to the guides, but there were so many people that I only caught a few words that I already knew -- Louis XIV, Louis XV, Louis XVI. Great, now I know what follows "Louis" so that has doubled my knowledge of French history.
Since I didn't have the patience to listen to the guides, and I didn't know what to look for in the palace, I soon found myself getting bored. I just walked from room to room without really knowing the significance of each.
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Q: Grandes Eaux musicales - Worth it? "I'm researching our trip to Paris, and am trying to decide if we should try to do the musical fountain show at Versailles. We are..."
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