Versailles Domain Audio Guided Half Day Tour from Paris
Paris, France
- 6 hours (approx.)
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Overview
This tour allows you to explore Versailles independently and includes round-trip transportation from Paris to help make things easier for you when traveling. Skip the hassle of figuring out your own transport and settle in for the ride to Versailles, listening to recorded audio commentary about the French landmark as you relax on the way over, with admission to the palace and gardens included.
- Explore the palace, the gardens, and the Grand Royal Apartments
- Choose between multiple departure times to suit your schedule
- Round-trip transportation is included
- Audio commentary is available in 10 languages
What's Included
- Entrance ticket to Versailles Palace
- Entrance ticket to the Gardens, even on Musical Fountains' days
- Audioguide available in 10 languages via mobile app
- Mobile app to download
- Service of a multilingual hostess
- Hotel pickup and drop off
- Gratuities
- Licensed Guide interpreter
- Headphones
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting point
- 6 Av. du Dr Brouardel, 75007 Paris, France
6 Avenue du Dr Brouardel, 75007 Paris – Meet our Extime Travel ambassador outside the building In case of problem, contact us on: 1/ WhatsApp +33 6 14 96 42 81 2/ Phone +33 1 44 55 60 00
End point
- 18 Av. de Suffren, 75007 Paris, France
Itinerary
Begin your tour of the Palace of Versailles with pickup at a central Paris location (Métro Bir Hakeim). Board a comfortable tour vehicle to the French landmark, located about 13 miles (22 km) outside of Paris.
During the relaxing ride, listen to recorded audio commentary that will introduce you to the history, art, and architecture of the palace. Commentary is available in 10 languages. Learn about the origin of the palace, built under orders of King Louis XIX in 1661. Famous architects and decorators, including Le Notre, Mansart, and Le Vau worked together to construct this opulent building. The palace became one of the most prestigious residences in Europe, and its splendor is still on display for visitors today.
Once you arrive on the premises, you'll be equipped with the knowledge to spend a few hours on a self-guided tour. Explore the palace, the gardens, and the Grand Royal Apartments, which are all included in your entrance fees.
Afterward, relax on the return trip to central Paris, where you'll be dropped off at your original departure point.
During the relaxing ride, listen to recorded audio commentary that will introduce you to the history, art, and architecture of the palace. Commentary is available in 10 languages. Learn about the origin of the palace, built under orders of King Louis XIX in 1661. Famous architects and decorators, including Le Notre, Mansart, and Le Vau worked together to construct this opulent building. The palace became one of the most prestigious residences in Europe, and its splendor is still on display for visitors today.
Once you arrive on the premises, you'll be equipped with the knowledge to spend a few hours on a self-guided tour. Explore the palace, the gardens, and the Grand Royal Apartments, which are all included in your entrance fees.
Afterward, relax on the return trip to central Paris, where you'll be dropped off at your original departure point.
Paris (Pass By)
Domaine national de Saint-Cloud (Pass By)
Monument a Louis XIV (Pass By)
1
Palace of Versailles
45 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
2
La Galerie des Glaces
30 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
3
Jardins du Chateau de Versailles
30 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
Grand Canal (Pass By)
Arc de Triomphe (Pass By)
1st Arrondissement (Pass By)
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Near public transportation
- No heart problems or other serious medical conditions
- Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
- Baby strollers are forbidden inside Versailles palace
- This tour is not suitable to clients with walking difficulties
- Photos without flash allowed inside the castle
- You will receive by email your visit kit giving you access to your digital experience of the Palace of Versailles. Your email will contain a link to your personal access to download the application and your e-ticket.
- During the high season, this popular destination can experience significant crowds. As a result, there may be some unavoidable queues, especially during the morning hours when visitor numbers tend to be highest. We appreciate your understanding and recommend visiting later in the day if you prefer a slightly less busy experience.
- Audio guide available in Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish from a downloadable audio app. Please make sure your phone is fully charged and don’t forget your headphones!
- Fountain Show dates: Every Saturday and Sunday from Friday April 3rd to Sunday November 1st 2026
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 30 travelers
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Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
3.3
based on 419 reviews
Sort by: Most insightful
Instructions for the tour's pick up did not clearly mention that you're looking for someone in a red vest who will pop up in front of the cited address, pulling a plastic crate on wheels with a banner. Our 10:00 tour start time meant showing up by 9:30 but not getting admission to Versailles until the 11:30 slot ... after waiting in the sun for over 40 minutes in 30 degree temps. The crowds were huge, shoulder to shoulder sheeple passing through the castle's rooms. When we'd had enough looking at the back of people's heads, we texted the 'host' who one of the stated benefits of our $280Cdn ticket. We asked whether we could catch an earlier bus back to the city and when we FINALLY got a reply, raced to the pick up spot before the new target time s/he provided but there was no red-vest clad staffer and no bus. We ubered back to the ciity and will not book through this company again.
Response from Host, May 2026
Dear Susan,
Thank you for your message.
We are sorry that your experience did not meet your expectations. Unfortunately, there are aspects that are beyond our control, such as weather conditions or the number of visitors at the palace. Please note that the Palace of Versailles is one of the most visited monuments in the Paris area, so visitor numbers are higher during the high season, especially in the morning, as indicated on your voucher.
We apologize for the inconvenience caused and invite you to contact our customer service, providing your name and booking date, so we can review what happened in more detail.
Kind regards,
Extime Travel (formerly Paris City Vision)
This is not a tour , just a transportation/ticket service. The place is beautiful but if you are looking for some guided experience this tour is not it . It is also very rushed
Response from Host, Apr 2025
Dear Cibele,
Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback. We’re glad you found the destination beautiful, but we’re sorry to hear that the experience didn’t match your expectations in terms of guidance and pacing.
It’s important to note that the option you selected includes transportation and an audio guide, not a live guided tour. We do offer fully guided options as well, which provide a more in-depth experience with a professional guide throughout. It appears that the audio-guided version was chosen at the time of booking.
We appreciate your comments regarding the pace of the visit and will take them into consideration as we continue to improve our services. Thank you again for your feedback, it helps us better serve all our guests.
Best regards,
Very disorganized we were supposed to leave at 11am we didn’t leave until 11:40 didn’t get there till 12:30 told we had to be back at the bus at 2:50- not very much time to see any thing - get back at 2:50 no bus anywhere - finally find the rude tour person the bus will be late we waited in the hot sun 40 minutes - worst experience I’d give a zero if possible
The coach was great with a friendly driver and a great guide who gave very concise info regarding times, pick up point etc. The Palace itself is exquisitely beautiful. But......the audio guide was useless. I downloaded the app and plugged in my headphones but got very little help from the staff as to how to use the guide??? A list of numbers come up on the guide but these did not correspond to the actual areas in the Palace. I was lost.
The tour guide was great, but the site was a little underwelming. No real direction on how to walk the building and grounds.
Wow to see so much history and art work. Loved it all. My favorite was hall of mirrors. Great to download audio from an ap on your phone.
Incredibly overpriced for what it was. It offered a five hour trip to Versailles with one hour outbound and one hour inbound. We left at 8.15am and we were in Versailles by 8.45. We then were pointed to a queue for the 9.30am entry and were told we would be picked up at 11.50am. So basically by the time we gained entry we had just over two hours when the assumption was at least 3. There was also some mention of self guided audio tour which we never received. It would have worked out better to just get a ride to the palace and book separately and would have had much more time.
No real visit to Versailles—after waiting in line for a half hour, we had maybe 15 minutes in the site before a bomb threat evacuation and the closing of Versailles for the day. Then we stood on the pavement wondering how we were going to get back to Paris. Luckily we spotted someone from our tour and eventually made it on a bus and back to Paris. Altogether, very disappointing.
A must see for travellers. We really thought the Palace was incredible and if our guide had been more communicative we would have spent an extra hour enjoying the sights. He neglected to steer our group to the correct line and we waited 45 mins longer to get in than we needed to. Really a shame since we were all so limited with time to begin with.
We liked being on our own and deciding what we wanted to see. The Hall of Mirrors was a highlight in the palace. The opulence was beyond description! The gardens were amazing and we just scratched the surface given the allotted time. If we were to do it again, we would book an entire day in order to spend more time in the gardens and not feel rushed.
Good tour - booked it for my parents who are seniors. They had a good time. The only thing to bear in mind is that at the palace they just give you an audio guide, the guide from the company doesn't actually accompany you and guide you inside. But overall it was a good experience
Seeing Versailles was great and viator on time. Our driver Emil was wonderful we were in a traffic jam and he ask police to go another way home and it helped.
My family enjoyed this visit, for myself, I don't think this experience was for me as I am not into Museums & old buildings.
Seeing the palace was amazing and the gardens took my breath away! My husband and I had a great time!!
Sad to write a poor review on such a magnificent site! It is truly a must see
As far as our experience with the group… that is where the 2 stars come
This was our first visit to Versailles. There was no explanation as to how to use the audio … we were having trouble downloading … and it was up to us to figure it out… very frustrating.
We were given a time to meet the bus for the the return trip back… when we arrived back to the meeting spot at the correct time the bus was driving away without us… there were several other groups that missed the bus too. After waiting in the hot sun for a resolution we were told to wait 3 hours for when the next tour would head back or take the metro. We opted for a cab. Which ended up costing us $72 Euro
Worst Viator experience yet. Paris City Vision lost control of the group at the entrance. Didn’t know which line would be expedited. Then it wasn’t clear of we had audio guides with headsets. The download of the app and listening through iPhone didn’t work because they data reception in the rural area was bad and Versailles doesn’t have WIFI, so we wondered around aimlessly. Still mind blowing place, but experience could have been way better guided.
It was convenient having the transportation to and from Versailles but we were not provided the audio guides as stated in the booking. Also confusing getting back into the palace after visiting the gardens.
Disappointed! Disappointed is an understatement! There is such a wonderful place to explore with a lot of history, and we were given no information and no time to actually explore. Our ““ tour did not even show us the entry gate and left half the people behind from the bus. If you want to do Versailles, make sure you have plenty of hours to explore the whole thing!
The hall of mirrors and the gardens were the best parts of Versailles. We would have maybe liked a little more time to explore before the bus went back to Paris. It would also be nice to have more instructions about downloading the audio app and bringing headphones, because it took a lot of phone data and we didn’t end up listening to things.
I previously did a Fat Tire Bike Tour to Versailles and it was epic! We needed an expedited tour so this 1/2 day bus tour seemed to fit the bill. While the transportation was satisfactory, the audio tours at Versailles are poor. They lack any sort of contextual historical or cultural background. Versailles is such a rich destination that to properly visit, you should hire a private tour guide. Plus, 2-1/2 hours is not long enough to cover the main attractions at Versailles.
Great staff informative and helpful. Was a wonderful experience. Detailed history to and from the palace
I am a travel agent and my group really enjoyed this tour. My only issue with this is the process. There has got to be a better way.
It was a good experience despite being harassed for carrying a tripod as I wanted to take pictures as I was travelling solo. Other than that it was a great time!
I was so looking forward to this but like most tourist attractions in Paris, 80% of your time will be spent waiting in line. There were times in the castle where you’re shoulder to shoulder at a complete stand still waiting to get into the next room. It was very overwhelming for many of us there and it feels like a safety hazard. There are not many bathrooms, the wait was 20-30mins to use the toilet. The wait to buy lunch at Angelina was 45mins, which meant we ended up having 7mins to see the gardens before our bus left. I would recommend bringing a sandwich in your bag, getting food here is a nightmare.
The bus ride was very useful and reliable. The palace & gardens are beautiful but it’s a logistical nightmare. I wouldn’t go again.
Everything went well, but a bit more instruction on how to navigate the huge Versailles would have helped maximize the limited time.
While the visit to Versailles was nice the description for this activity is deceiving. Your audio guide is just the app in your phone and if you have children or didn’t bring earphones it’s hard to use. That fact is buried deep in the description. I had to pay $25 extra dollars for the audio guides for my family of 4 once inside the palace.
Sebastian was our Tour Guide. We arrived, he told us to be at the meeting area at 2:50 pm for our return ride after the tour. My family of 4 arrived at 2:40 at the correct location and nothing. No Sebastian, no bus, nothing. At 3:05 we talked to another Tour Guide with same co. Who tried to squeeze us onto another bus but they only had 1 seat. She frantically was calling to help. Finally at 3:20 a bus came and took us back - we were the only people on the bus. Thank’s to her efforts - but having used your co. On our prev. Trip to Paris, sadly I will not use or recommend it again. 2 Not great experiences.
We thought there was an audio included. Only an app which didn't work. We then rented audios from Versailles for the self guided tour. The palace was poorly marked and it was difficult to find anyone to answer our questions. We were very disappointed.
Bus ride commentary was in Spanish only eventhough the speaker knows English. This was not a Spanish only tour. Did not say anything at the end of the tour...just dropped off. Not even a thank you or anything.
Disappointed in the tour. No guide provided. App did not work. No one told us we need ear phones.
The bus was over an hour late to pick us up at the meeting point.
Guide did not give us instructions in English unless we asked.
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