Day Tour from ParisVersailles Tour from Paris by Train
This Versailles tour from Paris by train costs $100.80 per person and packs the palace into a half day. Memories France runs up to 20 travellers out on the RER with a coordinator, about 40 minutes each way, and then leads 3 guided hours through the Hall of Mirrors, the royal apartments and the gardens. The pre-booked palace and gardens tickets with fast-track entry and the train tickets are all in the price, and the guide carries the entry tickets to the meeting point. The tour earns a 4.7 rating from 1,061 reviews on Viator. Below is what that price buys, how the fixed train and entry slot shape the day, and when buying your own €2.55 RER ticket makes more sense. You can also compare it with every other listing in our guide to day tours from Paris.
About This Tour
Memories France takes a group of up to 20 from central Paris to Versailles on the RER with a coordinator, then hands over to an English-speaking guide for 3 hours at the palace and gardens. The palace entry tickets and gardens access are pre-booked with fast-track entry, and the guide holds the tickets and hands them out at the meeting point, so the voucher on your phone does not open any door by itself.
The structure is strict because the palace sets a timed entry slot for every visitor. The group meets 15 minutes before a fixed train, and late arrivals cannot be guaranteed a place because the train and the slot cannot wait. That is the trade you accept for skipping the ticket lines without organising anything yourself.
$100.80 per person, with children 4 to 17 and adults 18+ priced separately.
3 hours guided at the palace and gardens, plus about 40 minutes each way on the train. Marketed as a half-day tour.
The listing gives Le Regalia, 1 Rue de la Convention, 75015 Paris, outside the cafe near the Javel Andre Citroen metro, and also a green newspaper kiosk on Boulevard de Vaugirard next to Montparnasse station. Confirm which one applies to your date on the booking. Arrive 15 minutes early.
RER train from Paris with a coordinator, group of up to 20, English-speaking guide.
Included: pre-booked palace and gardens tickets with fast-track entry, and the train tickets. Not included: hotel pickup and drop-off. The listing offers no lunch, drinks or gratuities.
Free cancellation up to 24 hours before departure for a full refund. No refunds for missed tours.
Check Dates and Availability
The Palace of Versailles is closed on Mondays, so the tour cannot run that day. Check live dates and the departure time for your date below.
You'll confirm the exact date and time on the secure booking page.
Quick answer Price, duration and what is included
This Versailles tour from Paris by train costs $100.80 per person for 3 guided hours at the palace and gardens plus about 40 minutes each way on the RER, in a group of up to 20.
Key takeaways
- Palace and gardens tickets with fast-track entry and the train tickets are in the price. The details are in what the price actually covers.
- The group meets 15 minutes before a fixed train and late arrivals cannot be accommodated. See what the day is really like.
- Prefer bikes and a full day on the estate? Look at the Versailles bike tour with palace entry by train instead.
- Confident on the metro? Doing it alone costs €2.55 each way on the RER C, set out in could you do it without a tour.
What the Price Actually Covers
The $100.80 covers transport, entry and the guide. Food, hotel transfers and tips do not come with it, so budget for them separately.
What Is Included
Memories France includes all tickets and reservations on this listing: the pre-booked Palace entry with fast-track access, the gardens access, and the RER train tickets both ways. A coordinator travels with the group on the train and an English-speaking guide leads the 3 hours on site. The guide carries the palace entry tickets and hands them out at the meeting point, so your phone voucher is only proof of booking, not a ticket.
The fast-track entry matters because every visitor to the palace needs a timed slot and the lines at the ticket windows run long most days.
- Pre-booked palace and gardens tickets with fast-track entry
- Round-trip RER train tickets from Paris
- English-speaking guide for 3 hours, plus a coordinator on the train
- Group of up to 20
What You Pay on the Day
Lunch is not included and the listing lists no food stop, so eat before you leave Paris or plan to buy something near the palace. Drinks are not included. Gratuities are not mentioned as included, so tipping is at your discretion.
Hotel pickup and drop-off are explicitly excluded, so you cover your own way to the meeting point. The listing states no mandatory extras.
- Lunch and all drinks
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
- Gratuities
How the Entry Tickets Compare
The tour price bundles the train and the palace entry with a guide. If you book the same pieces yourself, the Passport ticket for the whole Estate is €35 in the high season, and every visitor, including free categories, must reserve a time slot online. Entry is free for under 18s and EU residents under 26, but they still need a booked slot.
Here is where each line of this tour sits.
| Line | In the price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Tour price | $100.80 per person | Children 4-17 and adults 18+ priced separately |
| Palace and gardens tickets | Yes, pre-booked with fast-track entry | Guide holds the tickets and hands them out |
| Train tickets Paris to Versailles | Yes, round trip on the RER | Travel with a coordinator |
| Lunch and drinks | No | Buy your own |
| Hotel pickup and drop-off | No | Get to the meeting point yourself |
| Free cancellation | Yes, up to 24h before | No refund for missed tours |
Sources: Île-de-France Mobilités, Château de Versailles
The garden facade of the palace looks over the Parterre d'Eau, the two large basins below the terrace. Photo: DiscoA340, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
What the Day Is Really Like
This is a fixed-schedule half day. The train, the entry slot and the fountain schedule are all set in advance, and the guide keeps the group on that clock.
Meeting and the Train Out
Arrive at the meeting point 15 minutes before departure. The listing gives two possible start points: outside the Cafe Regalia at 1 Rue de la Convention near the Javel Andre Citroen metro on line 10, or the green newspaper kiosk on Boulevard de Vaugirard next to Montparnasse station, close to the Montparnasse-Bienvenue metro. Confirm which one your booking uses.
The staff wear an orange cap and an orange badge. The group then takes the RER to Versailles together, a ride of about 40 minutes each way, with the coordinator handling the tickets. The listing warns that finding a taxi in Paris can take a long time, so leave plenty of margin if you come by cab.
Hall of Mirrors and the Apartments
Inside the palace the group uses the pre-booked fast-track entry, which bypasses the ticket lines that form daily. The first stop is the Hall of Mirrors, about 30 minutes on the listing's itinerary, where the guide covers how it was built and what went on at court. The royal apartments follow before the group moves outside.
The Gardens, Then Back to Paris
The last block, about 60 minutes, is the gardens, once the setting for royal parties and firework displays. On fountain show days the fountains run to a precise schedule rather than continuously, and the guide times the route so the group is at the right fountain at the right moment. The operator's listing says Fountain Shows run on Saturdays and Sundays, plus Tuesdays in May and June and national holidays, from 1 April to 31 October, so confirm your date on the official Versailles calendar.
On other days in that period the gardens host the Musical Gardens with music in the groves. At the end of the guided 3 hours you are free to return to Paris on your own schedule on the RER.
The Hall of Mirrors
A slow walk down the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles. Third-party video by Aaron Gagnon. We did not shoot it and have no relationship with the creator.
Who This Tour Rules Out
The fixed train and the timed palace slot make this a poor fit for some travellers, and the gardens are hard work for anyone with limited mobility.
Late Sleepers and Flexible Plans
The group cannot miss the train, and the palace slot is fixed. The listing states plainly that late arrivals cannot be guaranteed a place and that tickets are non-refundable for missed tours. If you want a start time that bends, a self-guided day using your own RER ticket, covered in could you do it without a tour, removes that pressure entirely.
Travellers with Mobility Limits
The listing notes the gardens are not optimal for people with mobility issues or wheelchair users. The palace itself involves long walking stretches and the estate is large. The listing does say infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller, so young families are fine on the transport side, but push the gardens on foot with care.
Anyone Who Wants a Full Estate Day
Three guided hours cover the Hall of Mirrors, the apartments and the gardens, but not the Trianon estate, which sits about 30 minutes on foot from the palace through the gardens. If you want the Trianons and Marie Antoinette's village included, the Versailles bike tour with palace entry by train bundles those tickets with bikes and runs 8.5 hours. And if a half day in Versailles leaves room for more, the Giverny and Versailles day trip adds Monet's house at a cost of $151 over 11.5 hours.
For a different pace entirely, browse the other day tours from Paris on the homepage.
Could You Do It Without a Tour?
Versailles is one of the easiest trips from Paris by public transport. The honest answer is that the train is trivial, the tickets are the hard part, and that is exactly what this tour sells.
The Train Is Simple
The RER C runs from central Paris stops including Champ de Mars, Saint-Michel Notre-Dame and Musee d'Orsay to Versailles Chateau Rive Gauche in 30 to 35 minutes, and the station is a 10-minute walk from the palace. Trains from Montparnasse reach Versailles Chantiers, an 18-minute walk away, and trains from Saint-Lazare reach Versailles Rive Droite, 17 minutes away. A single Metro-Train-RER ticket costs €2.55 for an adult, with a reduced child fare of €1.30, so the round trip is a fraction of the tour price.
This makes Versailles one of the best-value day trips from Paris by train if you travel light on guiding.
Where the Tour Earns Its Price
Every visitor to the palace must book a timed slot, and the Passport ticket for the whole Estate costs €35 in the high season. Queues at the palace are a daily reality and the fast-track entry on a pre-booked group slot is genuinely valuable in summer. The guide holding your tickets removes the booking step altogether.
You are paying the difference for that slot, the fast-track entry and 3 hours of historical commentary, not for the transport.
The Monday Rule and the Gardens Charge
The Palace is closed on Mondays, so plan around that however you travel. The gardens are free in low season but charged on Musical Fountains and Musical Gardens days in the high season, and the Musical Fountains Show tickets cost €16 full rate for non-EEA visitors. Check the Palace of Versailles ticket page before you go either way.
Prices and fares on this page come from the operator listing and the official Versailles and Île-de-France sources.
Itinerary at a Glance
The listing states durations for each block rather than clock times, so the phases below follow the operator's own structure.
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Early morning
Meet the group
Arrive at the meeting point 15 minutes before departure, either outside Cafe Regalia at 1 Rue de la Convention near Javel Andre Citroen metro or at the green kiosk by Montparnasse, as your booking states. The staff wear an orange cap and orange badge.
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Early morning
RER to Versailles
Ride out with the coordinator on the RER, about 40 minutes each way. The train is fixed, so the group cannot wait for latecomers.
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Morning
Fast-track palace entry
Use the pre-booked timed slot to bypass the daily ticket lines. Your guide holds the entry tickets and hands them out at the meeting point.
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Morning
Hall of Mirrors
About 30 minutes in the Hall of Mirrors, with stories of how it was built and life at the court of Louis XIV, the Sun King.
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Midday
Royal apartments
Walk through the staterooms and royal apartments in the footsteps of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette with your English-speaking guide.
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Afternoon
The gardens and fountains
About 60 minutes in the French-style gardens. On fountain show days the guide times the route to the fountains' set schedule. On other high-season days music plays in the groves.
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Afternoon
Free return to Paris
After the 3 guided hours you are free to head back on the RER at your own pace, about 40 minutes to central Paris.
Pros and Cons
A straight read of what this listing does well and where it asks you to compromise.
What we genuinely like
- Palace, gardens and round-trip train tickets all in the $100.80 price
- Fast-track entry on a pre-booked timed slot, with the guide holding the tickets
- Small group of up to 20 with an English-speaking guide for 3 hours
- Half-day format leaves the rest of your Paris day free
- 4.7 rating from 1,061 verified reviews and free cancellation up to 24 hours before
The honest downsides
- No clock time for a slow start: the group cannot wait for late arrivals and missed tours are non-refundable
- No hotel pickup, and the meeting point is at Javel or Montparnasse rather than near most hotels
- Three guided hours skip the Trianon estate and Marie Antoinette's village
- Lunch, drinks and tips are extra
- The gardens are not optimal for wheelchair users or people with mobility issues
Who it's NOT for: Not for travellers who want a flexible start time, hotel pickup, the full estate including the Trianons, or wheelchair-friendly gardens.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does this Versailles tour from Paris by train cost?
The price is $100.80 per person, with children 4 to 17 and adults 18+ priced separately, and it includes the palace and gardens tickets with fast-track entry plus the round-trip RER tickets. Compare it with other options in the day tours from Paris roundup.
How long is the train ride from Paris to Versailles?
The listing allows about 40 minutes each way on the RER with the coordinator. On your own, the RER C from stops like Saint-Michel Notre-Dame takes 30 to 35 minutes to Versailles Chateau Rive Gauche, as set out in doing it without a tour.
Where do I meet the guide?
The listing gives two points: outside Cafe Regalia at 1 Rue de la Convention near Javel Andre Citroen metro, or the green newspaper kiosk on Boulevard de Vaugirard next to Montparnasse station. Confirm yours on the booking and arrive 15 minutes early, as explained in what the day is really like.
What happens if I am late?
The group must catch a fixed train and enter the palace on a pre-booked timed slot, so late arrivals cannot be guaranteed a place and tickets are non-refundable for missed tours. Cancel at least 24 hours before departure for a full refund instead.
Is lunch included on this tour?
No. The listing includes no lunch or drinks and excludes hotel pickup, so plan to eat before departure or near the palace. The full breakdown is in what the price actually covers.
Can I do Versailles without a tour?
Yes, and it is one of the easiest day trips from Paris by train: the RER C takes 30 to 35 minutes at €2.55 each way and the station is a 10-minute walk from the palace. You just have to book your own timed slot, with the Passport at €35 in high season.
When do the Versailles fountains run?
According to the operator's listing, from 1 April to 31 October Fountain Shows run on Saturdays and Sundays, plus Tuesdays in May and June and national holidays, and the fountains follow a set schedule rather than running all day. On other days in that period the gardens host the Musical Gardens, as covered in the gardens section.
Prices, availability and terms are set by the operator and confirmed at checkout.
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