Paris to Versailles by private car — your driver waits all day

Versailles is the shortest journey we run and one of the most booked, for a reason that has nothing to do with distance. The RER C works, but it puts you at Versailles Château–Rive Gauche station, twenty minutes’ walk from the entrance, and it puts you back there at the end of a day in which you have walked eight or nine kilometres around the estate.

A private car removes both walks and the return queue. You are dropped at the Place d’Armes, your driver parks, and when you come out — whether that is at two o’clock or at closing — the car is there. Bags, coats and anything you bought at the Grand Trianon stay in the boot all day.

Distance

22 km

Drive time

45 min each way

Day length

6–8 h door to door

From

€90

The estate is much bigger than people plan for

The palace itself takes about two hours with an audio guide. The gardens, the Grand Canal, the Grand Trianon, the Petit Trianon and Marie-Antoinette’s hamlet are another three to four, and the walk from the palace to the hamlet is two kilometres each way. A day that does all of it is a seven- or eight-hour day on your feet.

That is the argument for the private car in one sentence: the trip back is the part you will be least willing to do on public transport, and it is the part the RER makes hardest.

When to go, and when not to

Versailles is closed on Mondays. Tuesday is the worst day of the week because it absorbs the Monday closures of the Paris museums. The Hall of Mirrors is at its emptiest in the first hour after opening at 09:00 and after 16:00.

The Musical Fountains Show runs on weekends from April to October and on some Tuesdays; the gardens are ticketed on those days and the fountains only play to a schedule. If you want them, tell us and we will time the arrival to the first sequence.

What pairs well with Versailles

Because the drive is short, Versailles is the easiest half of a two-stop day.

Common pairings

• Giverny — 1 h 15 across the top of Paris, the two most-booked half days combined
• Fontainebleau — 1 hour south, quieter, and arguably the better interior
• Chartres — 1 hour west, the finest medieval stained glass in France
• CDG or Orly airport — arrive, visit Versailles, then on to your hotel

What makes this journey different

• Door to door in 45 minutes, dropped at the palace gates
• Driver waits all day — no fixed return time, no RER queue
• Combine with Giverny, Fontainebleau or Chartres in the same day
• Direct from CDG, Orly or Beauvais if Versailles is your arrival-day stop
• Child seats and boot space for the whole family

How the day runs

1. 08:15Pick-up in Paris

   From your hotel or apartment, before the morning entry slots.

2. 09:00Palace of Versailles

   Dropped at the Place d’Armes. The State Apartments and the Hall of Mirrors first.

3. 11:30Gardens and Trianons

   The Grand Canal, the Grand and Petit Trianon, and the Queen’s hamlet.

4. 15:30Optional second stop

   Fontainebleau, Chartres or straight back.

5. 16:30Back in Paris

   Or on to your airport if you are flying out.

What the price includes

• The whole vehicle, not a seat: four people pay what one person pays.
• All motorway tolls and fuel, on both legs of the journey.
• Your driver’s waiting time at every stop, with no meter running.
• Parking charges at the sites you visit.
• Baby, child and booster seats, fitted free on request.
• Flight tracking and free waiting time if your plane lands late.
• Bottled water, phone chargers and Wi-Fi on board.
• A written invoice, issued by a licensed French VTC operator.

Frequently asked questions

Other journeys out of Paris