Our Versailles tour: Through The Hidden Doors

Private tour to Versailles with skip the Line & Hotel Pick-up/Drop-off

This tour has been expertly crafted to offer those of you who have already visited Versaille to delve deeper into the history of Versailles and see parts of the chateau you had never seen before. .

While our Unmissables tour focuses more on the construction of the Palace, the establishment of the royal court in Versailles and the reign of the Sun King (Louis XIV), this exclusive tour explores the history from the reign of King Louis XV and XVI and the French Revolution of 1789 that led to the end of the Monarchy.

During this exclusive visit, you will have the privilege to discover the private rooms of Louis XV & XVI, which are not accessible to the public during the classic visit.

These rooms not only contain some remarkable works of art but they also shed light on the more private life and individual personalities of these last two Kings. The rooms are reserved and semi-privatized for you. As part of the visit you will also be able to visit inside either the Royal Opéra or the Royal Chapel (depending on which one is open at the time) which are only open to a select few.

Opening Days
6/7 (except Monday)

Meeting-Point
Your hotel or apartment

Duration
5Hrs (half day)
9Hrs (full day)

Access
Skip the Line

Transport
Executive car

Type of tour
Private, up to 17 people

Choose a 5 star tour to Versailles.

Driving a car and telling interesting stories require different specific skills. For maximum enjoyment and safety, we propose you to be guided by an expert, licensed tour guide and driven by a specific chauffeur.
This way, your Versailles specialist guide will be completely dedicated to you with more time on his/ her hand to share entertaining stories and anecdotes. Meanwhile your safety and comfort will be taken care of by a professional driver.

What’s included?

We escort you (round trip) from your hotel to the Palace.
Relax in our executive car with Chauffeur.
Enjoy a private tour with a friendly Versailles expert really dedicated to you. (the guide does not drive)
Feel like a Queen: skip-the-line tickets & rooms are semi-privatized.
Admission to Musical Fountains Show or Musical Gardens included when running. (Gardens of Versailles when not running)
Headsets (if necessary) so you can always hear your guide.

Tour Highlights

Visit the private Apartments of the Kings Louis XV & XVI.
Visit the Apartments of the Queen.
Visit the Hall of mirrors.
Best of the 70 hectares of the Gardens.
Marie Antoinette’s Estate (Petit Trianon & Queen’s Hamlet) if you choose the full day tour.

Tour Description

Important information

Tour Description

Half day tour

Once you arrive at Versailles, you will skip the queue and enter the Palace via the reserved group entrance. The Apartments of King Louis XV and XVI have limited access which means not only will you avoid the majority of the crowd but you will also learn about the undisclosed world of the French monarchs. All of our guides are fully qualified professionals who are passionate about Versailles and will be delighted to share with you all the secrets of the palace.

Note: To be able to guide in the Private Apartments, our tour guides have to be fully licensed by the government as well as undergoing specialized training from Versailles Palace itself. Only a handful of guides have this obligatory double training. You can be sure you are getting the best of the best.

It was King Louis XIV – The Sun King who first created a suite of rooms for himself and his most intimate courtiers, away from crowds allowing him a measure of a private life. Later these rooms were extended and adapted by Kings Louis XV and Louis XVI, to suit their personal interests and needs. Visiting this part of the Palace is a unique opportunity to get to know more about the real characters of the royal family and to take get a closer look into their private lives .

Among the many rooms you will visit is the Dogs’ Room which, as its name suggests, was specially created for Louis XV’s favorite dogs to sleep in. At Versailles, even dogs had a lived in the lap of luxury! You will also explore the Dispatches Room, whose walls heard many of the private discussions between Louis XV and his secret agents. Your guide will not miss out the Clock Room, with its famous astronomical clock, a masterpiece of science and art, and at last but not least, the Royal Dining Room where the young Mozart performed in front of the Royal family.

To complete your visit to the private Apartments, you will also have the chance to see either the Royal Opera or the Royal Chapel (depending on the opening hours). The Opera, though started by Louis XIV, was not finished until 1770 to celebrate the wedding of the future King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, despite its grandeur over the next 20 years less than 25 performances would actually be held there!

The Royal Chapel was designed by the Hardouin-Mansart, one of Versailles most celebrated architects. Sadly he never saw his masterpiece finished as he passed away 2 years before its completion. One of the most famous of the Chapel’s events was the wedding of the young Marie Antoinette, only 15 at the time, and the crown prince, future Louis XVI.

The Louis XV clock

Zoom on the Louis XV Clock

Beautiful corridor ans stairs with marbles on the wall.

Beautiful door

In the background, the clock of louis XV

Clock Louis XVI

Your tour to Versailles cannot be complete without seeing the gardens.

With its 70 hectares, the gardens are vast and not surprisingly, it is easy to get lost among the many different alleys. Your expert tour guide will walk with you through special paths to his/ her selection of the best places to see. When the gardens were designed, the King was 26 and he had a love for art and all things beautiful. For him and for the men of his time, beauty meant the Classical Antiquity. King Louis identified himself with Apollon (nothing less!), the God of Sun in Greek and Roman Mythology. Each bosket, fountain and statue have been designed to tell the stories of this Greek mythology.

Together with your tour guide, immerse yourself in learning and in revealing the meaning behind the many wonders of the gardens! During your visit, you will also see the Orangerie and its amazing 2000 orange trees, the French gardens as well as the English garden.

Full day tour

Your tour will include everything as described above plus the following:
During your lunch, you will have the chance to relax and enjoy the beauty of the park and take hearty lunch in one of the restaurants (your guide will be happy to give you recommendations).
After lunch, your walk will take you to the Estate of Marie-Antoinette which forms part of the larger Trianon Estate.
Visit the Petit Trianon, a royal residence gifted to Marie Antoinette from her husband, allowing her to take refuge from the strict rules of the royal court. The famous Queen created a world of her own in this part of the estate, with the hamlet of cottages, a mill, farm animals and a dairy. Animals are still roaming the fields here, for the joy of many children!

This is a unique occasion to see, feel and appreciate the life of the most well known Queen of France.

At the end of the visit, your tour guide and his driver will take you back to Paris at the location of your choice.

Important information

Please Note:

If you book this tour with transport, we expect to meet you in Paris. If we should meet you outside Paris, please contact us before booking to get the rate. (airport, or anywhere in the suburb)

How to book this tour?

This tour is available every day except on Monday. (the Palace is closed)

The Palace sells a limited number of tickets with direct access to professional travel agencies ONLY. These sell out very quickly. In high season (April-August), we advise you to book 6 weeks advance, if it’s possible. Otherwise, please try to book an afternoon tour when the Palace is less busy.
If you book less than 6 weeks in advance, please provide us with alternative dates and/ or times, if it’s possible.

How to book this tour as a gift?

Why not offer some fun and educational ?

You can buy this tour for you and your family or buy it as a gift to your friends or relatives. To buy this tour as a gift, just click on the red button “buy as a gift” on the booking form and follow the instruction. You can pay by Visa, Mastercard, Amex or Paypal. Then, you will get a gift card and a Voucher number. The lucky one will be able to apply this number and he will be able to choose the date of his visit to Versailles online. They have 1 year to make this private tour after buying the gift card.

Further points:

Musical Fountain Shows (fountains display with music): available every Saturday and Sunday between March to October & Tuesday from end of May until end of June.
Musical Gardens (no water displays): available every Tuesday & Friday between March to October.
Half Day tours: lunch break is not included. If you start your tour between 09:30am – 12:30pm, you will not have time to have lunch, unless you shorter the tour.
Full Day tours: lunch break is included. (meals are not included in the price)
Luggage can be stored only at special request, in advance and it accrues an extra cost. Please Contact Us, if you require this service!
Children count for one participant.
For information on accessibility and wheelchair use, please refer to our FAQs or Contact Us directly.

Helpful Hints

As the Palace & its gardens are huge, we suggest you wear sneakers and comfortable clothes. Moreover, a bottle of water and some sunscreen will be welcome during the visit of the Gardens on Summer. On Winter, we advise you to wear some warm clothes for a best experience.

The best day to visit the Palace is on Saturday & Sunday: all the fountains are functional during the Fountains Shows. The fountains are working on Saturday & Sunday from April to October. The Musical Fountains show works on Tuesday and Friday.

Renovation

The Queen’s apartment are closed for refurbishment until 2017. We propose you to replace these rooms with The Mesdames’ apartments. These rooms will give you an idea of what women apartment look like.

The Mesdames’ apartments were recently restored (2013) to their state of princely apartments. Mesdames, as the six daughters of Louis XV were referred to, settled there in 1752, but only two of them, Adelaide and Victoire – who did not marry and lived a long life – lived there until the revolution.

Safety 's Note

Next to the reinforcement of the security to enter in the Palace, the control may take longer than usual. Our skip the line tickets enable us to avoid the long queue. However you may have to wait a bit for the checking , especially during the high season.

Price list for the half day

Number of people	Total Price all included
2 persons	590€ / pers
3 persons	460€ / pers
4 persons	380€ / pers
5 persons	336€ / pers
6 persons	300€ / pers
More than 6 persons	On request

Price list for the full day

Number of people	Total Price (except lunch)
2 persons	715€ / Pers
3 persons	560€ / Pers
4 persons	470€ / Pers
5 persons	420€ / Pers
6 persons	375€ / Pers
More than 6 persons	On request

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Customization & option

Electric golf cart are available in the gardens. It may be an option for people with limited mobility or for people who want to save their feet! The palace doesn’t allow to book in advance this extra except if you need more than 5 golf carts. Our guide accompanies you to the golf cart’s provider (it cost €35/hour as an extra). Mandatory presentation of a driving licence. You ll have the occasion to ask about this option when you’ll meet your guide during your trip by car from your hotel in Paris to Versailles.
In case you choose the Full day, a mini-train will take you to and from the Estate of Marie-Antoinette (Petit Trianon), Grand Trianon and Little Venice (7,50€ / pers). It is a good idea to avoid the walk from the castle to the Marie Antoinette Estate. We don’t charge you for this extra. You just pay the basic price to the provider if you wish to take this option. This option can be discussed directly with your guide when you meet her/him in the morning.
Test a boat experience on the Grand canal of the park of Versailles. It is nice and fun with Children or romantic for an engagment.
Experience a real 100% VIP experience: discover the gardens &/or the Palace outside opening hours. Contact us for more info.

Any questions? Contact us