Château de Versailles, Versailles, France

The Château de Versailles, which has been on UNESCO’s World Heritage List for 30 years, is one of the most beautiful achievements of 18th-century French art. The site began as Louis XIII’s hunting lodge before his son Louis XIV transformed and expanded it, moving the court and government of France to Versailles in 1682. Each of the three French kings who lived there until the French Revolution added improvements to make it more beautiful.

The Hall of Mirrors, the King’s Grand Apartments, the Museum of the History of France. The Château de Versailles, the seat of power until 1789, has continued to unfurl its splendour over the course of centuries. At first it was just a humble hunting lodge built by Louis XIII. But Louis XIV chose the site to build the palace we know today, the symbol of royal absolutism and embodiment of classical French art.

In the 1670s Louis XIV built the Grand Apartments of the King and Queen, whose most emblematic achievement is the Hall of Mirrors designed by Mansart, where the king put on his most ostentatious display of royal power in order to impress visitors. The Chapel and Opera were built in the next century under Louis XV.

The château lost its standing as the official seat of power in 1789 but acquired a new role in the 19th century as the Museum of the History of France, which was founded at the behest of Louis-Philippe, who ascended to the throne in 1830. That is when many of the château’s rooms were taken over to house the new collections, which were added to until the early 20th century, tracing milestones in French history.

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Château de Versailles

User Reviews

Hui Xiang Liu (45 days ago)
Bought tickets online. Versailles was of course magnificent but the vast numbers of visitors meant I took mostly pictures of ceilings. Don’t miss the carriage museum over the road which was included in our ticket. It was one of best bits, in my opinion.

bouchekoum nesrine (45 days ago)
The garden its huge so it could take you 3 hours to fully see everything. I would plan a better weather day to go (raining), so you could enjoy the boat ride, the palace itself, we could not make it ut was fully booked and no places were left

Chryso N. (2 months ago)
Such a beautiful place to visit. Definitely one of the most amazing palaces I've visited in the world. If you love history you'd definitely love this place! It was very busy, but we went during a very busy time of tve year so that was expected. The gardens are gorgeous and you can easily spend a few hours in this Palace. I'd highly recommend ??❤️

Prodromos Peios (2 months ago)
The Palace of Versailles is one of the most beautiful places in the world, I visited it a couple of years ago with my mother and we booked it 6 weeks early. We also selected the package of visiting the personal chambers of the king, so a lot of my pictures are from there. If you intend to visit, I strongly suggest you check their website first and book your tickets in advance. The tour guide might not know good English, so be sure to use any audio guide that may be available. Finally if you have time, try to visit the gardens, which are exciting! We didn’t go this time because our schedule was tight, but be sure to do so! You can also buy food from inside the palace or bring your own, it’s up to you!

Heather (4 months ago)
It’s a major pain to buy tickets in person and wait in the entry line. Both lines are incredibly long and take hours, even in old, windy, rainy weather in late October…and while normally I’d NEVER wait in a line that long for anything, this was worth it. It’s also a madhouse, super crowded and will peeve you, but my god I’ve never seen anything like this palace. It’s insane. Epic, grand, ornate, doesn’t do it justice. Feels like a wonder of the world. It’s worth a day trip if you want to explore the gardens. I walked over 5mi and didn’t even make a dent in the gardens, so I’d plan to arrive early and bring good walking shoes. Also an umbrella! Whether raining like it was on me or sunny, the line is so long you’ll want to have something with you to protect against the elements. The palace is so intricate and luxurious it’s hard to wrap your mind around and it certainly makes you understand why the French had a revolution. It’s astonishing and will leave you speechless, angry, and amazed. A very memorable sight to see and a highlight of the trip.

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