Day at Versailles

I have read tons of information on Versailles website, but need a bit of guidances.

Do you recommend self-guided tour or with an audioguide or guided tour? My parents will be with me, they don%26#39;t speak very good English, so I though the audioguided tour (in 8 languages) might be helpful to them, assuming they might have it in Chinese.

On the website - there was a suggestion for a day%26#39;s activity vs. a weekend at Versailles. It seems like the day%26#39;s is more ideal for our schedule and it is hitting the major places such as the King%26#39;s Bedchamber, Grand Trianon, and Petit Trianon.

Help .. I need a bit of guidance!!

Thanks.

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Hi, Diva -

How nice to take your parents to Paris!

Versailles is enormous, overwhelming....and wonderful. Don%26#39;t know if they have audioguides in Chinese. If so, they would probably be adequate.

The most important thing is to get there EARLY (before the doors open at 9:00) to tour the State Apartments ahead of the worst of the crowds. If you have the Paris Museum Pass, you can use the special entrance for passholders. The Versailles Passport will also allow you to bypass the regular ticket line.

The Trianons and the Hamlet (my favorite areas, by far) are located quite a distance from the chateau. The ways to get out there are by foot, by tram and by golf cart (4 can ride in the golf cart). I highly recommend that you see them. You can enjoy the gardens along the way. The Trianons don%26#39;t open till noon, so they%26#39;re best left till after visiting the main chateau.

It was so crowded when we were there in September that, frankly, it was a relief to get out of the chateau and into the gardens. We arrived much later than intended, after ten o%26#39;clock, so that probably made things worse.

Cityrama and other tour companies offer half-day and day trips to Versailles.

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Thanks for your help! Where can I purchase Paris Museum pass? I will be visiting Museum Lourve and D%26#39;Orsay(sp??) as well, so it might be worth it?

I hope it won%26#39; be as crowded given the time of the year we%26#39;ll be in Paris, then again, you never know. I%26#39;ve heard nothing but marvelous things about Paris, seems like an all-year round place to visit!

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The self-directed audio-guide tours at Chateau de Versailles are available in several languages--%26quot;...French, English, German, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Russian, and *** Mandarin Chinese ***...%26quot;. There is no mention of what languages any of the Personally Guided Tours are offered in...but it%26#39;s a pretty good bet that Chinese-language tour guides will be fewer and farther between...so the audio-guides may be all that is available to you on the day of your visit. But with this in mind, you might try using their CONTACT US feature and e-mailing them at: direction.public@chateauversailles.fr to ask if...and when...any such personally guided, Chinese-language tours are available. In adition to this, you might also check around to find any Chinese-language guidebooks for Paris that include a section on Versaille if your parents are more comfortable in Chinese than in English. Given a world population of 2 billion Chinese-speaking potential customers, I%26#39;m sure that at least a few publishers offer them. The same Chinese-language guidebook may also prove useful to them for the rest of Paris. If you have connections within you local Chinese-speaking community, you might more easily inquire about any available among them.

As has also been suggeted, the major tour operators in Paris (Paris Vision, Cityrama) offer escorted tours to Versailles from Paris. Though I don%26#39;t know if they offer any with Chinese-language guides...I do know that on at least one occasion (a Loire chateaux day-trip) we wound up on a mixed-language tour where the same tour guide translated everything she said into Spanish, Italian, English and (of all languages) Japanese (remarkably fluent according to one of the Japanese tourists we spoke to during the day) She did all this while also carrying on a conversation with the bus driver in her native French. I was IMPRESSED...especially with the apparent ease with which she accomplished this. She seemed to be able to switch languages with more ease than most people flick light switchs On and Off..answering questions as well as providing commentary...so it wasn%26#39;t %26#39;scripted%26#39;. Here again, you would have to contact the tour operators directly to find out if/when any Chinese-language guides are available.

PARIS VISION--

http://www.parisvision.com/fr/index.cfm

CITYRAMA--

http://www.graylineparis.com/

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I just got out some of the free brochures I picked up while at Versailles. One says the guided tours of the chateau are only in French and English.

The Paris museum pass (which includes Versailles) can be bought at most metro stations and at any of the covered attractions themselves. We got ours (5-day) at the Archaeological Crypt in front of Notre Dame. There was no one there - just walked down the stairs, stepped up to the ticket window and plunked down our credit card.

I agree with KDKSail that your parents would benefit from guidebooks in Chinese. Some really great ones are: DK EYEWITNESS PARIS, ACCESS PARIS, Rick Steves%26#39; PARIS 2005 (includes a lot of good, practical info plus %26quot;walks%26quot; of different areas, including Versailles).

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The website for the museum pass is:

www.parismuseumpass.fr

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I am quite sure that the guided tours offered by the guides of the Chateau a re not offered in Chinese, so i guess your best bet is an audioguide.A whole day in Versailles is great, then you can see all the gardens, walk or take the train to the Grand and Petit Trianon. Also the Hamlet is very nice but you need to walk quite a lot, especially afterwards to go back to the train station.

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One other (perhaps-not-so-minor) detail about CHATEAU de VERSAILLES is that you can now rent %26#39;..golf-carts..%26#39; to transport yourself around the grounds (alas...no carts allowed in the State Apartments or Hall of Mirrors). If there are any personal mobilty issues involved with your proposed visit, these rental carts can greatly expand your %26#39;range%26#39; about the sprawling grounds--

chateauversailles.fr/en/590_Facilities.php…

%26quot;...- electric vehicles accessible for persons with limited mobility make it possible for you to wander along five itineraries, departure point South Terrace (discovery of the Gardens, Trianon and the Queen’s Hamlet, tour of the Grand Canal, complete visit of the Estate) –

01 39 66 97 66...%26quot;

There%26#39;s also a %26#39;..tourist train..%26#39; which makes a %26#39;circuit%26#39; of the grounds--

www.train-versailles.com

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The golf carts (which I mentioned above, in my first post) are 20E per hour. You can keep it as long as you want. We loved the golf cart, but were always mentally %26quot;watching the clock%26quot; and tended to hurry thru the Hamlet and the Trianons more than we would have otherwise.

You might like the little train with your parents. It%26#39;s a lot cheaper (tickets somewhere around 5E each), and it%26#39;s hop-on/ hop-off. Goes to both Trianons but NOT the Hamlet. However, there are paths between all three of these. The nearest to the Hamlet is the Petit Trianon. If your parents can walk without trouble, the Hamlet is just wonderful....about my favorite thing of everything I saw in Paris.

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Thanks guys! All these posts are just great and will be very helpful! Whew, that%26#39;s one day planning done!! :) Although it was the one I worried about the most given the sheer size of the place.

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One thing about the museum pass ( carte musee) is that it comes in one, three, and five day versions...You write in the date you first use it on the back and the clock starts running..So plan your visits to Louvre, d%26#39;Orsay, and Versailles on three consecutive days after confirming they are all open on the necessary days and you%26#39;ll get your money%26#39;s worth right there....

The golf carts sound wonderful but expensive...The trams are made for little French derrieres but probably the easiest way to get from the grand chateau to le Hameau and the Trianons..The big hauls are chateau to those three and then back from the last one you visit...Without any walking limitations, it%26#39;s a nice stroll from Hameau to Petit Trianon and Grand Trianon after that...However, you%26#39;ll be walking plenty so you might want to wait for the petits trains as the trams are called....Be alert for the French queuing system....which is to say, sauve qui peut!...Every man for himself...It can get chaotic when there are crowds...

I understood that bikes could be rented as well and perhaps they would make a cheaper alternative to the golf carts..