Versailles Palace and Gardens - France

The Gardens at Versailles were one of the most beautiful things that I had the pleasure of seeing when I visited France. As a matter of fact I wasn't looking forwards to the fact that we were going to take a train from Paris to Versailles and basically spend the entire day down there. After we went I have to admit that it had to be one of the most calming and relaxing experiences during the entire trip. This place is really up to each person on how they want to enjoy it. I personally had such a good time seeing the gardens that I never even went into the palace.

The Palace and the Gardens are both something that is worth seeing, and the hall of mirrors is something that a lot of people find very interesting. ( I personally loved it, but at the same time it was a little creepy). The Palace was first built as a hunting lodge but later became the location for the palace. While I do think that the history of this place is very interesting and time and work that it took to create both the Palace and the Garden is amazing I am for excited to tell you about the gardens and how amazing they actually are.

The gardens are actually very large and take a long time to see. As I stated before I wasn't that excited about going to the gardens in the first place, but once we got there, I decided to split up from the rest of my party and look around on my own. I spend a lot of time wandering around fountains and looking at scupltures that line certain areas of the gardens. There are so many fountains throughout the entire garden and each one is different from another one. While its easy to sit here on my computer and say that they looked amazing it's something that can be hard to put into words, even the photos that I have don't do it justice. Whenever you visit the gardens make sure to pay special attention to the fountains and the details that each fountain has.

Also I found out that it can be very easy to get lost in these gardens, there are even sections that almost resemeble a maze. In these areas the hedges are so tall and the walkways just wide enough that when looking down the path it looks as if you are entering a maze. However once you starting walking them they aren't all that bad, just be prepared to take your time, just in case you happen to take a wrong turn, but don't worry even if you take a wrong turn you will always be able to find your way out, even if its not at the same location that entered the hedges at.

While the gardens are beautiful and the fountains are amazing when I visited there were other things that you could do. For instance I had a friend that found he wanted to spend most of his time sitting on the steps to the palace sketching. Some of the pieces were amazing. There are also places that you can rent bicyles to ride around the gardens and see more in a shorter time (please note that while you are on a bicyle there are still going to be a lot of people walking on foot, so take notice of them). Also around a little lake or pond depending on what you call it people were sitting and reading and eating lunch. Some even were renting canoes to go out on the water.

While this might not make it sound like the best experience it really is and I hope that you will make a trip to see the beauty in the gardens. Just make sure that try and go on a pleasant day where the tempurature will be comfortable and there won't be rain. Also make sure that you plan to wear good shoes that you can walk in a good bit. And last but not least don't cut yourself short on time, if you have no other choice that is one thing, but try and plan a lot of time to see the gardens and if you want to see the palace make sure that you give yourself even more time. This will help to make sure that you make the most of your trip.

Opening times depend on the season as gotten from the official website

From 1 November to 31 March (low season)

Palace
Closed Mondays
9 am - 5.30 pm
Ticket offices close at 4:50

Trianon Palaces and Marie-Antoinette's Estate
Closed Mondays
12 pm - 5.30 pm
 Ticket office closes at 4.50 pm

Garden and Park
Closed Mondays
8 am - 6 pm

From 1 April to 31 October (high season)

Palace
Closed Mondays
9 am - 6.30 pm
Ticket office closes at 5.50 pm

Trianon Palaces and Marie-Antoinette's Estate
Closed Mondays
12 pm - 6.30 pm
Ticket office closes at 5.50 pm

Garden
Open every day
8 am - 8:30 pm

Park
Open every day
7 am - 7 pm for vehicles; 7 am - 8.30 pm for pedestrians