Item
RER C, Paris to Versailles and back (×2)
Zone 4, inside the all-zone Navigo Semaine already on each phone. No separate ticket, no extra cost today.
Day 13 of 18 · Paris
Versailles, a full day out.
Château at opening · the Musical Fountains in the gardens · Trianon · clocks changed last night
☼ 57°F / 46°FCloudWear: Warm layers, comfortable shoes, umbrella, the gardens are huge and exposed. Clocks went back an hour overnight, you gained an hour; sunset is now ~17:45.
Foot check before you leave: blister plasters + a spare pair of socks in the daypack. The estate is enormous, and today has no easy short-cut.
School-holiday week in France · busier than a normal weekday
Clocks go back today · you gain an hour, dusk is earlier
Clocks went back in the early hours today (EU + UK). You gained an hour. Sunset is now about an hour earlier by the clock (~17:45 in Paris), so the outdoor half of the day, the gardens and the fountains, wants to happen earlier, and London will be dark by ~16:30 once you're there. Phones update on their own; check any watch or camera that doesn't. All reservation times on this site are already local clock time, nothing moves.
A Sunday, so the Grandes Eaux Musicales (the Musical Fountains) run in the gardens, the fountains set to Baroque music. Palace first, then the fountains and Trianon. Note the gardens close early today, at 17:30. You also change hotels today, Marriott to L'Empire, handled around the day trip.
Today’s shape, roughly
Optional, before the day starts. A 1-hour gym session or a run (nearest option is on the Paris page), and an afternoon nap block is built into the schedule below, take it on the long days.
01Morning
07:45
Check out of the Marriott. Big bags to L'Empire's front desk for the day if you called ahead, otherwise to the Marriott bell desk. Keep a day bag.
08:30
RER C from a central station to Versailles Château Rive Gauche (~40 min).
Already covered, nothing to buy. The Navigo Semaine on each phone (bought on arrival the 21st) is an all-zone pass, zones 1-5, and Versailles is zone 4, so this ride and the return are already paid for, same as every other Metro/RER trip today. Just tap in and out. station
09:30-12:00
Château de Versailles, timed entry on the pass. The State Apartments, the Hall of Mirrors (357 mirrors, gold, the treaty that ended WWI was signed here), the King's and Queen's rooms.
02Afternoon
12:30
Lunch in the town (Rue de Satory) or a garden kiosk. See Meals.
14:00
The gardens with the Musical Fountains running, walk the groves as the fountains come alive to Lully and Handel, then the Grand and Petit Trianon and Marie-Antoinette's Hameau (her fake peasant village with real animals). Rent bikes or a golf cart if the legs are done, the estate is enormous.
All confirmed on the ticket itself: music in the gardens 10:00 to 19:00, and the groves (bosquets) open 9:00 to 19:00, which the ticket calls an exceptional opening, so the fountain groves that are usually shut are all walkable today. The ticket also names 25 October in its own early-closure list: the gardens are evacuated and closed at 17:30. Be walking back toward the gates by 17:00.
17:00
Out of the gardens, RER C back to Paris.
03Evening
18:15
If the bags are at the Marriott, collect them, then a taxi to L'Empire (1st arr) and check in, booked, king bed confirmed. If they went to L'Empire this morning, you're already home.
19:15
Laundry tonight at Laverie Saint-Honoré, 72 rue Saint-Honoré, near L'Empire. Allow 75-90 minutes for wash and dry; it is listed open until 22:00. This frees tomorrow's afternoon for the cathedral, avenue walk and LV. If Versailles runs late, hotel valet or an early wash tomorrow is the fallback.
21:00
Easy late dinner near L'Empire, plat du jour. This is a flexible meal, not a reservation. See Meals.
The table
Lunch~$50
A Versailles-town bistro (Rue de Satory) or a garden crêpe
house pick Rue de Satory behind the château has honest lunch spots the day-trippers miss. In the gardens, the Angelina kiosk does a decent croque and a crêpe.
Order: A galette complète (buckwheat, ham, egg, cheese) and a bowl of cider.
Dinner~$60
A bistro near the Louvre, plat du jour
house pick Nothing ambitious tonight. Le Fumoir, Juveniles (a wine bar), or whatever's buzzing near Palais-Royal.
Order: The plat du jour on the board, a glass of the natural wine the owner recommends, a crème caramel.
Tickets and bookings
Zone 4, inside the all-zone Navigo Semaine already on each phone. No separate ticket, no extra cost today.
Item
Château de Versailles + Trianon (on the Museum Pass, book the timed slot)*
inbox, search “Versailles”
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Grandes Eaux Musicales, garden ticket (×2)
€30 total (€15pp), a separate garden ticket on a separate site (chateauversailles-spectacles.fr), NOT on the Museum Pass. Not a timed slot, it is valid all day, so the 09:30 palace entry comes first and the gardens follow. Four gates take this ticket: Cour des Princes (the main one, via the Cour d'Honneur), Petite Venise, Ménagerie, and the Grille de Neptune et du Dragon, so if one has a queue, walk to another. One entry, plus a second entry through a gate you did not use the first time. Order number and barcodes are on the Drive voucher.
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Hotel changeover, Marriott to L'Empire
L'Empire's front desk for an early bag drop (call ahead), or the Marriott holds them. Taxi with the bags in the evening.
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L'Empire Paris - Louvre hotel stay
* free with the Museum Pass, no cancellation fee, nothing lost if plans change.
+ add this day to your calendarToday's voucher: Château de Versailles palace entry (PDF) (Google Drive). Other confirmations remain in the private trip Drive folder. Only travelers with access can open linked files; no ticket contents are embedded here.
Before you leave the door
Insider edge
Go straight into the Château at your timed slot, the Hall of Mirrors is wall-to-wall by 11:30. Then give the gardens the afternoon while the fountains run, but the gardens shut early today at 17:30, so be heading back by 17:00. The RER C drops you a 10-minute walk from the gates; don't taxi it.
House pickAvoid this
Trying to also do central Paris today, Versailles is a full day. And skipping the fountains to save €10 each, they only run on weekends and you happen to be here on one.
House pickBackup move
Strike on the RER C (common) to Transilien line N or L to Versailles Chantiers, or a rideshare. Or drop Versailles entirely: Musée d'Orsay + Rodin + a Seine walk + Sainte-Chapelle, all on the pass.
House pickIdeal window
Château at 09:30 opening; the fountains run to a timed programme through the afternoon (check the day's sheet on arrival); gardens close 17:30.
House pickIf time, or if a deal lands
| Option | Added | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Skip Versailles to Orsay + Rodin + Saint-Germain | +$-38 | gentler day, all on the pass |
| Disneyland Paris, full day (replaces Versailles) | +$150 | Julian: “Beauty and the Beast ride, small park, cheap fast-passes” · cheapest Tue/Wed |
What today runs
Estimates. Swap in the real figure as you go.
| RER C, Paris to Versailles and back (covered by Navigo Semaine) | $0 |
| Château + Trianon (on Museum Pass) | $0 |
| Grandes Eaux Musicales, garden ticket (×2) | $33 |
| Apartment changeover, taxi with bags | $16 |
| Laundry, Laverie Saint-Honoré (wash + dry, ×2) | $20 |
| Lunch, Versailles town / garden crêpe | $50 |
| Coffee + crêpe in the gardens | $12 |
| Dinner, a Louvre-area bistro | $60 |
| Today, Paris | $191 |
Flights and the places to stay are on the costs page, not counted here.
How it went
Written after the day: what you did, what you loved, what you'd skip, the photographs, a voice note or two. It fills in here and in the album.