Opening hours for the palace, the Trianon Estate and the gardens, high and low season, closing days, last admission and the best time to avoid the crowds.
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The Palace of Versailles opens its doors at 9am, Tuesday to Sunday. In high season (1 April to 31 October), the palace stays accessible until 6.30pm; in low season (1 November to 31 March), closing is brought forward to 5.30pm.
But Versailles isn’t a single building: it’s an estate. The palace, the Trianon Estate and the gardens don’t share the same opening hours, nor the same closing days. That’s the first source of confusion for anyone discovering the site — and the reason we suggest reading the table below before you book.
The detailed hours come from the official site (chateauversailles.fr). They vary by season and may be changed occasionally (events, public holidays, operational reasons). Always check the exact hours for your date before you set off.
Here’s the summary table of opening hours for each part of the estate, in high and low season. Above all, remember two things: the palace is closed every Monday, and the Trianon Estate only opens at noon.
| Site | High season (1 Apr–31 Oct) | Low season (1 Nov–31 Mar) | Days |
|---|---|---|---|
| Palace | 9am – 6.30pm | 9am – 5.30pm | Tuesday to Sunday |
| Trianon Estate | 12pm – 6.30pm | 12pm – 5.30pm | Tuesday to Sunday |
| Gardens | 8am – 8.30pm | 8am – 6pm approx. | Every day |
| Park (Grand Canal, avenues) | 7am – 8.30pm approx. | 8am – 6pm approx. | Every day |
Indicative hours based on the official site chateauversailles.fr (2026). Opening hours vary by season and may change; check your date before visiting. Last admission to the palace and the Trianon is around 30 to 60 minutes before closing.
The palace and the Trianon Estate are closed every Monday, all year round. It’s the rule that catches out most visitors: you arrive on a Monday morning, and the palace doors stay shut.
Three annual closing days are added for the whole site:
Good to know: the gardens and the park generally stay open on Monday, even when the palace is closed. So if your only free day is a Monday, you can devote the day to the gardens, the Grand Canal and the surroundings of the estate — without going into the palace.
The closing time isn’t the time at which you can still get in. Last admission to the palace and the Trianon Estate is around 30 to 60 minutes before closing, to allow the final visitors to move through.
In practice, in high season, aim to enter the palace by 5.45pm at the latest to enjoy the State Apartments at leisure; in low season, plan for 4.45pm instead. The ticket desk and ticket checks close before the official posted time.
And don’t forget that visiting the palace alone — State Apartments, Hall of Mirrors, King’s and Queen’s apartments — easily takes 1.5 to 2 hours. Arriving an hour before closing means condemning yourself to rushing.
The gardens open well before the palace — around 8am — and close much later, until 8.30pm in high season. It’s a boon for anyone wanting to enjoy the estate without crowds: a morning stroll through the groves, or a golden end of day along the Grand Canal.
The park, larger still (the Grand Canal stretches 1.5 km), follows similar but slightly wider hours. In low season, gardens and park close earlier, around 6pm, with nightfall.
Note: on Musical Fountains or Musical Gardens days, garden access becomes paid in high season, and the fountains follow a precise timetable. The show is worth the detour, but it changes the atmosphere — and the crowd levels.
The fountains in the gardens don’t flow all the time: they come to life only on Musical Fountains and Musical Gardens days, mainly weekends and certain spring and summer dates, in high season.
On those days, the basins are turned on in sequences, according to a programme published by the official site — typically mid-morning, then in the afternoon, with a spectacular finale at the Neptune Basin. As the sequence times change from one day to the next, check the day’s programme before you travel.
If your priority is to see the fountains in action, time your visit for a Musical Fountains day. If you’re mainly after peace and quiet, a day without fountains will give you more tranquil gardens — and access is then often free off-season.
With nearly 8 million visitors a year, Versailles has very pronounced peaks. Choosing your hour and your day well radically changes the experience.
The quietest hours:
The busiest hours: the 10am–1pm window, when the tour operators unload their coaches.
The best days: Wednesday, Thursday and Friday are noticeably quieter. Conversely, Tuesday is the busiest day of the week: it’s the day after the Monday closure, and the crowds concentrate. Weekends are also heavy, especially on Musical Fountains days.
Knowing the opening hours isn’t enough: to enter the palace, you have to book a timed-slot ticket, whatever the hour you choose. This applies to everyone, including free tickets and Paris Museum Pass holders.
The slot corresponds to your entry time into the palace, not to a visit duration: once inside, you take your time. Turn up 10 to 15 minutes before your stated time, at Entrance A — Pavillon Dufour for individual tickets and the Passport. There’s no early entry: arriving ahead of time won’t get you in any sooner.
The Trianon Estate and the gardens, for their part, require no timed slot: you go in freely during their opening hours, with the appropriate entry ticket.
The fountain show days shape the whole of high season. Two formats coexist: the Musical Fountains, where the basins are turned on to baroque music, and the Musical Gardens, more contemplative, where the groves open up to music without necessarily all the fountains flowing.
These days take place mainly at weekends and on certain spring and summer dates. The gardens always open around 8am, but the water sequences come in blocks: a first phase mid-morning, then a return in the afternoon, before the finale at the Neptune Basin, the most spectacular of all.
The precise programme changes from one date to the next. As the official site readjusts it regularly, always check the sequence times for the day of your visit. And remember: on those days, garden access becomes paid in high season, whereas it stays free off-season and outside show days.
Three dates close the whole estate, with no exception: 1 January, 1 May and 25 December. Apart from these three days, the other French public holidays (8 May, 14 July, 15 August, 1 November, 11 November…) don’t cause the palace to close — but they greatly swell the crowds.
Watch the weekly calendar: a holiday that falls on a Monday is still a Monday closure for the palace and the Trianon. And if a holiday falls on a Tuesday, expect the busiest day of all, since Tuesday is already the natural peak of the week.
During the school holidays (French and European), the spring long weekends and the high summer season, visitor numbers climb sharply. The opening hours themselves don’t change: it’s the queues and waiting times that lengthen. Hence the value of aiming for the 9am opening or the afternoon slot. If in doubt, the official site publishes the exact hours for each date, including occasional adjustments linked to an event.
Versailles welcomes nearly 8 million visitors a year, but they’re not spread evenly across the calendar. Here’s how to read the year to choose your visiting window.
Whatever the season, the hierarchy of days stays the same: Wednesday, Thursday and Friday are the quietest; Tuesday is the busiest; weekends are heavy, especially on Musical Fountains days.
The estate is vast: the Grand Canal stretches 1.5 km, and reaching the Trianon on foot from the palace takes a good fifteen minutes. Several services ease the journeys, on the same hours as the gardens.
These services run essentially on garden hours (from around 8am until the end of the day), with a reduced offer in low season. On the practical side, bring good shoes: the visit is above all on foot, with more than 3 km of route inside the palace alone.
To turn all these hours into a smooth day, here’s a concrete run-through in high season, designed for a Wednesday or a Thursday.
In low season, shift everything about an hour earlier: the palace closes at 5.30pm and the gardens around 6pm. The logic stays the same — palace in the morning, Trianon from noon, gardens at the end of the day.
To sum up, keep these markers in mind:
And one last reflex: as opening hours vary by season and events, always check the exact date of your visit on the official site before booking your slot.
The palace opens at 9am, Tuesday to Sunday. It closes at 6.30pm in high season (1 April–31 October) and 5.30pm in low season (1 November–31 March). The gardens open earlier, around 8am. These hours come from the official site and may vary by season.
No. The palace and the Trianon Estate are closed every Monday, all year round. The gardens and the park, however, generally stay open on Monday, even when the palace is closed.
The Trianon Estate (Grand Trianon, Petit Trianon, Queen’s Hamlet) only opens at 12pm, versus 9am for the palace. It’s deliberate: the advice is to visit the palace in the morning, then the Trianon in the afternoon. There’s no point turning up before noon.
The palace is closed every Monday, as well as on 1 January, 1 May and 25 December. Remember to check the hours for your date on the official site, as occasional closures can occur during events.
Last admission is around 30 to 60 minutes before closing. In high season, enter by 5.45pm at the latest; in low season, around 4.45pm. As visiting the palace takes 1.5 to 2 hours, it’s best to arrive early. A timed slot is still compulsory to enter.
The fountains come to life in sequences during the day — typically mid-morning then in the afternoon, with a finale at the Neptune Basin. The exact programme changes from one date to the next, mainly at weekends and on certain spring and summer days; check the day’s timetable on the official site. On those days, garden access is paid in high season.
Low season, from November to March, is the quietest: the palace closes at 5.30pm, the gardens are often free and without fountains, and the interiors can be visited almost crowd-free on weekdays. Failing that, April, May, September and October offer a good compromise between gentler crowds and long opening hours.
The little train links the palace, the Grand Canal and the Trianon Estate on garden hours, i.e. roughly from 8am until the end of the day in high season, with a reduced offer in low season. Electric buggies, bikes and rowing boats are also offered in the warm season along the Grand Canal.
Book your skip-the-line tickets online and save hours of queuing.