Versailles Palace Bike Tour with Market & Marie-Antoinette hamlet
Transport includedBike includedTimed entry
From $128 per person
The Gardens of the Palace of Versailles
More than half of what you have come to see is outside the building, and for half the year it costs nothing. The gardens are laid out along one axis running west from the Palace, and walking that axis in order is the way they were designed to be met.
André Le Nôtre, 1661, and forty years of work
Louis XIV handed Le Nôtre the creation and renovation of the gardens in 1661, and the estate's own account puts the work at roughly forty years. What he built is not a garden in the English sense. It is a piece of geometry you walk through, and it gets better the further from the building you go.
The Water Parterre and the garden front
Step out of the Palace and you are on the terrace above two long rectangular basins. The bronze figures around their edges are river gods, and the view back at the garden front from here is the photograph on half the guidebooks. Give it five minutes before you walk on.
The Latona Fountain and the Royal Way
Below the terrace, the Latona Fountain sits at the head of the long green carpet called the Royal Way, or the Tapis Vert. Stand on the fountain steps and look west: the whole composition — lawn, basin, canal, horizon — lines up in one shot. This is the view the design exists to produce.
The Apollo Basin
At the foot of the Royal Way, where the sun god's chariot rises out of the water. It is about a ten-minute walk down from Latona and it marks the point where the formal garden ends and the park begins. Most day visitors turn round here, which is a shame.
The Grand Canal — 1,670 metres, dug 1668 to 1679
Beyond Apollo the ground opens into water. The Grand Canal runs 1,670 metres west, dug over eleven years, and rowing boats are hired on it in summer. Walking to the far end and back adds about an hour and a half to your day, and it is the quietest part of the whole estate.
The groves
Off the Royal Way on both sides are the bosquets: enclosed garden rooms, each with its own design, hidden behind hedges. Most open only during the Musical Gardens and Musical Fountains Show season. They are the part regular visitors come back for, and the part first-timers walk past without noticing the gates.
The Orangery and the Lake of the Swiss Guards
South of the Palace, below the terrace, the Orangery parterre holds boxed citrus trees set out around a circular pool through the summer. Beyond it lies the Lake of the Swiss Guards, twelve hectares of water finished in 1686. Both are free to walk to and neither is on a standard tour route.
The Park — 800 hectares, and free
The Park is the wider estate around the gardens: about 800 hectares of woodland, avenues and water, with the Rivulet of Gally running 22 kilometres through it. It is open every day of the year, from 7.00am in high season and 8.00am in low. Nobody charges you for it.
When the gardens cost money and when they do not
From November to late March the gardens are free to everyone, every day. From April to early November a ticket is needed on Musical Gardens and Musical Fountains Show days, which is what the fountains and the opened groves are for. Some guided departures bundle that ticket and some exclude it explicitly — check the inclusions on the one you are looking at.
Season dates as published by the estate for 2026. Show ticket prices are set by the estate and are not reproduced here.
| Season | Gardens | What runs | What you pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Nov – late Mar | 7 days | no shows; statues under cover | nothing |
| 1 Apr – 1 Nov 2026 | 7 days | Musical Gardens and Musical Fountains Show | a garden ticket on show days |
| Any season | the Park | open daily | nothing |
Walking it: a route and a time budget
Terrace, Latona, the Royal Way, Apollo, back up the other side through a grove or two: about ninety minutes at a walking pace, and you will have seen the design. Add the Grand Canal and you are at three hours. Add the Trianon estate and it is a full day, which is why that page starts with its opening time.
See the gardens with a guide
Several departures include garden access and a guided walk through it, and the bike days cover ground on wheels that you would not cover on foot.
The Grand Canal, the Trianon estate and the Queen's Hamlet all sit in the park — the map page has the distances. Every departure is on Palace of Versailles Tours.
Tours that give the gardens real time
Versailles Full Day Bike Tour with Palace, Gardens, & Picnic
Bike includedGardens includedMax 20
From $128 per person
