Day trips from Pariz

Versajska palata(Château de Versailles)

The most lavish royal residence in Europe — in 1682 Louis XIV turned what had been a hunting lodge into the centre of French power. The Hall of Mirrors, the royal apartments, and 800 hectares of baroque gardens designed by André Le Nôtre. A UNESCO World Heritage site.

What to see

• •The Hall of Mirrors (Galerie des Glaces) — 73m long with 357 mirrors
• •The royal apartments of Louis XIV and Marie Antoinette
• •The gardens with their fountains (Sat and Sun 'Grandes Eaux' show, €11 extra)
• •Trianon (Petit and Grand) — Marie Antoinette's private palaces
• •Hameau de la Reine — Marie Antoinette's mock 'rustic' farm

Tips

• 💡The RER C has multiple branches — make sure you board the train marked 'VICK' (Versailles Château); other branches go elsewhere.
• 💡Booking is ESSENTIAL — without an online ticket, you basically won't get in during summer.
• 💡Go early (opens 9am) — coach-tour crowds roll in around 11am.
• 💡The gardens are free on Sundays (except on Grandes Eaux days) — for a half-day in the park, you don't even need to enter the palace.
• 💡Mondays the palace is closed — but the gardens are open.
• 💡Hire a bike or an electric golf cart in the gardens — 800 ha is not a walking distance.

Giverny — Monetova kuća i bašta(Maison et Jardins de Claude Monet)

The Norman village where Claude Monet lived and painted from 1883 to 1926. The yellow dining-room house, the water garden with the famous pink bridge and water lilies — the EXACT garden from his most famous paintings. Open only Apr–Nov.

What to see

• •The water garden with its lily pads and Japanese bridge (the subject of the Water Lilies series)
• •Clos Normand garden — the riot of flowers in front of the house
• •Monet's house — the yellow dining room, Japanese prints on the walls
• •Musée des Impressionnismes Giverny (across the street, separate ticket)
• •Vincent van Gogh's grave in nearby Auvers-sur-Oise (combine it if you've got a car)

Tips

• 💡Open ONLY 1 April – 1 November — everything closed in winter.
• 💡Loveliest in May (Clos Normand in full bloom) or June (water lilies on the pond).
• 💡The shuttle from Vernon station is timed to the trains — you won't wait long.
• 💡Book entry online — time slots are strict in summer.
• 💡Lunch: La Capucine or Hôtel Baudy (where Monet's painter friends used to stay).
• 💡Go Tuesday-Friday — weekends are mobbed by Parisians escaping the city.

Fontainebleau dvorac(Château de Fontainebleau)

A less touristy but equally lavish royal château set in a forest 60 km south of Paris — 800 years of French royal residence, from Louis VII to Napoleon III. A Renaissance-baroque blend with deep forests all around (perfect for cycling or climbing).

What to see

• •The main facade with the horseshoe staircase — Napoleon waved off his Imperial Guard here before exile in 1814
• •The François I Gallery (Renaissance, frescoes)
• •The apartments of Marie Antoinette and Napoleon — smaller but more intimate than Versailles
• •Fontainebleau Forest, 25,000 ha — a bouldering paradise, hiking trails, cycling routes
• •The neighbouring village of Barbizon — birthplace of Realism (Millet, Rousseau)

Tips

• 💡Far fewer tourists than Versailles — you can usually walk in even in summer without booking.
• 💡The château is closed Tuesdays (like most French state museums).
• 💡The forest's bouldering is world-famous — bring climbing shoes if that's your thing.
• 💡Hire a bike in Fontainebleau town — 25 km of cycle routes through the forest.
• 💡Combine it with the village of Barbizon (8 km) — a Realist painters' colony with a small Millet museum.