Versailles, Fontainebleau and Vaux Le Vicomte – 3 Fabulous Day Trips from Paris

In the golden age of France, around the time when Louis XIV was king, the super-rich members of the royal court didn’t stay in crowded and dirty Paris, they built enormous mansions in the countryside surrounding the city. Three of the greatest chateaux of all time are all within an hour of the city, and fairly easily accessible from Paris via train.

Any one of the three can easily be a day trip from Paris, I suggest catching the earliest train to maximize time at the destination. Be aware of the time of the last train back to Paris to avoid getting stranded. The towns where the chateaux are located all make great over-night trips from Paris as well, allowing more time to explore the local areas. Hotel prices in these smaller towns are often 50% of what travelers must pay in Paris.

Versailles
I think Versailles is one of the most beautiful estates in the world, yet tacky at the same time. It was built to be over-the-top by one of the most over-the-top monarchs ever, the Sun King, Louis XIV. He had one goal, to create the most beautiful palace in the world and I think he was successful. There is a lot to see and do here and an overnight stay really allows travelers to see it all without rushing.

The passport ticket is $23 and includes admission to the chateau, the grounds and all the other parts of the estate. Train service is available from Paris or Parisvision offers a bus tour and ticket package for $66, including round-trip bus transportation and admission to the estate.

Palace of Versailles
Place d’Armes – 78000 Versailles
en.chateauversailles.fr

Fontainebleau
This enormous mansion was a hunting lodge for the French royals and it’s located in the beautiful countryside about 45 minutes from Paris. There are many hiking and biking trails through the forests where the monarchs used to go hunting. The house existed before the reign of Louis XIV, who much preferred his Versailles palace and used Fontainebleau as a guest house for friends. The French emperor Napoleon used it as one of his houses and the house retains a lot of the Napoleonic history.

Bus service is available from central Paris via the official tour operator Parisvision. Tickets are $88 per person and include round-trip transportation as well as admission to the chateau. Basic admission to the chateau is $10 for adults, kids are free.

Chateau de Fontainebleau
77300 Fontainebleau, France
musee-chateau-fontainebleau.fr

Vaux Le Vicomte
I’ve always been fascinated with the story of Vaux Le Vicomte. The ornate mansion was built by Nicolas Fouquet, a key finance adviser to King Louis XIV. Fouquet grew rich and built this truly amazing home, then invited the king to his grand opening / house-warming party. The mansion and property were so ornate, so over-the-top, and the party was so lavish and fantastic that the king immediately had Fouquet arrested for embezzlement and he spent the rest of his life in prison, not in his fancy mansion. There’s a great lesson in that story, applicable today: Don’t invite your boss to dinner if your house is nicer than their house.

Of all three estates mentioned here, Vaux is my favorite, as it’s the most over-the-top, yet personal. This was one rich guy designing his dream house and although enormous, it retains that personal touch. Versailles is so huge and almost corporate, you know it was created by designers and artists and architects, where Vaux Le Vicomte was designed by Fouquet himself, along with the big three of French estate designers: architect Louis Le Vau, landscape architect Andre Le Notre and interior artist Charles Le Brun.

The estate is about 35 miles from Paris and you can take a train near there, but you need to take a taxi or shuttle bus from the small town of Melun.

Vaux Le Vicomte
77950 Maincy, France
vaux-le-vicomte.com

Freddy Sherman is a world traveler and editor of the travel blog travel4people.com. You can follow him on twitter, @thefredsherman

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