The 15 Palace Day Trips in France That Earn the Ticket

1.Giverny and Versailles Palace Guided Day Trip

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 1,324 reviews · 11h 30m · from $163Our pick

Visit Monet’s Giverny and Versailles from Paris in one long day, with guided palace access, free garden time, transport, and practical tips.

“Lawrence was AMAZING, so entertaining and clearly so passionate about Giverny. He even took us to see Monet’s grave since we got there early! It was unbelievably beautiful to see. Like heaven on earth! Our guide at Versailles, Lily, was also wonderful! I think sometimes her jokes went over peoples heads for sarcasm but it is exactly my type of humor and I loved it. I do agree with reviews that call for more time in Giverny and less time in Versailles. Especially after seeing Monet’s gardens it can be a lot to have 3 full hours in Versailles gardens (palace tour was great and the gardens are still breathtaking).…”

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2.Full-Day Loire Valley Chateaux Tour

★★★★★★★★★★4.4 · 1,269 reviews · 12 hours - 750 minutes · from $127

Review of the Loire Valley castles day trip from Paris, with Chambord, Chenonceau, Cheverny, transport, timing, cost, and practical tips.

“I liked the excursion very much, the Loire valley castles are beautiful! The driver was super! The bus was clean and neat. The only thing that I didn’t like was that the guides didn’t explain much during the travel between the castles. I am sure there is a lot of history and legends that they can share and make the long hours in travelling more enjoyable and interesting.”

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3.Giverny Monet’s Home & Versailles Palace Day Trip from Paris

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 746 reviews · 11 hours 30 minutes (approx.) · from $167

Review of the Giverny and Versailles day trip from Paris, with practical advice on timing, guides, transport, gardens, value, and who should book.

“A long day but worth it for the experience. The gardens at Monet’s house and at the palace were well worth it”

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4.Fontainebleau & Vaux-le-Vicomte Châteaux Day Tour from Paris

★★★★★★★★★★4.4 · 454 reviews · 9 hours · from $123

Compare two French châteaux in one day from Paris, with comfortable transport, audio tours, grand gardens, and practical tips on time and value.

“Unlike Versailles, Fontainebleau and Vaux-le-Comte (the latter in particular) are not very easy and quick to visit on your own by train. And unless you have your own car, there's also no easy way to visit both chateaux in one day. That's why I booked this tour - it provided transportation to both places, along with entry tickets for each chateau. As other reviews have mentioned, there is no guide at all on this day trip. The bus driver just drops you off at each chateau and that's it. I knew this going into the tour, so I wasn't disappointed. One thing that could be improved, though, is communication -…”

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5.St-Emilion & Médoc Wine Day Tour: Chateaus, Tastings and Lunch

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 430 reviews · 9 hours (approx.) · from $235Top rated

Tour Saint-Émilion and Médoc from Bordeaux with château visits, 15-plus tastings, a picnic lunch, and a small-group guide.

“Hannah was a great tour guide. She explained things very well and prepared us for the day and our whole trip to Bordeaux. Great time!!”

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6.Full Day Tour & Shuttle from Paris

★★★★★★★★★★3.5 · 356 reviews · 7 hours (approx.) · from $107

Review of the Versailles full-day tour from Paris, with coach transport, timed palace entry, audio guide, gardens, value, and practical tips.

“Absolute shambles!! All was well before pick up. Got the tickets from the rep and then the bus came. Single seats available only so we sat split up. On the bus, a carryon of sorting tickets for those who had not got them. Off the bus we were instructed to get in a line, ‘a straight line!!’, which disintegrated as we went through bag check. When the line was reforming, other people joined it and they were told to move by the guides. Understandably these people were not going to move to let others in and basically stand behind a bus load of people. Some of us had 11.30 and…”

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7.Fontainebleau and Vaux le Vicomte Chateaux Day Trip from Paris

★★★★★★★★★★4.0 · 339 reviews · 9 hours (approx.) · from $138

Compare two remarkable French châteaux on a self-guided day trip from Paris, with coach transport, audio tours, gardens, and practical tips.

“The actual Chateu's,. The vehicle had no signage and driver only spoke French. Very confusing on where to get on the buss. Buss was late leaving pickup and late arriving at each destination.”

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8.Versailles Full-Day Electric Bike Tour : Market, Picnic & Palace

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 239 reviews · 8 hours (approx.) · from $204

Cycle from Paris to Versailles by electric bike, shop a French market, picnic by the Grand Canal, and tour the royal palace.

“What an amazing experience. The E-bikes were newer and very easy to ride. Our guide (Reno) was absolutely amazing. So much fun and knowledgeable. Please know this is a very long day! It is every bit 8 hours or more by the time we got to the main palace of Versailles we didn’t want to spend much time there. However we spent just enough time and the headed out and back to Paris. I highly recommend this tour if you are active.”

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9.Giverny’s House & Gardens plus Versailles Palace Day Trip with Lunch from Paris

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 214 reviews · 9 hours (approx.) · from $387

Review of the Giverny and Versailles day trip from Paris, with Monet’s gardens, lunch, palace access, transport, costs, and practical tips.

“A wonderful tour showing the best of Giverny and Versailles. Our guide Oliver was extremely knowledgeable, easy to listen to and made the day so very interesting - we were very fortunate to be the only 2 on the tour. The highlight for us was Monet’s garden and house - so totally unexpected, especially the beauty of the garden. The lunch was a little disappointing - the main especially (steamed chicken breast) was very plain - there was no salad or vegetables with the main, and no choice. We expected this given the price of the tour. It was great to go through Versailles and hear the history behind the…”

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10.Versailles Palace Guided Day Tour and Trianon from Paris

★★★★★★★★★★4.0 · 178 reviews · 8 hours (approx.) · from $157

Review of the Versailles Palace and Trianon day tour from Paris, with guided palace access, gardens, transport, costs, and practical tips.

“Unfortunately, our experience on this excursion was terrible. I would not recommend this at ALL!! We could barely hear our guide through most of the tour and then once we got to lunch our guide left and did not finish the tour with us. We were left to wonder for an additional 5 hours before the bus came. In hindsight we should have taken a cab back to the meeting place. Also, the description of this tour is inaccurate as we didn’t see some of the things mentioned as the Queen’s private retreat or the fountain show. I would recommend doing only a half day tour. It’s more than enough…”

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11.Day Tour of Chateaux of Chenonceau, Chambord & Caves Ambacia from Tours/Amboise

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 155 reviews · 9 hours (approx.) · from $284

Review of a small-group Loire Valley tour from Tours or Amboise featuring Chenonceau, Chambord, Caves Ambacia, wine tasting, and practical tips.

“The castles were amazing. Our guide was knowledgeable to a point. She admitted she had to learn about five or so different castles and so got facts very confused. She didn't talk much at all on the way. The wines at Caves Ambacia were not good at all, but it was interesting. Didn't know ahead of time that they don't grow their own grapes and just age the wines. A little disapointing”

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12.Saint-Émilion day tour: village visit, Châteaux and lunch

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 121 reviews · 7 hours (approx.) · from $187

Review of a small-group Saint-Émilion wine tour from Bordeaux, with village sightseeing, three château visits, tastings, and a picnic lunch.

“We had a great time on this tour, the guide was very knowledgeable and gave us a lot of information prior to arrival at the wineries. The van was comfortable, we stopped at St Emilion for a short visit and then went to 3 wineries. We had plenty of time on all wineries and had a picnic under the trees close to the vineyard. The wines were great and the staff at the wineries were very friendly.”

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13.Half day tour Saint-Emilion : Village & Château with wine tasting

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 114 reviews · 4 hours 20 minutes (approx.) · from $108

Review of Olala Bordeaux’s Saint-Émilion half-day tour, with village walks, château tasting, guide tips, pricing, and practical advice.

“Amazing guide, amazing tour. Could’ve had a bit more wine though! Well worth what you may for, excellent experiance”

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14.Excursion from Paris to Versailles Palace by Tootbus

★★★★★★★★★★4.3 · 91 reviews · 6 hours · from $69Best value

Review of Tootbus’ Paris to Versailles trip, with palace, gardens, Trianon access, coach transfers, timing, value, and practical tips.

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15.Saint-Emilion Village Day Trip, 2 Chateaux & Lunch

★★★★★★★★★★4.8 · 57 reviews · 6 hours · from $199

Review of Bordeaux’s Saint-Émilion small-group tour, with two châteaux, five or six wines, picnic lunch, and practical booking advice.

“A lovely day spent exploring the beautiful town of Saint Emilion with a small group and a fantastic guide.”

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