Versalhes and the surroundings of Paris

Versalhes and Fontainebleau are the two most classic day trips from Paris. Both are in the Ilha de França, the capital region, and are reached by train, no car and no hotel change needed. Versalhes is about 20 km southwest of central Paris; Fontainebleau is roughly 70 km southeast, in the middle of a huge forest.

In Versalhes stands the palace that Luís XIV turned into the seat of court and government from 1682. The visit combines the Galerie des Glaces, the Grands Appartements of the king and queen, the gardens designed by André Le Nôtre with the Grand Canal and dozens of fountains, and the Domaine de Trianon, Maria Antonieta's refuge, with the Petit Trianon and the fake village called Hameau de la Reine. In the town, the Grande Écurie houses the equestrian academy and the court carriages, and the Potager du Roi still grows fruit and vegetables as in the 17th century.

Fontainebleau has a château used by French kings for about eight centuries, from the medieval period to Napoléon III. It was in its courtyard, today called the Cour des Adieux, that Napoléon bade farewell to the Imperial Guard in 1814. Around it, the Forêt de Fontainebleau has waymarked trails since the 19th century and sandstone boulders that made it a world reference for bouldering.

Near Fontainebleau are Barbizon, the village where Théodore Rousseau, Jean-François Millet and other painters worked outdoors in the 19th century, and the Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte, the minister Nicolas Fouquet's estate that served as a model for Versalhes. Both require a car, taxi or shuttle from the train station.

This destination brings together 2 cities: Versalhes, Fontainebleau.