Versailles Travel Guide

The Palace of Versailles is the most lavish pinnacle among Europe's royal palaces. Built on the outskirts of Paris by the French kings, this grand palace and vast gardens, with its ultimate luxury and grandeur, is an eternal witness to the glory of the French monarchy at its zenith. The Palace of Versailles was built by King Louis XIV in the 17th century with the resources of the whole nation, expanding a former hunting lodge into a unique grand palace and moving the court and the seat of the kingdom there. The palace is majestic and extremely opulent—gilded halls, exquisite decoration, and most famous the Hall of Mirrors (a long gallery, with seventeen great mirrors on one side and floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the gardens on the other, dazzling crystal chandeliers and shimmering gilding, luxuriant and dazzling, where many historic events once played out)—all displaying the zenith of the French monarchy and the glory of Louis XIV the Sun King. Beyond the palace lies the equally famous Gardens of Versailles—a vast French formal garden, known for its rigorous symmetry, finely trimmed flower beds and hedges, radiating avenues, and numerous fountains, sculptures and water features (with musical fountain shows in summer), grand and elegant, the pinnacle of French classical garden art. Strolling the lavish palace and magnificent gardens is like traveling back to the brilliant, luxurious years of the French monarchy. Explore the outskirts of Paris, tour the world-famous Palace of Versailles and gardens, and appreciate the zenith glory of the French monarchy—an unmissable sight near Paris.