Versailles in One Day

Begin at the Palace of Versailles, where the Hall of Mirrors and the lavish Royal Apartments reveal the grandeur of Louis XIV's court across 2,300 rooms. Step outside into the formal Gardens, strolling along André Le Nôtre's symmetrical parterres and past the Apollo Fountain toward the Grand Canal. After lunch, explore the pink-marble Grand Trianon and the Petit Trianon with Marie Antoinette's enchanting Queen's Hamlet, a faux-rustic village that once housed a working farm. On the way back toward town, stop at the Royal Tennis Court — the very hall where the 1789 oath that launched the French Revolution was sworn — then duck into the Baroque Cathedral of Saint-Louis and wander the cobblestone lanes of the Old Town's Carrés Saint-Louis. End the day at the Gallery of Coaches in the Great Stables, home to Napoleon's ceremonial carriages. The Palace and Trianons are closed on Mondays, and the Gallery of Coaches opens only on weekends; book palace tickets online in advance to skip the long queues.