Versailles Bike Tour with Market, Gardens & Guided Palace Tour

This tour is excellent. Our guide, Brian, was an excellent storyteller and made Versailles come alive! Everything about this day was great, including the bike riding, the market visit, the gardens, the picnic by the grand canal, Marie Antoinette’s hamlet and the palace itself. The host was very organized, the meeting place was easy to find and getting from Paris to Versailles and back went smoothly.

I had so much fun on this tour with our guide Maggie! I chose this tour group specifically because of all the bike tours, THIS ONE actually guides you inside the palace (whereas the others only tour you around the gardens and let you self guide in the palace). A guided tour of the whole grounds is definitely the way to go, ESPECIALLY a bike tour because we got to see so much more than we would have on foot! Our 10am day started meeting your guide/group at the train, after the 12 min train ride you arrive to fit your bikes, then ride quickly to the center palace to get a lay of the land/ itinerary of the day before going to the market. An amazing surprise to have a small cheese and charcuterie tasting upon arrival, where Maggie showed us her fave places to grab snacks for our picnic. I think we could have used a bit less time at the market but I didn’t mind. We biked around the park, getting a bit of history tidbits along the way from Maggie before settling into a cute picnic spot by the canal. (They pack blankets, plates, knives, etc for your picnic - a great touch!) Maggie is also great at stopping for multiple restroom breaks along the way and taking photos for you (which I appreciated as a solo traveler!). We then biked to the Queen’s hamlet - I can’t believe some visitors on foot will miss this! it was one of my fave parts! Then made our way to the Palace to see their gardens. Our palace tour was not til 4:40pm, which was strategically timed to let the peak crowds pass through — I super appreciated that from this tour company! We got a new guide for the history tour of the palace with Maggie still in tow with us. At the end of the day the guide takes you back to the train station and guides you back on the train! Our whole day was from about 10am-6pm, so a very long day but filled with lots of action and adventure. Be prepared that you are on your feet just as much as you are on the bike. When you are not biking, you are walking! Comfy shoes, sun protection, hat, and refillable water bottle are a MUST. This is fun for any ages traveling, I was solo, and on my tour was a family of 6 and another older couple. Just pack your patience for a long and fun day!! FYI I believe others who book the earlier tour starting at 8am will do the itinerary in reverse, to enter the palace first when it opens before doing the garden tours (again, to avoid peak crowds — again I am so grateful for that!!) THANK YOU MAGGIE FOR AN AMAZING TOUR, you made my last day in Paris so memorable! highly recommend this company and Maggie specifically, and hope to bring my partner back to do this again together :)

Such a great trip with Aurora, so knowledgeable! Loved her insights on history. and we enjoyed our picnic in the grass and trip to the market!