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Normandy, Brittany, Paris
I will be on this tour that begins May 20, 2023. I am confused about whether I need to purchase Versailles tickets. I arrive the day before, and need to know if Tauck (via hotel) has complimentary tickets for tours. Do I contact the concierge or make a reservation before I leave the States. Thanks for any guidance.
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Does your tour begin on 20 or 21 May? I believe it begins on Sunday, 21 May 2023.
The hotel desk or concierge will give you a Versailles “Passport” ticket for the day of the welcome dinner. The ticket includes a specific timed entry to the Palace and also access to the gardens, Petite Trianon, Grand Trianon, Queen’s village (mostly everything). If you arrive a day or two early you may want to purchase a ticket for the other day. Before you do anything I suggest you go to the official site to see what is there to see, experience, e.g. Musical Fountains, etc, what days it operates, and where everything is located - The Versailles estate is huge!
https://en.chateauversailles.fr/
There are a few of us, who are on this tour this Spring - early Summer, arriving one or two days early. Some of us have chosen to buy the more expensive “1 Year in Versailles” cards. They are good for a full year and include unlimited access to just about everything and also entitle you to discounts on the little train, guided tour, etc. Best of all you can enter the Palace at any time and are not restricted to a particular entry time. Two days with flexibility in the time you can enter the Palace and other benefits are worth the “budget dust” difference in price.
You can order this ticket online now and don’t have to wait until 3 months prior. They will e-mail an e-ticket and snail mail the pass card.
If you plan on visiting and ascending the Eiffel Tower in Paris at then end of your tour get those tickets online as well, to avoid standing in line and ensure you get the best time slot that fits your schedule. You can order these e-tickets up to 60 days prior. They release time slots/tickets a day at a time. We aren’t going until later, but I have been watching- time slots for a day can sell out in just a few hours (of course, 60 days from today falls in the middle of their Spring break.
https://www.toureiffel.paris/en
Final tip, check the Paris/France school holiday schedule so you know if there will be tons of families with kids in town. They get two weeks for Spring break according to zones (A, B, C). The zones overlap. You should be OK, zone C is off from 23 April - 8 May.
https://www.parisperfect.com/plan-your-trip/practical-information/public-school-holidays-paris.php
We did this tour in September. You are in for a real treat. The thing with Versailles tickets is the concierge at the hotel will provide timed tickets IF THEY ARE AVAILABLE. We weren't going all this way to be disappointed, so we went ahead and purchased tickets for the first available morning tour (I think it was 9 am) on the day our tour started. Then, since we arrived a day early and the hotel had free tickets available, we went TWICE! Yes, it's big enough to do 2 times. We saw everything except the building with the hall of mirrors on the first day, then the second morning, we hot-footed it into the most beautiful room first thing, when very few people were in there. It was well worth it.! The grounds are also a great place to get the kinks out from the flight.
Thanks for the advice. We will be on this tour on May 9 and we are really looking forward to it. We will spend extra time in Paris at the end, and already have a reminder set to order Eiffel Tower tickets 60 days out.