Pedal your way around Versailles and keep fit!

Have you ever considered seeing Versailles by bicycle? If you’ve never contemplated doing this because you think it’s just too difficult to organise, this needn’t be the case.  The people at Viator have made it possible for visitors to tour Versailles with a difference.

The tour allows you to see Versailles’ expansive gardens plus the highlights of Versailles, including Marie Antoinette’s country-style Hameau, the Petit Trianon and the Grand Trianon.  Most visitors who come by coach tours don’t get to see these. The cycling tour also allows you to enjoy a picnic by the Grand Canal before taking a tour of the Palace of Versailles.

This is how it works:

This tour starts in Paris.  Together with your guide, you’ll cycle your hired bicycle to the RER train station to make the 20-minute trip by train to Versailles.

The first highlight on this full day out is a stop at the Versailles village market where you’ll buy freshly baked baguettes, cheese, ham, wine and whatever else you fancy for your picnic lunch in Versailles’ gardens. The range and quality of cheese in France is really amazing and there’s nothing like eating the fresh and genuine product.

Palace of Versailles

After buying your provisions, you’ll ride through the gardens behind the Palace of Versailles.  As the grounds are massive, visitors on foot can only manage a small fraction of the palace gardens, whereas on your bike you’ll be covering more grounds.  You’ll be able to take lots of picturesque photos as Versailles’ gardens and forests are crisscrossed by a network of fantastic trails and tree-lined paths.

A Royal picnic spot

At the far end of the Grand Canal is where everyone stops for their picnic lunch.  This is not just any picnic spot but it’s the exact spot where Louis XIV, XV and XVI ate in order to marvel at their palace.

After lunch, the tour will pedal back towards the Palace itself for the tour of this royal residence and catch glimpses into the lives of the French monarchy before their removal from power by the Revolution in 1789.  After the Palace visit you’ll return to Paris on the RER train again.

This leisurely 10 miles cycle on relatively flat terrain is classified as suitable for all levels of fitness. We’re all getting more conscious of our environment, our health and in this current economic climate, our finances, and this tour is very affordable and seems like a great way of sightseeing which allows you to get fit as well.

The operator, Viator, is a large and reputable tour company that provides all kinds of tours and transfers for your holiday in Europe.

For more information on this tour, click here.
For more Travels Signposts photos of Palace of Versailles and Gardens, click here