Trains from Paris

The best way to plan a journey from Paris to Versailles is by using RATP's excellent Bonjour RATP smartphone app. It can tell you which train station is closest to your current Paris location, how long the trip will take, and where you'll arrive in Versailles. More...

If you have a transit pass such as the Navigo, it may be valid for your trips to and from Versailles. More...

Most Convenient: RER Line C-5

The RER Line C-5 suburban trains run in 30 to 40 minutes from central Paris directly to the Versailles-Rive Gauche Château de Versailles station (also called Versailles-Château Rive Gauche or simply Versailles-Château RG), from which it's a 10-minute walk, or a shorter shuttle bus ride, to the Château de Versailles (map).

Trains run about every 15 minutes, and the trip takes 30 to 40 minutes. Here are tips for riding the RER. Catch the RER Line C-5 train at one of these central Paris RER stations:

—Javel —Champ de Mars - Tour Eiffel —Pont de l'Alma —Invalides

—Musée d'Orsay —St-Michel - Notre Dame —Gare d'Austerlitz

Make sure you're on a train going to "Versailles Château Rive Gauche" or some permutation of the name with "Versailles," "Chateau," and "Rive Gauche" (or "RG") in it. The RER makes it easy for you: each RER train has a four-letter code, and all trains going to Versailles Château Rive Gauche start with the letter "V," so if you see a train designated VICK, for example, it will take you to Versailles Château Rive Gauche.

(NOTE: During the train trip you'll pass through a station named Viroflay-Rive-Gauche. This is not your station! Stay on the RER-C train to the terminus at Versailles Château Rive Gauche.)

Remember to keep your RER ticket until you are outside your arrival station—you must have your ticket to exit the station! More...

From Gare Montparnasse

The fastest trains to Versailles are TER Région Centre trains from Gare Montparnasse: non-stop, only 12 minutes to the Gare Versailles-Chantier (see below). But these regional trains are somewhat more expensive and may require reservations; and if you're not in or near the mammoth Gare Montparnasse, you'll spend at least a half hour getting to the station, finding your track/platform, buying a ticket and getting aboard.

RER Line N trains run from Gare Montparnasse, taking about 30 minutes to the Gare Versailles-Chantier, a 10- to 15-minute walk from the town center, and about 30 minutes from the Château de Versailles. Remember to keep your RER ticket until you are outside your arrival station—you must have your ticket to exit the station!

From Gare Saint-Lazare

You can take an SNCF Transilien train from the Gare St-Lazare to the Versailles-Rive Droite station (see below) at a similar fare and travel time,

Versailles's 3 Train Stations

Versailles-Rive Gauche - Château de Versailles

Here's what to look for...

Also called Versailles Château Rive Gauche, Château RG, RG Château, etc., in the town center, is for RER Line C-5 trains from central Paris. This is Versailles's most central train station, just down the street from the Hôtel de Ville (City Hall) and the Office de Tourisme, and a 10-minute walk from the gates of the Château de Versailles.

Versailles-Chantiers

Thirty minutes' walk southeast of the Château, the modern Gare Versailles-Chantiers is the city's largest, serving trains on the RER Line C-8, RER Line N, and for some SNCF TER and TGV trains. Gare Versailles-Chantier also has the Versailles's Gare Routière (bus station), where you can board buses for points in the city and beyond.

Versailles-Rive Droite

The northernmost train station on Rue du Maréchal Foch north of Boulevard de la Reine, is for SNCF Transilien trains from Paris's Gare St-Lazare, a 30-minute walk from the Château, but you can ride a local bus there if you wish.

Versailles City Buses

Local buses connect the train stations and town center with the Château and other important locations. The best way to find a route by bus is by using the excellent Bonjour RATP smartphone app. Your Navigo transit pass works for local buses, or you can buy a ticket (2€) from the conductor right on the bus. More...

Transport within the Château

The Gardens of Versailles cover 800 hectares (8 square km/2000 acres/3 square miles)—it can take an hour just to walk from one end to the other. Here's how to get around within the vast confines of the huge Château de Versailles gardens. More...

Versailles Train Oddity

When planning train trips to and from Versailles, you may encounter a schedule mystery: trains that leave one Versailles station (Versailles Rive Gauche - Château de Versailles, perhaps) and go to another Versailles station... (Versailles Chantiers), take several hours to do so, and stop at 36 stations along the way!

This is because this train route circles the city of Paris, ending up only a few hundred meters from where it began.

You would not use this route to go from one place in Versailles to another, but this route can be useful for other destinations. For example, to travel from Versailles to Orly Airport, you would depart the Versailles - Chantiers station on an RER Line C-8 train going in the direction of Versailles - Rive Gauche - Chateau de Versailles, but you would get out at Massy Palaiseau station and change to an RER Line C-2 train going in the direction of Pontoise, then get out at Pont de Rungis - Aéroport d’ Orly station and take a shuttle bus to the airport.

---

Versailles Hotels & Apartments Château de Versailles Château Entry Tickets Getting Around the Château Town of Versailles Marché Notre-Dame Excursions from Paris Paris Transportation About Paris