19-07-2025
To Avoid the Day-Trippers at the Palace of Versailles, Book a Night in Town
I arrived in Versailles just after midnight and, stepping out of a taxi, I looked up at the eerily quiet palace at the town's heart. It could have been a night in 1789 during the French Revolution, after a Parisian mob had escorted the royal family off the palace grounds. Across the street, I entered Les Lumières, a pair of 17th-century mansions converted into a boutique hotel. A doorman whisked my bag through splendid hallways, past a grand staircase and beneath glittering chandeliers to an ornate chamber.
It was a suitably theatrical introduction to a stay in Versailles, known to most travelers for the extraordinary Palace of Versailles. Years before, I'd joined the armies of day-trippers on the 15-minute train ride from Paris, and fought alongside them through the 2,300-room estate, which sees almost as many visitors as the Louvre. But, recently, a friend from Versailles, a community of around 83,000 people, had suggested I stay overnight for a calmer, more immersive experience.
