Versailles Passport vs Palace Ticket: Is There Still a Palace-Only Ticket?

Many visitors still arrive at Versailles looking for the cheaper Palace ticket that older guides describe. In 2026 it is no longer sold: the official price list has no Palace-only ticket, and the Passport is now the standard palace ticket, covering the whole estate. Here’s what the Passport covers, what replaced the Palace ticket for short visits, the current prices, and when a guided Versailles palace tour beats doing it yourself.

What each ticket covers

The Palace ticket, which covered the main palace only, is no longer on sale. The official 2026 price list and the château’s ticket shop offer no Palace-only option, so even if you only want the State Apartments, the Hall of Mirrors and the royal chambers, you need a Passport. The cheapest way in is the Late Passport: €18 from November to March with palace entry from 15:00, and €28 from April to October with palace entry from 16:00.

The Passport covers the entire estate: the palace (with a timed entry slot), the Grand Trianon and Petit Trianon, Marie Antoinette’s hamlet, and the gardens — including on Musical Fountains and Musical Gardens days, when garden entry is otherwise charged.

The Passport does not include a guide, and it does not get you past the main security line any faster.

Other experiences you might enjoy

A ticket is only the start of the day. Around it you can cycle the Gardens of Versailles, tour the Grand Canal by golf cart, catch the Musical Fountains or add Monet’s Giverny. More around Versailles and Paris is below.

Current official prices

Two fine-print items catch people out. First, since January 2026 the estate prices the Passport seasonally, and non-European visitors pay a small premium — EEA nationals and residents get a €3 discount with proof of nationality or residency. Our full 2026 Versailles ticket prices guide also covers the garden-show, combined and free-entry tickets. Second, under-18s (and under-26 EEA nationals and residents) enter the palace free, which changes the family math substantially — a family of four may only be paying for two adults.

The free-gardens catch

From November through March, the gardens are free for everyone, which makes the €25 winter Passport good value: you are paying for the palace and the Trianons only. From April to the end of October, show-day garden entry is charged, and the €35 Passport includes it; on those days a garden-only ticket costs €15 on its own.

What neither ticket fixes

Every ticket puts you in the same main security queue, which on peak days stretches across the Place d’Armes and can consume an hour before you reach a single gilded room. And the Passport hands you 2,300 rooms’ worth of palace with no narration beyond an audio guide. Our comparison of an audio guide or live guide shows what each adds.

That’s the gap the guided option fills. The skip-the-line guided tour featured on this site enters through the group entrance on a pre-booked time slot, puts a licensed guide in front of you for 90 minutes through the State Apartments, the King’s Bedroom, and the Hall of Mirrors, hands out headsets so you hear everything, and includes gardens access — with the Trianons and Marie Antoinette’s estate available as an add-on option. It costs from $79 per person, and 12,062 guests have rated it 4.7/5. A comparable self-guided Passport day costs roughly a third of that; the difference buys the two things the box office can’t sell you — time and context.

So which should you buy?

Buy the Late Passport if: you only care about the palace interior, you can arrive in the afternoon (palace entry from 15:00 November–March, 16:00 April–October), and you’re comfortable self-navigating with an audio guide. It costs €7 less than the full Passport.

Buy the Passport if: you’re making a full day of it in high season, you want Marie Antoinette’s estate and the Trianons — many visitors’ favorite part — and you’re happy to guide yourself. There’s a bookable full-access Passport ticket here, rated 4.6/5 by more than 45,000 travelers, from $29.

Book the guided tour if: it’s your first visit, your time in Paris is scarce, or you’re going on a busy day (any Tuesday, any weekend, anything June–August). The skip-the-line entry plus a guide who makes the rooms mean something is the difference between seeing Versailles and understanding it. Our comparison table on the homepage puts all three side by side.

A note on booking direct vs. bundled

Nothing stops you mixing approaches: some visitors book the guided palace tour for the morning, then use the included gardens time — or upgrade to the full-access option — for the afternoon estate walk. Because the featured tour has free cancellation, it’s the lowest-risk piece of the puzzle to lock in early; timed palace slots are the scarce resource at Versailles, not garden capacity.

Ready to book?

Compare the Passport ticket and the skip-the-line guided tour — or jump straight to checking availability for the guided tour, from $79 with free cancellation.