The Palace of Versailles: Mobbed by Tourists

Shuffling through Europe’s most crowded palace on one of the most crowded days of the year (a Sunday in July), I was struck by the cameras, groups, iPads, humidity, and exhaustion on people’s faces. In spite of the crush, you can feel the gasps of excitement when the long train of royal staterooms reaches the Hall of Mirrors. I was moved to struggle upstream. This video clip shares an experience I’ll never forget. What is your worst crowd experience at a great sight in Europe?

If you can’t see the video below, watch it on YouTube.

Comments

8 Replies to “The Palace of Versailles: Mobbed by Tourists”

  1. We try hard to avoid crowds. It helps that we aren’t huge fans of museums. We went to Florence last year and didn’t go to the Uffizi or Accademia. We enjoyed the outdoor art and sculptures. We went to the small Cathedral Museum (Museo dell’Opera del Duomo) one morning and it was wonderfly non-crowded. We did do the Colosseum in Rome, but bought our tickets online, went first thing in the morning, and it wasn’t crowded at all. We also went to Irelend and didn’t go to the Blarney Stone! :)

  2. We try to travel during the shoulder months when the crowds are not quite so bad although we have run into large school groups those months –in Portugal and Italy, especially. The Topkapi Palace was a horrendous mob scene this past May. Noonish seems to be a good time in some places as the tour groups go to lunch. That happened in Ephesus this May; empty at high noon for an hour or so. Sistine Chapel in Vatican City has always been mobbed for us. Each time, however, we’ve used Rick’s exit recommendation with a sigh of relief! Near closing time has also worked at times in some places. Arriving early doesn’t always work; everybody has the same idea. The Rick Steves tour books usually have some good “avoid the crowd” suggestions that have proved valuable. One of the nice things about independent travel is the ability to pick your own visit time and to move at your own pace and to linger. Honestly, I’ve seen folks in tour groups walk through the door or gate and just start taking pictures wildly because the group is moving too fast and they don’t want to get left behind. I’m not sure if some people actually see the sites except through a viewfinder! We can wander around and linger and enjoy the place and then decide what to photograph and how to photograph.

  3. I have been traveling to Europe since my first solo backpack trip in the mid 70’s. The crowds at major sites seemed much smaller back then, or maybe I was just younger and didn’t notice.
    Now when I visit I pick less touristed sites. I would share some of them with you; but, you would tell others and there goes the neighborhood.
    My advice is when you encounter a site with too many tourists, pick a spot on the sidelines, sit back, sip on some wine, take a breath and enjoy the parade.

  4. My experience is the pickpocket at versailles. He didn’t get me but I tripped him as he ran.

  5. We have tried almost every time of year except the dead of winter. I find that mid to late fall is the best. In the spring it is beautiful but you do get a lot of school kids on field trips to the major sites. I think we have seen all the majors now, unless we are with people that have not we avoid and try to see some of the great small sites. But I agree with getting tickets ahead of time on line. That works beautifully to get in easily, but it will still be a mob seen inside.

  6. My worst crowd experience is a toss-up between Versailles, the Sistine Chapel and Prague. I dislike crowds, so I mostly avoid festivals, holidays and high season, and these days I’m traveling to less hyped places – Eastern Europe rather than Western, South India rather than Rajasthan, for instance.

  7. On an improptu llllllooonnngg weekend trip to London (taking advantage of a British Airways $100 each-way fare promotion) we visited the Tower, and tried to avoid the long lines by Rick’s suggestion of getting entry tickets at the desk in the nearby Underground Station. Being a Monday in February, we figured there wouldn’t be a crowd, but we wanted to play it safe and get our tickets where there was no wait. Unfortunately, the Tube desk was out of entry tickets for the Tower, and it turned out that day was a Bank Holiday, and local families all decided to spend it visiting the Tower of London! The line was slow, and it was a really, really long wait outside on a cool winter’s day, queued up along the former moat, but a spectacular site, once inside.

  8. Our visit to the Versailles was a cold, windy, snowy day in late January as few years ago. We froze on the 500m walk from the train station. there were about 10 cars and one bus in the parking lot. Still we had a short line for our ticket. Obviously we spent most of our time inside the palace, and had it much to ourselves. A sad part was that the Hall of Mirrors was in the midst of renovation, and most of the chandiliers was removed. However we were fasinated by the several persons meticulously replacing marble tiles, and restoring the wall and pillar threatment with their minute brushes. But to have the time to enjoy each room, his and hers… a real treat. We stepped outside for only a short time in the blowing snow and could only imagine the gardens as all the shurbery was wrapped against the elemenets. luckily several years later we were able to visit on a great day in early May, enjoying the gardens with the locals, biking the paths through out the park. Beautiful. Thanks for spurring the memories.
    Don M

    By the way, the worst crowd memory of our family was New Years Eve in Munich at Koenigplatz, with the mad fireworks (who heard of “safe and sane”). One fellow in the middle of this massive crowd had a rocket tube attached to his arm and was ingiting them as he passed through the crowd.

Comments are closed.