Chateau de Fontainebleau Day Trip from Paris
Chateau de Fontainebleau is an incredible historic palace that makes a great day trip from Paris. If you’ve already been to Versailles (or want to avoid the crowds), Fontainebleau is a good alternative.
The chateau at Fontainebleau is very impressive, and a must-visit for history lovers. It was the home of French kings for more than 800 years, and it became the home of Napoleon during the First French Empire.
This grand chateau is located just over 40 miles from Paris, making it good for a day trip.
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Best tours to Chateau de Fontainebleau:
History of Chateau de Fontainebleau
The history of this chateau dates all the way back to the 12th century.
It was a summer residence and hunting lodge for French monarchs, a tradition that continued for more than eight centuries. Over the centuries, the palace expanded and became more grand.
It began as a modest medieval castle but was expanded into a great Renaissance palace during the 16th century under King Francis I of France. King Henry II and Catherine de Medici continued the expansion, and then King Henry IV took the reigns at the beginning of the 17th century with even more expansions.
Louis XIV, the Sun King, who is famous for his opulent palace at Versailles, also spent more time than any other French monarch at Fontainebleau. He used it as his late summer hunting retreat.
During the French Revolution, the chateau was far enough from Paris that it was shielded from any destruction, and it later became Napoleon Bonaparte’s palace during the early 19th century.
In WWII, the chateau was briefly occupied by the Nazis. Its restoration began in the 1960s and it was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981 thanks to its historical and cultural significance.
How to Get There
You can visit Chateau de Fontainebleau on your own by train and bus or by car from Paris.
First, you will need to get to Gare de Lyon in Paris. This train station is served by Metro lines 1 and 14. At the train station, you’ll want to purchase a one-day Mobilis ticket from any ticket machine.
This ticket costs €17.80 and allows for unlimited train and bus travel within the Île-de-France region.
You will then take the Transilien R train south towards Montereau. Make sure you take a train that terminates in Montereau (and not another town) or else you won’t be able to reach your stop! You’ll want to get off at the Fontainebleau-Avon station. The total time on the train is 40 minutes.
From the train station, you can take the 1 bus or the 4014 bus across town to the chateau. It’s about a 10-minute bus ride. If you don’t mind walking, it’s about a 40-minute walk to the chateau.
If you have your own car, you can also easily drive to Fontainebleau. It’s about a one-hour drive from central Paris to Fontainebleau, and there are several paid parking lots near the chateau.
Tours to Chateau de Fontainebleau
While it’s possible to visit Chateau de Fontainebleau independently, you can also visit on an organized tour from Paris if you’d prefer that. I personally took this coach bus tour from Paris.
This is because I wanted to visit Chateau de Fontainebleau and nearby Chateau de Vaux-le-Vicomte. It’s a thirty-minute drive between the two chateaux, but since I didn’t have my own car, there was no easy way for me to visit both on the same day because there is no public transportation connecting the two places.
Additionally, getting to and from Chateau de Vaux-le-Vicomte from Paris proves to be a longer and more complex journey requiring a train, a bus, and a long walk, making it harder to visit on its own.
Since I really wanted to visit both places on the same day, I was thrilled to find this day tour.
On this tour, you’ll depart by coach bus from Paris and stop at Chateau de Fontainebleau for 3.5 hours, which I found to be plenty of time to explore. Next, you’ll hop back on the bus and head to Chateau de Vaux-le-Vicomte, where you’ll spend 2.5 hours before going back to Paris.
The tour includes round-trip transportation from Paris and entry tickets to both chateaux (as well as audio guides at both chateaux and entry to the rooftop dome at Vaux-le-Vicomte.)
Overall, I would recommend this tour if you want to explore Fontainebleau and Vaux-le-Vicomte in one day. The two chateaux combine very well into a day trip and this is the easiest way to visit both of them.
This is the Fontainebleau and Vaux-le-Vicomte tour I did.
Things to Do at Chateau de Fontainebleau
Here are the best things to do on your visit to Chateau de Fontainebleau:
Tour the chateau. The chateau is quite large and you can easily spend several hours inside. It’s split into two wings, the Napoleon I Museum and the Grand Apartments, including the Chapel of the Trinity.
Explore the gardens. You also shouldn’t miss the gardens at the Chateau de Fontainebleau. While I didn’t find these gardens to be as impressive as some of the gardens at other chateaux in France (like Versailles!), it’s still a nice area to stroll around and explore after you’ve finished inside the palace.
Enjoy lunch at the chateau. You have several options for lunch at Chateau de Fontainebleau. You could pack a picnic lunch and enjoy it in the gardens. There’s also a small cafe with sandwiches, pastries, and beverages (where I went), as well as a casual restaurant that has a larger menu.
See more of the town. Fontainebleau is a quaint small town that is worth wandering around. If you’re spending a full day in Fontainebleau, you might consider having lunch or dinner at one of the restaurants in town. Or just take a quick stroll around after exploring the chateau before you leave.
Essential Information
Tickets to visit the Chateau de Fontainebleau are €14.
Free admission is available for children under the age of 18 years old. Admission is also free for everyone on the first Sunday of each month, with the exception of the months of July and August.
The audio/video guide is an additional €4 but I recommend it!
(If you book the same tour I did, tickets and the audio/video guide are included.)
Chateau de Fontainebleau is open every day of the week except Tuesday. The park and gardens at Fontainebleau are open every day of the week and you don’t need a ticket in order to visit them.
The chateau is open from 9:30 AM to 6 PM from April through September and 9:30 AM to 5 PM from October through March. I recommend arriving early in the morning right when it opens.
Chateau de Fontainebleau Day Trip
Chateau de Fontainebleau is a great day trip from Paris.
If you’re interested in French history, this is a must-visit. You can also combine it with a visit to the nearby Chateau de Vaux-le-Vicomte on this day tour if you want to see two chateaux in one day.
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