How Far Is Giverny From Versailles?

The real geography first, even though the numbers people expect are not the numbers that matter. Giverny lies about 75 km northwest of Paris, in Normandy, on a loop of the Seine near the station town of Vernon. Versailles lies to the southwest of Paris, in the other direction entirely. No direct train connects the two, and the practical route between them bends back through the Paris region or around its western edge. That geometry is exactly why the question "how far" usually means something else: travelers are really asking whether both can fit into one trip, and the answer is yes, most easily on a combo tour such as the From Paris: Giverny and Versailles Palace Guided Day Trip, which handles the driving, the timed entries and the palace guiding in a single 11.5-hour day.

Where Do Giverny And Versailles Sit Relative To Each Other?

The two sites sit on roughly opposite sides of the Paris region: Giverny about 75 km to the northwest in Normandy, Versailles to the southwest, with no direct rail line between them. Traveling from one to the other means bending back around or through the Paris area, which is why nearly everyone visits them as two spokes out of the capital rather than as neighbors.

Picture a clock face with Paris at the center. Vernon-Giverny, the station for Monet's village, sits at roughly eleven o'clock, at the end of a direct TER ride from Paris Saint-Lazare that takes about 45 minutes to an hour. Versailles sits at roughly eight o'clock, served by its own suburban rail links from central Paris. The angle between the two spokes is the whole problem and the whole opportunity: a self-driver looping both in one day covers a wide arc around the western edge of the region, while a tour bus simply runs the arc for you.

The distance also explains the rhythm of every combined itinerary. Because the two sites pull in opposite directions, the day has to start early and finish late: the coach combos on this site run from 9 to 11.5 hours door to door. Monet's garden opens at 10:00, and the palace at Versailles opens at 9:00 with the Trianon estate from 12:00, so operators slot Giverny into the morning, when the light is on the water garden, and Versailles into the afternoon.

This geometry is why the standalone articles on how far Giverny is from Paris and the general Giverny and Versailles tour guide treat the pair as two separate spokes. If you are weighing the combined option against two independent half-days, the comparison that matters is total hours: two separate Giverny half-days plus a Versailles day usually costs more calendar time than one combo, even though the combo day itself is long.

For travelers who want the whole question resolved in one booking, three combined products cover the spread of budgets and group sizes:

Can You See Both Giverny And Versailles In One Day?

Yes, comfortably, provided the day is built for it. The combined listings run 9 to 11.5 hours, visit Monet's house and gardens plus the Palace of Versailles, and include entry tickets in every case, with the longest option, from $144 per person, adding a guided palace tour. What one day cannot absorb is a leisurely pace at both sites.

The arithmetic of the visit itself is friendlier than people fear. Monet's house and gardens recommends 1h30 to 2h for the visit, and the palace at Versailles rewards at least two hours inside plus garden time. A combo day gives you roughly that at each, minus the hours a self-guided traveler would lose to navigation, ticket lines and the transfer between the sites. The recommended-visit guidance comes from the house's own practical page, which also notes that booking ahead is recommended on weekends and public holidays, per the official site.

Not every combo is built the same way, and the differences are worth reading closely before booking. The table below compares the combined listings on the site's Giverny and Versailles category on the numbers that actually change the day: duration, price basis, group size and what is included.

One pattern stands out: the two longest days, at 11.5 hours, are also the ones that reach beyond the palace itself. The minivan Trianon version adds the Big and Small Trianon and the Hamlet de la Reine with hotel pickup, while the guided coach day stretches because it gives Versailles a full guided treatment. The shorter 9-hour options trade depth for stamina, which is a fair swap in high summer.

Monet's gardens are an outdoor experience and the palace interiors are not, so a rainy forecast hurts half of a combo day; a cancellation window lets you rebook or retreat to a museum day instead. Check each listing for its own cancellation terms before relying on it.

What Does A Giverny And Versailles Combo Tour Cost?

Combined listings run from $144 per person on the shared guided coach to $371 per person on the small-group version with lunch and drinks included, with most options clustering between $230 and $319. Every combined listing includes entry tickets to both sites, so the price gap tracks vehicle comfort, group size, meals and guiding depth rather than access itself.

It helps to set those prices against the DIY baseline. Entry to Monet's house and gardens is 13 euros for an adult, and the 2026 Versailles Passport is 35 euros standard in high season, 25 euros in low season, with the Trianon ticket at 15 euros, per the palace's official ticketing page. Add a TER train to Vernon, the 5-euro-each-way SN'go! shuttle, and a separate rail fare to Versailles, and the self-guided day lands somewhere well below the cheapest combo but with every transfer, queue and timing decision on your own shoulders.

The mid-price tier is where the value argument gets interesting. The Versailles Timed Entrance Ticket and Giverny Small Group Day Trip, from $285 per person and rated 4.8 from 295 reviews, caps the group at eight in an air-conditioned minivan and secures a guaranteed timed Versailles entry. On days when the palace is at its busiest, that guaranteed slot plus a driver-guide is what the price premium buys, and guests who want a smaller vehicle without paying private-tour rates tend to land here.

A step down in price, the Versailles Palace and Giverny Monet House Visit with Lunch sits at from $230 per person, rated 4.2 from 2,021 reviews, over 9 hours 30 minutes by luxury coach with a three-course lunch included and priority-access entrance tickets to both attractions. It is the most reviewed combined listing on the site and the natural pick for travelers who want a big-bus day at the lowest all-in cost with food handled.

Giverny Or Versailles First: Which Order Works Better?

Almost every combined itinerary runs Giverny first and Versailles second, because Monet's garden rewards morning light and closes its gates at 18:00 with last admission at 17:30, while the palace's gardens and park stay walkable later into the evening. The order also spreads the two security checks and the longest walk, at Versailles, into the cooler part of the day.

The garden-side logic is partly botanical. The water garden and the Grande Allée photograph differently through the day, and morning visits catch the nasturtiums, dahlias and late-season asters before the crowds build. The official guidance is that weekdays, especially Tuesday through Thursday, and the early 10:00 slot or the late afternoon after 16:00 are the calmer windows, and a combo tour's fixed schedule automatically lands you in one of them.

The palace-side logic is about scale. The Hall of Mirrors and the Royal Apartments are interior spaces best seen before fatigue sets in, yet the estate is enormous, and the Trianon estate only opens from 12:00, which quietly forces the afternoon allocation. The 11.5-hour Trianon minivan listing is the clearest example: its inclusions cover a guided Versailles gardens walk plus the Big and Small Trianon and the Hamlet de la Reine, an itinerary that only fits if Giverny is banked by midday.

There is one ordering trap worth naming. The Palace and Trianon at Versailles are closed on Mondays, so a Monday combo either drops the palace interior or does not run at all; check the day of the week before booking any combined product. The house at Giverny, by contrast, is open every day of its season, 1 April to 1 November 2026, 10:00 to 18:00.

How Do The Two Sites' Seasons And Closing Days Compare?

Giverny's house and gardens open only from 1 April to 1 November, every day, while Versailles runs year-round but closes the Palace and Trianon on Mondays, so the combined season is effectively April to October on Tuesdays through Sundays. The Musee de l'Orangerie, home to Monet's Water Lilies panels, is a useful Paris add-on except on Tuesdays, when it closes.

The overlap window matters more than either calendar alone. A traveler who arrives in February can visit Versailles but not Monet's garden, which closes from 2 November to 31 March; a traveler who arrives on a Monday in June faces the reverse gap at the palace. The reopening date for Giverny's 2027 season has not been published, so anyone planning beyond this season should check the official page rather than assume April.

Ticket mechanics differ too, and the contrast is worth a table because it shapes how a combo day actually feels on the ground.

The house and gardens open 10:00 to 18:00, with last admission at 17:30. The official site sells an online skip-the-line e-ticket, and tickets are also sold on site daily from 9:30. E-tickets are non-refundable; booking is recommended for weekends and public holidays, since once the online quota is used up, long waits on site are likely. Skip-the-line wording on a tour listing describes that operator's own pre-booked ticket, the same fast-track product you can buy directly from the official site.

Is Combining Them By Train Realistic?

Doing both by train in one day is possible but punishing, because there is no direct rail link: the realistic route is Vernon-Giverny back to Paris Saint-Lazare, then across Paris to a Versailles-bound line, with the 5-euro shuttle and a cross-city transfer adding friction each way. Most independent travelers who try it end up wishing they had split it over two days or taken a combo tour.

The train-side facts are solid on their own. Direct TER trains run Paris Saint-Lazare to Vernon-Giverny in about 45 minutes to an hour, roughly 20 to 27 a day, with fares about 6 to 24 euros, and works on the line mean timetables should be checked before buying. The SN'go! shuttle meets trains at Vernon for the 5-euro single or 10-euro return ride to the village, April to November, seats subject to availability. The train-versus-tour comparison works through this trade-off for Giverny alone.

Bolting Versailles onto that turns a clean rail day into a three-transfer day. You would leave Giverny by early afternoon, shuttle back to Vernon, train to Saint-Lazare, cross Paris with luggage-aware timing, then ride out to Versailles with the palace's own last-entry clock running down. It can be done by a confident, fast-moving traveler in the longest daylight months. For everyone else, the combined tours exist precisely to delete that middle of the day.

The private route splits the difference on price. The Versailles Palace and Giverny Private Tour with Lunch, from $854 and rated 4.9 from 57 reviews, runs 9 hours with hotel pickup, an expert local guide, lunch and private transportation, and there is a full private Giverny tour guide covering the Giverny-only equivalents. Private combined products carry no group-size compromises, which is the point of the premium.

Whichever way you build the day, the underlying question is not really kilometers. It is whether you want to spend the middle of it on a train platform or in a garden, and combined Giverny and Versailles tours settle that question in the garden's favor.

If the combined format appeals, these are the three listings that cover the budget spread:

Common Questions About Giverny And Versailles

Can you do Giverny and Versailles on the same day?

Yes. The combined tours listed here run 9 to 11.5 hours, include entry tickets to both Monet's house and gardens and the Palace of Versailles, and several include lunch or hotel pickup. Expect a full day with roughly 1.5 to 2 hours at Giverny and the rest of the visiting time at Versailles.

Which one should you visit first, Giverny or Versailles?

Nearly every combined itinerary visits Giverny in the morning and Versailles in the afternoon. Monet's garden rewards morning light and stops admitting at 17:30, while the Versailles gardens and park remain walkable later and the Trianon estate only opens from 12:00, which pushes it naturally to the second half of the day.

Is a combo tour cheaper than visiting both independently?

Independent entry is cheaper on paper: 13 euros adult at Monet's house plus the 35-euro high-season Versailles Passport, plus train and shuttle fares. Combo tours from $144 per person cost more but include transport, entry to both sites and, on several listings, lunch and guiding, while removing every transfer decision from a very long day.

When is the overlap season for both sites?

Giverny is open 1 April to 1 November 2026, daily, 10:00 to 18:00. Versailles runs year-round but closes the Palace and Trianon on Mondays. The practical combined window is therefore April to October, Tuesdays through Sundays, and the Giverny reopening date for the following season has not yet been published.

Is there a direct train from Giverny to Versailles?

No. The rail route runs Vernon-Giverny to Paris Saint-Lazare, about 45 minutes to an hour, then a cross-Paris transfer to a Versailles-bound line, plus the 5-euro-each-way SN'go! shuttle between Vernon station and the village. It is doable but slow, which is why most visitors choose a combined tour or split the two across separate days.