Versailles With Kids
Most people walk away from the Palace of Versailles with memories of the Hall of Mirrors, the gilded staterooms, the endless gardens of the Sun King. We came away with all of that too. But our single favorite memory of Versailles is our two-year-old son Ben walking through the most opulent palace in Europe, loudly announcing, in room after room:
“No bed.”
We have no idea where his fixation on whether a room contained a bed came from. But in every gilded chamber that did not have one, Ben registered his disappointment to the entire room. And to this day, years later, on occasion if we walk into a room without a bed, you may hear someone mutter “no bed” — and the whole family laughs.
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The Real Lesson of Versailles With Young Kids
Here is what “no bed” taught us, and what we want to pass along to any family wondering whether it’s worth bringing very young children to a place like Versailles.
Your toddler will not remember the Hall of Mirrors. They will not appreciate the political history of Louis XIV or the significance of the Treaty that was signed there. By the standard logic — “they’re too young to get anything out of it” — you might conclude there’s no point bringing them.
But the point was never that Ben would remember Versailles. The point is that Versailles became part of our family’s shared story — and “no bed” is now a piece of family language that will make us laugh together for the rest of our lives.
That is one of the true, underrated joys of traveling with young children: the shared memories, however silly they look from the outside, that bind a family together. The photograph of the Hall of Mirrors looks like everyone else’s photograph of the Hall of Mirrors. “No bed” belongs only to us.
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Practical Tips for Versailles With Little Ones
- Dress warmly. Versailles is enormous and was built to impress, not to keep anyone warm. In the off-season especially, it is genuinely cold inside — heat was not a priority for the Sun King and apparently still isn’t. Dress everyone in layers.
- Stroller vs. carrier. The palace interior is busy and the rooms flow one into the next in a fixed route. A stroller can be awkward in the crowded staterooms; a carrier is often easier for the youngest. The gardens, by contrast, are made for a stroller and for letting kids run.
- Save energy for the gardens. The gardens are vast, free to walk in much of the year, and the place where young children are happiest. Budget real time here. Let them run off energy among the fountains and hedges after the more constrained indoor route.
- It’s a full day. Versailles is a half-day-plus trip from central Paris by train. Combined with young children’s stamina, this is a full day. Don’t try to stack another major sight on top of it.
- Book ahead. Pre-book timed entry tickets. The lines at Versailles are legendary, and a timed ticket is the difference between walking in and standing outside in the cold with restless children.
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Paris in January was cold and beautiful and quieter than the summer crush. Versailles was the most opulent thing any of us had ever seen. And the thing we treasure most from that day is not the gold or the mirrors or the gardens. It is a two-year-old in a palace, hunting room to room for a bed, and a family joke that has outlasted the trip by years.
Bring the toddler. They won’t remember it. You will never forget it.
Have a “no bed” story of your own — a silly travel moment that became family legend? We’d love to hear it in the comments.
