Wandering Versailles? Here’s What Else You Can’t Miss Nearby

After exploring the palace, step into charming gardens, cafés, and hidden streets nearby.

Published: March 11, 2026
Palace of Versailles

The Palace of Versailles dazzles with gold, grandeur, and gardens you could get lost in for days. But why stop at royalty? Just a short walk, pedal, or ride away, the area around Versailles opens up all kinds of possibilities for culture, cuisine, and classic Parisian fun. Whether you’ve got a serious art itch, a soft spot for chocolate, or love the idea of a sunset atop a Paris skyscraper, we’ve found nearby experiences that will keep your royal adventure rolling. Here are our favorite things to do near the Palace of Versailles—making your trip more memorable, one brilliant pit stop at a time. 

Our top things to do near the Palace of Versailles include: 

  • Stroll the Gardens of Versailles 
  • Discover the Orangerie Museum 
  • Savor a Parisian Wine Tasting at Ô Chateau 
  • Dive into History at Musée d'Orsay 
  • Sample Gourmet Treats at the Gourmet Chocolate Museum 
  • See it All from the Tour Montparnasse Observatory 
  • Cruise Down the Seine with Bateaux Parisiens 
  • Step into Modern Art at Centre Pompidou 
  • Explore Notre Dame’s Stunning Surrounds 
  • Reach for the Stars at the Paris Science Museum 

Gardens of Versailles: A Royal Stroll Without the Crowds 

Once you’ve finished gawping at the palace interiors, step outside to discover Versailles’ true wow factor—the Gardens. You’ll find endless paths to wander, dotted with perfectly trimmed hedges, elegant statues, and fountains (which, if timed right, put on an impressive musical show). It's the very picture of French formal garden design, but also a playground for wanderers. Feel free to rent a bike or boat for a totally different perspective, or just find a shady bench for prime people-watching. The further you walk from the main palace, the quieter and more tranquil the gardens become. Royal vibes without the selfie sticks—what’s not to love? 

Orangerie Museum: Monet’s Water Lilies and More 

Hop on the RER train and you’ll reach the Orangerie Museum in Paris in about 35 minutes—an easy next stop after a palace morning. The ambience is serene, the building is elegant, and the luminous oval rooms are filled with Monet’s legendary Water Lilies (Nymphéas). There’s something soothing about drifting between these enormous paintings, soaking up all those dreamy blues and greens. Downstairs, the Jean Walter and Paul Guillaume collections deliver a who’s who of late-19th and early-20th-century art, including Modigliani, Matisse, and Picasso. This hidden gem offers a perfect hit of art without the crowds. 

Ô Chateau: Wine and Cheese Tasting

Wine and Cheese Tasting

If wandering royal hallways sparks your inner sommelier, make time for wine tasting at Ô Chateau back in Paris. It’s a delightful way to blend culture, education, and a little indulgence. Their signature tastings—led in perfect English—walk you through carefully curated flights of French wines, each paired with a story and a smile. You’ll leave knowing your Bordeaux from your Beaujolais, and you might even spot locals picking up bottles in the shop. The ambience is pure Parisian wine bar: warm, inviting, and a little bit fancy (without any snobbery). Charcuterie plates and clever cheese pairings finish the experience. Cheers! 

Musée d'Orsay: Impressionist Masterpieces in a Stunning Setting 

A trip to the Musée d’Orsay transforms any day trip into an art lover’s dream. Housed in a former Beaux-Arts railway station, its soaring clocks and cast-iron architecture are stars all on their own. But let’s be honest—you’re here for the Impressionists, and this place delivers, from vast Monet landscapes to Degas’ famous ballerinas. Wandering these galleries is like flipping through the greatest hits of French art: Van Gogh’s Starry Night, Caillebotte’s rainy streets, Renoir’s joy-filled scenes. The café inside offers up artfully frothed coffee with a grand view, making this a destination you’ll want to linger in. 

Gourmet Chocolate Museum: A Sweet Detour 

What could possibly follow up Versailles’ indulgence? Chocolate. The Gourmet Chocolate Museum (Musée Gourmand du Chocolat) in central Paris invites you to dive into the delicious—and deliciously French—history of chocolate. The museum is wonderfully interactive, from tasting sessions to demonstrations where master chocolatiers pour, temper, and sculpt truffles right before your eyes. Discover how cocoa was once fit only for kings, then sample fragrant bars, pralines, and even the occasional spicy Aztec recipe. The vibe is playful and hands-on—perfect for families, foodies, and anyone with a sweet tooth dreaming of souvenirs that won’t last long. 

Tour Montparnasse: Paris’ Best Panoramic Views 

Want a view over Paris fit for a king? After your Versailles adventure, rocket up to the 56th floor of Tour Montparnasse. As soon as you step out onto the observation terrace, you’ll catch sight of the Eiffel Tower, the Seine, Montmartre—and on clear days, all the way back to Versailles. The glassy, modern space is a fun counterpoint to the palace’s old-world glamour, and there’s a champagne bar for bonus sparkle. We love timing a visit for sunset, when the city bathes in golden light and the twinkling streetlights start to glow. There’s no spot quite like it! 

Bateaux Parisiens River Cruise: Parisian Sights by Water 

For a truly relaxing end to a busy day, board a Bateaux Parisiens River Cruise. These boats glide past some of Paris’ most celebrated monuments: Notre Dame, the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower and more—all lit up like a dream after dark. The audio guides are peppered with the kind of curious stories and fun facts you’ll actually remember. With options for lunch or dinner on board (book in advance for a table at the front!), you can pair your sightseeing with classic French fare. Watching the city drift by with a glass of wine in hand? Très chic. 

Centre Pompidou: Modern Art and Rooftop Views 

Craving bold architecture and even bolder art? Swing by the Centre Pompidou after your Versailles journey. Inside this futuristic structure, you’ll find one of the world’s most exuberant collections of modern and contemporary art—think Picasso, Kandinsky, Dali and more, plus ever-changing exhibitions that keep things fresh and surprising. The building’s see-through tubes and colorful pipes add a playful edge, and a ride up the glass escalator hands you a knockout view of the Paris rooftops. Even the bookstore and café have a creative energy. Come for the art, stay for the scene. 

Notre Dame & Île de la Cité: A Slice of Medieval Paris

Notre Dame

No Paris itinerary is complete without a stop by Notre Dame, just under an hour’s train ride from Versailles. The cathedral’s towers and intricate façade are as striking as ever, but what truly makes this neighborhood sing are its charming streets and river views. Stroll along the Seine, dip into tiny bookshops, or nibble pastries from a bakery with a view of soaring spires. Sunday markets, leafy squares, and the vibrant buzz of nearby cafes make this an endearing, can’t-miss slice of the city. 

Paris Science Museum: Hands-On Fun for All Ages 

Traveling with curious kids—or just young at heart? Add the Paris Science Museum (Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie) to your post-Versailles itinerary. Interactive, fascinating, and packed with clever exhibits, this is science with a side of pure play. Step into a planetarium, try out hands-on experiments, or wander colorful pavilions dedicated to space, transport, and the human brain. The vibrant energy sparks curiosity in visitors of any age. Best of all, the museum’s sprawling La Villette park outside is perfect for a wander or a fresh-air picnic—you’ll forget you’re right in the heart of Paris. 

 

Ready to make your next stop after Versailles just as memorable as the palace itself? Beyond the golden gates lies a world full of charm, from panoramic viewpoints to wine tastings and scenic boat cruises, all waiting to be enjoyed. Whether you’re after culture, adventure, or simply a new perspective on Versailles, there’s plenty to keep your journey rolling long after your palace tour ends. 

Enjoyed this? Check out Everything You Need to Know About Go City's Paris Passes or Things to Do Near Tour Montparnasse 

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Things to do in Paris when it Rains

Paris is that rarest of creatures: a city that’s beautiful both inside and out. Sure, you came here to stroll those swoonsome parks and boulevards arm-in-arm with your beau (or belle), to hand feed each other fresh fruits and fromages from the famous street markets and, of course, to pledge your undying love (and snap some selfies, natch) on the Pont des Arts. But there’ll be more than enough time for all that nonsense after it stops raining. In the meantime, don your most fashionable trenchcoat and ankle boots and dive into our guide to the best things to do in Paris when it rains, from world-class museums and galleries to chic shopping arcades, cozy cafés and subterranean mausoleums. The Best Rainy Day Museums and Galleries in Paris If you’re looking for something to do on a rainy day in Paris, the extraordinary museums and galleries that pepper the city should be your first port of call. There are well in excess of 100 across the city’s 20 arrondissements and here, for your delectation, are some of the finest. The Louvre This one needs no introduction, but we’re going to give it one anyway. With somewhere in the region of eight million annual visitors, the Louvre is the world’s most-visited museum. Unsurprising, perhaps, when you consider that it just happens to contain the Venus de Milo and da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, alongside many other priceless treasures; a collection that charts the whole history of humanity’s artistic endeavors. It’s the kind of place you can easily spend an entire day (indeed, it’s estimated that it would take 200 days to view all the art on display), so shake off your umbrella and settle in for the long haul. Musée d’Orsay Just across the Seine, Musée d’Orsay’s relatively compact size makes it a little more manageable for the casual art enthusiast. Step through the doors of this stunningly converted Beaux-Arts railway station for the planet’s largest collection of Impressionist and post-Impressionist art. We’re talking pieces by many of the movement’s masters: Monet, Manet, Renoir, Rodin, Van Gogh, Cézanne, Degas, Gaugin... the list goes on and on. Musée du Vin You might think you’ve died and gone to the grape beyond at the intoxicating Musée du Vin, where atmospheric vaulted cellars set the perfect scene for a glass of the good stuff. Discover the history of Champagne- and wine-making in these subterranean limestone caves, once used by the Order of Minim friars in the 15th Century, before sampling the delicious spoils of the museum’s own vineyard. Musée National Gustave Moreau This one’s a cracker, especially if you’ve just dragged yourself in from the rain-soaked streets with zero prior knowledge of what to expect. Spoiler alert: it’s not like the other museums. The former Moreau family home, this eye-popping extravaganza of 19th-century Symbolist art is dedicated to the life and works of Gustave Moreau, known for his somewhat trippy compositions featuring mythical creatures, otherworldly flora and hallucinatory hellscapes. Printed guides containing often rambling commentaries from the man himself, as well as a quite spectacular spiral staircase, add to the disorienting nature of the place. Musée Édith Piaf You’ll regret rien about a trip to the fascinating Musée Édith Piaf, a tiny apartment in the 20th arrondissement that was once home to the legendary Parisian chanteuse. The carefully curated collection of Piaf’s personal belongings here includes photographs, fan mail, platinum records and her famous black dress. Tours are by appointment only. Afterwards, brave the rain to visit the Little Sparrow’s final resting place in nearby Père Lachaise Cemetery. Check out our full guide to the best museums and galleries in Paris here. Rainy Day Shopping And, if museums don’t float your rainy-day boat, perhaps Paris’s legendary opportunities for retail therapy will. There’s everything from luxury mega-malls to grab-a-bargain flea markets and highbrow bookstores to keep the incurable shopaholic entertained, and these three are absolute wet-weather must-dos... Galeries Lafayette Haussmann A trip to the iconic Galeries Lafayette Haussmann can feel more like a religious experience than a mere shopping trip, thanks to its ornate galleries, five-story atrium and soaring glass-and-steel cupola. A cathedral to capitalism, it houses an A to Z of household-name and designer brands; 65,000 square meters of retail space that runs the gamut from Armani to Zadig & Voltaire, punctuated by bistros, cafés, salons and more. Once you’ve shopped til you’re (nearly) ready to drop, hit up the roof terrace (with your just-bought Prada parapluie, natch) for restorative widescreen views across Paris. Pro-tip: Galeries Lafayette also runs a variety of achingly Parisian add-on experiences including a catwalk fashion show and a macaron-making class. Booking is essential. Undercover Shopping Tailor-made for rainy days, Paris’s covered shopping arcades are an atmospheric throwback to more gentile times. Stroll beneath stained-glass ceilings, browse old-school wood-fronted stores and admire intricate mosaic tiling, ornate stucco clocks, and iron-and-glass domes and canopies in these masterclasses of 19th-century architecture. There are 20 or so of these elegant covered passages to explore around the 1st-9th arrondissements, each promising a tempting variety of bakeries and bistros, plus any number of chic boutiques, antique emporia, watchmakers, jewelers and bookstores, where great stacks of antiquarian books pile precipitously in corners and defy gravity on groaning, overstocked shelves. A Bonanza for Bookworms If ye delightful olde Librairie du Passage bookstore in Passage du Jouffroy has whet your appetite for yet more bookish pursuits, you’re in luck! Paris is an absolute mecca for book lovers, not least in the storied streets of its characterful Latin Quarter, a bohemian enclave on the Seine’s left bank once frequented by Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, F. Scott Fitzgerald, James Joyce and other such literary luminaries. Sit out the wet weather devouring a classic in one of the district’s hip café bars, popping out between showers to bag some more books in the semi-legendary treasure trove that is English-language bookstore Shakespeare and Company. Or wander down the Seine to find the Bouquinistes of Paris: a veritable army of booksellers that line the left bank, offering up a smorgasbord of antiquarian tomes, literary classics, childrens’ books, poetry, graphic novels, pulp fiction, art and more. And That’s Not All... No need to let a little rain dampen your sightseeing spirits. A Citroën 2CV tour is a great way to take in the city sights without necessarily setting a foot outdoors. Fun rain or shine, these whistlestop tours take in all the major landmarks and can cram in as many as three passengers at a time. Take the edge off any potential discomfort by booking one of the champagne packages. Or dodge the downpours by heading underground into the secret city that is the Paris Catacombs – a vast network of bone-chilling tunnels, passageways, sewers and secret chambers. This epic labyrinthine ossuary contains the mortal remains of some six million Parisians, relocated here from overflowing Paris cemeteries in the 18th and 19th centuries. So perhaps not one for a first date. If all else fails, simply do as the Parisians do when it rains: find a cute streetside café, order a croissant and a café crème and find yourself a prime seat for people-watching by the windows – at least until they fog up. Save on rainy day activities in Paris Save on admission to Paris attractions with Go City. Check out @GoCity on Instagram for the latest top tips and attraction info.
Stuart Bak
Stuart Bak
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An Alternative Guide to Paris Museums

Paris is one of those amazing European cities just brimming with art, culture, and history. In fact, some of the most famous museums in the entire world are found right here in the City of Lights. We’ve all heard of the Louvre, Musée D’Orsay, Versailles, and so on. But what about those of you who’ve already hit up the biggies and are looking to explore some more distinctive or unusual Paris museums? If you’re looking for alternatives to the major label museums in Paris, have we got the handy little guide for you. Check out our guide to the quirky, unique, and unexpected museums in Paris. The alternative museums we highlight in this post include: Musée des Plans-Reliefs Musée de Cluny Museum of Arts & Crafts Museum of Decorative Arts Château de Rambouillet Sèvres, City of Ceramics Museum of Music Discovery Palace Picasso Museum Musée des Plans-Reliefs The Musée des Plans-Reliefs would be Toby Shandy’s delight. Housed in the Hôtel des Invalides, this collection features a massive assortment of “plans-reliefs,” or scaled-down models of cities and other geographic features for military purposes. They were originally used to strategize during battle—something of an early precursor to our digital renderings. The collection includes pieces from the late seventeenth through the early nineteenth centuries. Musée de Cluny Although it’s a museum that tends to escape people’s radar when visiting Paris, the Cluny Museum is actually among the most significant cultural institutions in the city. Found in the Latin Quarter, this museum features one of the best collections of medieval art and artifacts anywhere in the world. For example, you’ll find a number of famous tapestries, crowns, engravings, sculptures, and other evidence of medieval artistry and craftsmanship from France and beyond. Museum of Arts & Crafts The Musée des Arts et Métiers is something of a misleading name for this fine collection of scientific and industrial materials. Here you’ll find tens of thousands of drawings and objects—among which are some of the most famous technical objects in history, such as an original Foucault pendulum, the original model for what would become the Statue of Liberty, and the first mechanical calculator. Visitors can also explore historic cars, planes, and other artifacts from the history of transportation. Museum of Decorative Arts Housed in a portion of the Louvre Palace (but distinct from the Louvre itself), the Musée des Arts Décoratifs brings together compelling exhibits from the history of graphic arts, advertising, and fashion. The overall focus is on design and decorative arts, with objects like furniture, wallpaper, ceramics, glassware, children’s toys, carpets, and much more comprising its extensive collections. Visitors will also want to take time to explore themed period rooms that showcase different moments in the history of material goods. Château de Rambouillet Castle of Rambouillet is located a fair distance southwest of Paris, but it’s worth the extra effort to see this remarkable museum. Formerly the summer home of the Presidents of the French Republic, it’s now a historic monument preserving the long history of the castle. It was originally built in the fourteenth century but is most famous as the place that Louis XIV transformed into an idealized version of a country dairy to please his queen, Marie-Antoinette. There were further additions and modifications made by later rulers as well. Sèvres, City of Ceramics A small community in the southwest suburbs of Paris, Sèvres is known for its unparalleled production of exquisite porcelain. The largest porcelain manufactory in Europe is still located in this neighborhood, as the eponymous Sèvres – Cité de la Céramique museum. A visit here is an opportunity to learn about the historic porcelain production in France, as well as a chance to see their fine collection of Asian and European ceramics, including many pieces by modern and contemporary artists. Museum of Music Located within the renowned performance space Cité de la Musique, the Musée de la Musique boasts a unique collection of rare and unusual instruments. Visitors can peruse over 1,000 instruments and musical artifacts ranging from a tortoise guitar to a crystal flute. The collections span the period from the seventeenth century through the modern era including non-European instruments and music. The accompanying audio guide allows visitors to listen to recordings, and free daily concerts provide live musical inspiration. Discovery Palace The Palais de la Découverte is an exciting modern science museum located in the 8th arrondissement in Paris. Permanent exhibitions here include a focus on topics like mathematics, chemistry, physics, biology, geology, and astronomy. It’s particularly notable for its Zeiss planetarium. About a decade ago it merged with the Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie, sharing their collective dedication to spreading scientific knowledge and education with visitors of all ages. Picasso Museum An art gallery dedicated exclusively to the expansive productions of one of Europe’s most famous artists, the Musée Picasso is absolutely a must-visit for fans of the Spaniard’s life and works. You’ll find more than 5,000 works of art including paintings, notebooks, sculptures, ceramics, engravings, and drawings, as well as thousands of archival documents include Picasso’s personal correspondence, manuscripts, and photographs. This collection is located in the Marais district of Paris. Save on Admission to Paris Museums Visit these museums and plenty of other cultural institutions with the Go Paris pass. Pay only 95 Euro for the 48-hour Paris Museum Pass, which covers admission to more than 55 different museums and monuments in the broader Paris area. The Go Paris pass also includes admission to tours, cruises, and other fun attractions to help round out your weekend getaway. Share Your Adventure with Us Tag @GoCity in your vacation photos and we'll feature you on our page. Follow the Go City Instagram and Facebook pages for competitions, special offers, and events and inspiration for your chosen destination, too!
Katie Sagal
Women at Paris Café
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