Château de Fontainebleau

Great palace to visit in France. This place is a residence of king, meeting the emperor Napoleon, and source of inspiration and treasures. This palace built during 12th century as medieval palace. It has been through many kings. It was build bit by bit to current palace.

The chateau contain building, museum, garden, and park. It is difficult to complete entire park. The building only open certain sectors. It is part of UNESCO world heritage site. The grand apartment hallway is beautiful and same as the library. The king and queen room is beautiful.

There is very details museum for Napoleon. It includes the emperor campaign. The tent and room use by Napoleon. The collection includes the Marie Louise personal item and more.

The palace is well decorated. Furnitures are look prestige. The garden is huge. But I think the garden is very bare.

I visited on an early morning Saturday as part of a small group from Paris.

The Chateau is under construction in the front and the iconic double staircase entrance is covered and cannot be seen. It was absolutely freezing and windy the day we visited so not comfortable for walking the grounds and gardens but we did it anyway and it's very pretty. I imagine in the summer this must be wonderful.

You are provided with a self-guided audio tour that's easy to use when you enter and you can select the rooms you are in with their corresponding number to learn about the items inside and the historic nature of the chateau and it's affiliation with the royal family and Napoleon.

This site was not by any means as crowded as Versailles and it's beautiful and was an easy visit from Paris (about 45 minutes by car).

If you hate the hordes at Versailles do like the kings of France and head to the more peaceful Chateau de Fontainebleau.

Getting here is a quick 45 minute train trip from central Paris. When you arrive there are buses that go through the town to the chateau (€2/pp). Or you can walk the 2 miles, your call.

The chateau was historically the favored hunting grounds of the royals and is still surrounded by woods. Parts of the chateau date to the 1200's but most of what you see is Renaissance and later. Fontainebleau was an especial favorite of Francois I, so watch for his "F" monograms and salamander badges throughout.

Despite being a "hunting lodge" Fontainebleau is lavish - you'll see fabulous state rooms, bedrooms and ballrooms - all fit for a king. Napoleons loved this place too so you'll see rooms fitted especially for him including a bathroom.

When you're done in the chateau, take a stroll in the manicured gardens before your train back.

Another bonus - open Mondays!

I have a (not so) secret obsession with King Henry II, his wife Catherine de Medici and their family, specifically their son, King of France, Francis ll.

When I did a little research and found out that I could visit the castle where not only they reigned, but where Francis was born, and where many other rulers and famous French historic figures resided including Napoleon, Louis Xlll and Marie Antoinette, I KNEW it was something we just HAD to do! We actually chose to see this palace over Versailles, strictly to avoid the heavy crowds in high tourist season. We were successful! We basically had the place to ourselves! It was awesome!

Originally a mere hunting lodge, the a 1500 room chateau with famous horseshoe staircase is just fascinating! Each room is more opulent than the last! Just when you think you've seen the most ornate, you turn the corner and are surprised by another incredibly decorated room! It's truly unbelievable!!

I especially loved the obvious Italian Renaissance influence in the art! The ceilings rival those of the Vatican! It's THAT gorgeous! Marie Antoinette's bedroom is also striking. The beaded tassels alone were drool- worthy!

The grounds are vast and I would suggest good walking shoes. If you can come on a milder day I feel you would enjoy yourself most. There's lovely gardens and a pond, as well as remnants of the Medieval gate! There were mini horses and period costumes for dress up photo ops for an additional cost out there also!

There's a black and white photo booth by the restrooms that take amazing photos! Treat yourself to one as a keepsake. They're €5 cash only.

The gift shop is excellent! So many amazing books, silk scarves, broaches, perfumes, children's toys and tableware. We purchased some gorgeous beaded Napoleon and Marie Antoinette ornaments for our tree this year and stunning postcards to send to family.

The tickets can be purchased online, but we felt that was unnecessary. €12 for adults. Our children were free. I believe it's 10 years and under, but I'm
Not exactly sure.

We stayed 3 hours and could've easily stayed longer, but the World Cup called!

It's closed Tuesday's and free on first Sundays.

If you have children, don't miss the gorgeous double decker carousel on the street to the side entrance of the chateau! It's €2 a ride per child. Carousels supposedly originated as practice for jousters after King Henry's untimely death in a jousting accident during the celebration of his daughter's Elizabeth marriage with Philip II of Spain in 1559. Just a little fun fact for you!

The town is also very cute! We had a lovely breakfast and stayed for an afternoon drink too.

The chateau is under an hour southeast of Paris, and I believe it to be worth the trip!

A good place to go for the following reasons:
1. 1/7 of the tourist crowd compared to Versailles
2. Length of journey is roughly the same as Versailles
3. Price is half of versailles (12$ a person), Free under 26 years old (with ID)
4. Off the beaten path and thus less crowds, more photos, less wear and tear, honestly less grimy than Versailles
5. Napoleon Bonaparte and co. if you're a history buff, you're going to love the layers of conquerers who have lived here and the story of Josephine and Henry the IV etc.
Cons:
1. Smaller town, thus need to take a train and then hop the #1 or #2 bus for 2 Euros a person to get to the actual palace. The train station is called Fontainebleau Avon. Take the local train within Zone 5, 11$ for the round trip if you just buy the Fontainebleau ticket instead of the unlimited 5 zones for 25$.
2. No bathrooms in this town- Always hit a Paul or just take advantage of free bathrooms outside of the palace
3. Gardens are not as nice as Versailles- kind of mediocre in terms of color, flora/fauna variety and not good for photos. But since inside was opulent enough already, they must have just spent all the money on the interior design.

3.75 Stars

It's a huge château. Our tour group dropped us off here for about 1 hour. So, I felt like didn't get to explore that much here. Audio guides are available for visitors to use when exploring the château. Personally, I didn't find the audio guides useful, because some the rooms in the château didn't really have a code for you to punch into the audio guide so that you can learn about the history of the particular room. The good thing here is that you can take pictures inside the château. When we came here in April 2011, some of the rooms were being renovated too. In sum, I though it was an OK experience visiting this place.

Great palace outside of Paris that's easy to get to using public transportation. You don't need to buy a tour as you can walk the grounds freely. It's similar to Versailles but way less crowded and known. The town is cute with a lot of dining options. It's like the Marin county of Paris.

My husband and I took a train from Paris to Fontainebleau - Avon station and hopped on a bus from the bus station next to it. It is quite convenient. I was surprised to see the chateau right in the middle of the town. I was expecting something more like distant and spacious like entrance to Versailles.

Château de Fontainebleau was built in the Italian mannerist style in the renaissance period. I can feel the warmth and see why the chateau was loved by many kings including the revolutionist, Napoleon. It feels like home, quite a contrast to highly political scenes, drama, and luxury Versailles represents.

Spare 3-4 hours to fully appreciate the chateau and its lovely garden. In the throne room, I appreciate the history that the King of Siam sent a diplomat mission led by Siam's ambassador to visit Napoleon III on June 27, 1861.

We got the audio tour guided us through. We got there early and had time to come back to St.Germain in Paris for dinner.

Fontainebleau was one of my favorite places in France for a peaceful day. In this small town, I felt relax and zen.

Missed the days at INSEAD. I could easily go to the Chateau de Fontainebleau--a big castle, with a huge and lovely garden, and especially with the view of canal. I almost saw it in all different seasons: Love it in summer and in fall--very relax and vivid in summer, and romantic in fall with the red leaves along the canal...In winter, when the leaves fell, it looks a little sad...but I was really in love with this place...

Inside the castle are many big and luxury rooms. Have to say, what a fancy life the empire lived in!!! Though I'm not very into this type of place, it worth the visit!

A fabulous day excursion from Paris. Take the SNCF Grandes Lignes from Gare de Lyon to Fontainbleau-Avon (about a 40 minute ride-the second Fontainbleau stop) and take the shuttle (Bus #1) to the palace. I visited on the first Sunday and entry is free. The chateau with its Renaissance decor is amazing. The Pope's apartment was impressive. The collection of preserved furnishings and artifacts is extensive. The quaint town of Fontainebleau is dotted with cute bistros, boulangeries, pâtisseries, and shops. You can grab a lunch to take to eat in the gardens at Fontainebleau or enjoy dinner after visiting Château de Fontainebleau before traveling back to Paris. The gardens are not as elaborate as Versailles but they are beautiful and relaxing on a sunny day. The staff was very helpful.