Château de Fontainebleau — Attraction in Fontainebleau

If you want to avoid the hordes of tourists at Versailles, consider instead going to Fontainebleau.  You don't even need to buy the tickets online.  I've been to Versailles many times, but I only managed to visit Fontainebleau during my last visit to Paris.  Getting there is just as easy as Versailles.  You'll need to go to Gare de Lyon and get a train ticket (Île-de-France region). Don't forget to buy a return ticket or you can wait to buy one at the train station in Fontainebleau.  You want to take the train going in the direction of Montereau and/or Montargis.  Your destination will be Fontainebleau Avon.  Once you're at the train station at Fontainebleau Avon, you'll need to take bus #1 to take you to the bus stop in front of the entrance going to the Palace of Fontainebleau.  You'll want to get off the bus at the Fontainebleau stop.  The entrance is an entrance to a park, the grounds of Fontainebleau (See photo of map. "Vous êtes ici" on the left is the entrance you'll see where the bus stops you off). There's a map which you can use to find the building where tickets are sold.

We arrived early to avoid lines as well as any busloads of tourists like what you would find at Versailles.  Take your time to look at all the rooms and there are plenty of wonderful places to take pictures within the palace.  You can explore the grounds after your visit.  You may, equally, explore the quaint town of Fontainebleau Avon.  Near the bus stop to go back to the train station, there are restaurants as well as an open air market near the Church of...

Interesting place, but with a lot of wasted potential, hence I'm only grudgingly giving it four stars; don't feel obliged to go.

Firstly, you get to see a bunch of rooms, on a fixed route. They are individually interesting but don't give a sense of how people actually (could have) lived here. Nothing about how daily life was structured for the occupants and how the rooms and layout meshed with that, let alone about servants and necessities. No sense of the rhythm and flow of daily life here, and how it differed from the other royal residences.

Secondly, four of the most interesting (sets of) rooms can only be visited on a scheduled (French language) tour. There are however only two of those a day, at 10 and 2:30, and which gets decided on the day, so if you arrive after ten you only have a one in four chance of being able to visit a particular room you might be interested in.

Thirdly, some of the interesting spots seem to be off limits completely (galleries, for instance), and some places are closed for renovations (Napoleon museum, currently), which you only find out about if you dig pretty deeply on the website (how's your French?).

The English signage is pretty minimal, and the audio guide is decent, so I'd get it.

Overall, I'm happy I went, but frustrated with how much better it could have been. Wish the curators would go by musee nissim de camondo in Paris, listen to the audio guide, and get some inspiration on how really to make the...

Gorgeous castle. We were staying in Paris at the premier arrondissement but we decided to book a private tour by car to the castle, as getting there by public transportation seemed a bit tiring and long (we needed to go the the train station by metro, then take the train, then a bus…), especially since it has been very hot these last fews days here. The excursion was somewhat expensive, but the convenience was worth it. The castle is beautiful. We have been to many other castles in France already, including Versailles, and Fontainebleau doesn’t disappoint at all. The interiors are wonderful, but we loved the gardens even more! They are very well kept and the paths along the lake are so serene, it’s wonderful. The audio guides also worked very well 👌 And it’s much quieter than Versailles (we came at the opening time, so it was great), allowing you to better enjoy the scenery and take your time whilst exploring. It’s definitely worth a visit! Two things that could be improved though: not a lot of bathrooms (expect a queue that can get quite long, so take that into account when timing your return) and not a lot of shade at the café by the lake (more tables and shade/umbrellas should be arranged). Also, maybe have a bus leaving like twice or thrice a day from Paris city centre and back to avoid the hassle of taking all the other transportations?

Overall, we loved our visit and we would...