Imperial Splendor: Fontainebleau & Vaux le Vicomte from Paris

There’s a lot of walking involved, but lots to see! Many of the rooms are furnished in authentic pieces & fabrics.

I expected a guide to at least accompany us on our trip, possibly discuss some of the local history. We had only a bus driver, who was friendly but gave us no instructions. The buildings were amazing. I really wanted to row a boat at Fontainebleau, but they were not open that day; there was no explanation why.

This is a large bus tour with no tour guide. You basically get transportation to the castles and admission tickets with an audio guide. The bus driver kind of points you in the direction you need to go and tells you when to be back to the bus. I enjoyed both castles and it was an efficient way to see them. There was plenty of time at each castle with enough time to get lunch in town after the first castle.

Unfortunately this fell a little short of our expectations. Whilst it was professionally organised there is no commentary from the bus driver. He pulls the bus up somewhere near the entrance to the palace / chateau and didn’t even tell us the direction to go to get in. This left everyone a little confused. Fontainebleau and Villa Vicomte were enjoyable though.

A no hassle trip. It is self guided but the coach ride was relaxing and they are timely and give you plenty of time to explore and eat. The Chateau Fontainebleau was not crowded and really let you see so much more of chateau life. The Vaux le Vicomte Chateau was also amazing although smaller.

The bus’s air conditioner wasn’t working; despite the driver’s claims, the fan was only circulating very hot, room-temperature air.

The trip was spoilt by the bus. The air conditioning emitted a foul-smelling blast like stale cigarettes or sweaty clothing. The driver was exceptionally careful, manoeuvring expertly in narrow streets and tight corners.

Fontainebleau was beautiful but too crowded to enjoy fully. Vaux-le-Vicomte was equally beautiful and waa my favorite of the two. They had a better audio tour and headsets, and it didn't have lots of visiting school children like Fontainebleau. It would be nice if we were provided with maps of the castles ahead of time, even if only a pdf for our phones. Trying to locate restrooms and food were time-consuming and you really can't dawdle if you want to see everything. We arrived at Vaux-le-Vicomte after lunch so there were limited items left to buy in their café. I wish I had brought a lunch to eat on Vaux-le-Vicomte's beautiful grounds. They had tables for this purpose. The bus was comfortable but we were stuck in horrible traffic returning to Paris. I will definitely want to return to Vaux-le-Vicomte.

Great day, easy to find meeting point and the staff were extremely efficient ensuring we all had tickets and passes. Time allowed at each location was perfect. Coach driver was very courteous and professional.

Well organized. We got the vouchers at the meeting point. Two people were late for departure from the first castle. The bus driver politely waited over 15 minutes before leaving without them and then added 30 minutes at the end to compensate the group for the inconvenience. Bus was very clean. Driver was very professional.