Eight centuries of kings and emperors — and the courtyard where Napoleon said goodbye

Priority entry past the ticket-office queue, valid all day on your chosen date, plus access to the Grands Appartements — the Gallery of Francis I, the royal and imperial apartments, the ballroom — and the Musée Napoléon Ier, subject to the day's opening. The gardens, Grand Parterre and park are free and included.

It's for a specific date, but not a fixed time. Fontainebleau uses an open-date ticket: you choose your visit date, and it's valid for that whole day, so you can arrive any time during opening hours — there's no time slot to catch. Just tell us your preferred date when you book and we issue the ticket so you walk straight in past the queue.

It is the first Renaissance interior created in France, decorated in the 1530s by Italian masters led by Rosso Fiorentino and Primaticcio, who combined fresco with sculpted stucco frames. Their work gave rise to the 'School of Fontainebleau' and is the single most celebrated room in the palace.

On the curved horseshoe staircase in the great forecourt, on 20 April 1814. Having abdicated, Napoleon bid farewell to the soldiers of his Imperial Guard before leaving for exile on Elba — which is why the courtyard is known as the Cour des Adieux, the 'Courtyard of Farewells'.

Allow about 2 hours for the Grands Appartements, the Gallery of Francis I and the Musée Napoléon Ier. Add an hour or more if you want to walk the gardens, the Grand Parterre and the park around the carp pond, all of which are free to enter.

Yes. The château offers a visioguide — audio commentary paired with images and extra detail on the rooms and the works in them — hired on the day at the palace. It is separate from the admission ticket and does not need to be reserved in advance. It is available in 12 languages: French, English, Spanish, German, Italian, Portuguese, Japanese, Russian, Chinese, Dutch, Polish and Korean, with a version made for children aged 7 to 12 in five of them. If you prefer your own phone and headphones, the château also publishes a free web-based visit with themed routes, anecdotes, quizzes and an interactive map. Every booking with us also includes our own five-minute audio history, sent the day before you go.

Take the Transilien line R train from Paris Gare de Lyon to Fontainebleau-Avon, about 40 minutes. From the station, the local bus (line 1, towards Les Lilas) reaches the Château stop in around 15 minutes. The whole journey is roughly 55 minutes door to door.

Yes. The palace is closed every Tuesday, and also on 1 January, 1 May and 25 December. On all other days it opens at 09:30. Plan around the Tuesday closure — it is the single most common reason visitors arrive to a closed door.

From October to March the palace is open 09:30–17:00 with last entry at 16:15; from April to September it is open 09:30–18:00 with last entry at 17:15. It is closed on Tuesdays, 1 January, 1 May and 25 December. The gardens and park are free and open daily.

Yes. The gardens, the Grand Parterre — one of the largest formal parterres in Europe — the English garden, the carp pond and the wider park are all free and open daily, even when the palace interiors are closed. The château ticket is needed only for the apartments and museums inside.

Yes. We issue an e-ticket that you present on your phone at the entrance — there is no need to print it. Just have it ready to show when you arrive on your chosen date, and our concierge team is on call if anything needs sorting on the day.

Yes — there is paid parking close to the palace, including spaces near the Cour des Adieux and around the town centre a short walk from the gate. In peak season the nearest spaces fill by late morning, so arriving for an earlier slot or using the train is often easier.

Largely. The state apartments are reached mostly on one level via the main entrance route, with lifts serving the principal floor, though some historic thresholds and the gardens' gravel paths can be uneven. Contact us before booking if mobility is a concern and we will confirm the current accessible route and any assistance available.

Yes — photography is permitted in the apartments without flash or a tripod. The Gallery of Francis I and the throne room photograph beautifully; outside, the horseshoe staircase across the Cour des Adieux and the gardens reflected in the carp pond are the signature shots.

Yes. The 'Palace and Park of Fontainebleau' was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1981, recognised as the only royal residence inhabited continuously by the sovereigns of France for more than seven centuries and as a model that influenced palace architecture across Europe.

Easily. The Forest of Fontainebleau wraps around the town and is one of France's most loved walking and climbing areas, famous for its sandstone boulders. After about two hours in the palace and a stroll in the gardens, the forest trails begin within walking distance of the gate — a natural way to round out the day.

Fontainebleau was lived in continuously for eight centuries by every kind of French ruler, so it layers medieval, Renaissance, Bourbon and Napoleonic taste in one place; Versailles is a single, later grand vision built mainly under Louis XIV. Fontainebleau is also far quieter, closer to Paris by direct train, and uniquely rich in Napoleonic interiors.

Your ticket is open-date, so within its chosen day you can arrive whenever suits you — there's no time slot to rebook. If you need to move to a different date, reply to your confirmation email as early as you can and our concierge team will do its best to help adjust the booking with the palace wherever its calendar allows.

The Château de Fontainebleau is a former royal and imperial palace about 55 kilometres south-east of Paris, and one of the largest of all French châteaux. Unlike Versailles, which is largely the work of a single era, Fontainebleau was shaped continuously by nearly every French sovereign from the 12th century to Napoleon III, so eight centuries of building, decoration and reinvention are layered into one site. Its highlights include the Renaissance Gallery of Francis I, which introduced Italian Mannerist art to France and gave rise to the celebrated School of Fontainebleau, along with the Grand Apartments, the Imperial Theatre and the Musée Napoléon Ier. The palace is set within a vast forest that was long a royal hunting ground. It was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981, and is perhaps best known as the place where Napoleon signed his abdication in 1814 and bade farewell to his Imperial Guard.

By train, take a Transilien line R service from Paris Gare de Lyon to Fontainebleau–Avon station, where the direct trains take around 40 minutes. From the station, the local bus towards Les Lilas runs to the château stop in about 15 minutes, or it is a 30 to 40 minute walk through the town. Trains run roughly every hour, and more frequently at peak times, so it makes an easy half-day trip from central Paris. By car, Fontainebleau is about an hour from the city via the A6 autoroute, with parking near the palace, and the surrounding forest is a popular destination in its own right. Because the château uses open-date tickets, there's no fixed time slot to catch — plan your train to arrive comfortably during opening hours, leaving time for lunch in the town of Fontainebleau itself.

The Château de Fontainebleau lies about 55 kilometres south-east of Paris and is easy to reach by public transport. Take the Transilien line R train from Paris Gare de Lyon to Fontainebleau-Avon station, a direct journey of around 40 minutes with services through the day. From the station, the local bus, line 1 towards Les Lilas, reaches the Château stop in about 15 minutes, leaving a short walk to the gate; door to door the trip is roughly 55 minutes. A taxi covers the 3 kilometres from the station in about 10 minutes, and it is a pleasant 30 to 40 minute walk through the town of Avon. By car, the Château de Fontainebleau is around an hour from central Paris via the A6 motorway, with paid parking near the palace forecourt and the town centre a short walk from the entrance.

The Château de Fontainebleau layers eight centuries of French royal and imperial taste into one palace. Its most celebrated interior is the Gallery of Francis I, the first Renaissance interior in France, decorated in the 1530s by Italian masters including Rosso Fiorentino and Primaticcio, who founded the School of Fontainebleau. Beyond it lie the Grands Appartements, the ballroom of Henri II, and the Napoleonic rooms — the throne room, the Emperor's private apartments and the Musée Napoléon Ier. In the great forecourt stands the curved horseshoe staircase of the Cour des Adieux, where Napoleon farewelled his Imperial Guard in 1814. Outside, the gardens laid out in part by André Le Nôtre include the Grand Parterre, the English garden and the long carp pond, all free to enter, while the vast surrounding forest offers walking and climbing within easy reach of the gate.

The Château de Fontainebleau richly rewards the trip from Paris. It is the only French royal palace lived in continuously by the country's sovereigns for more than eight centuries, so it layers medieval, Renaissance, Bourbon and Napoleonic history in a single site rather than expressing one era. You see the Gallery of Francis I, the first Renaissance interior in France; the Napoleonic apartments and the Musée Napoléon Ier; and the horseshoe staircase where Napoleon made his 1814 farewell. It is quieter than Versailles, closer to Paris by direct train, and surrounded by free gardens laid out in part by Le Nôtre and a famous forest. A UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1981, the Château de Fontainebleau suits anyone drawn to art, architecture or Napoleonic history, and the open-date ticket lets you arrive whenever suits you during opening hours.

Allow about two hours to see the interiors of the Château de Fontainebleau — the Grands Appartements, the Gallery of Francis I, the ballroom and the Musée Napoléon Ier — at an unhurried pace. Add an hour or more for the gardens, the Grand Parterre and the carp pond, which are free to enter and make a fine contrast to the decorated rooms. A half-day is comfortable for the palace and its grounds together. If you want to include the surrounding Forest of Fontainebleau, famous for its sandstone boulders and walking trails, a full day is easy to fill: the relaxed pattern is the palace and gardens in the morning, lunch in the town, then the forest in the afternoon. Because the ticket is open-date, with no fixed time slot, you can shape the day around your own pace and arrive whenever suits you during opening hours.

The calmest time to visit the Château de Fontainebleau is early in the day, soon after the 09:30 opening, before groups and Paris day-trippers arrive through the middle of the day. By season, May, June and September give the best balance of mild weather, long daylight and manageable crowds, with the gardens at their freshest; July and August are warmest and busiest, and winter is the quietest of all, with shorter hours closing at 17:00. Crucially, the palace is closed every Tuesday, as well as on 1 January, 1 May and 25 December — a closed Tuesday catches out more visitors than anything else, so plan around it. Because the ticket is open-date and the gardens are free and open daily, you can pick whichever day and hour are calmest and simply walk in past the queue whenever you arrive during opening hours.

Open-dated. You choose your visit date and the ticket is valid for that whole day, so you can arrive any time during opening hours — there's no fixed time slot to catch. We issue an e-ticket so you walk straight in past the queue. The gardens and park, by contrast, are free and need no ticket.

The Gallery of Francis I — the first Renaissance interior in France — and the Napoleonic rooms, including the throne room and the Musée Napoléon Ier. Outside, the horseshoe staircase of the Cour des Adieux, where Napoleon made his 1814 farewell.

It is the only French royal palace inhabited continuously by the country's sovereigns for over eight centuries, embellished by every ruler from the medieval kings to Napoleon III. That unbroken layering of history is exactly why UNESCO inscribed it in 1981.

Yes. The château's visioguide pairs audio commentary with images of the rooms and the works in them. It is taken on the day at the palace rather than reserved ahead, and sits outside the admission ticket. Twelve languages are offered, including French, English, German, Spanish, Italian and Japanese, with a children's edition for ages 7 to 12 in five of them. If you would rather use your own phone and headphones, the palace also publishes a free browser-based visit. Our own five-minute audio history reaches you the day before, whichever you choose.

Yes. Fontainebleau is closed every Tuesday, plus 1 January, 1 May and 25 December. This is the single most common reason visitors arrive to a closed door, so plan your date around it. The gardens remain open and free even on Tuesdays.

Take the Transilien line R train from Paris Gare de Lyon to Fontainebleau-Avon (about 40 minutes), then the local bus (line 1, towards Les Lilas) to the Château stop, around 15 minutes. Door to door it is roughly 55 minutes; by car it is about an hour via the A6.

Yes and yes. The Grand Parterre — one of the largest formal parterres in Europe — the English garden, the Diana garden and the carp pond are all free and open daily, even when the palace interiors are closed. They make a fine contrast to the dense decorated rooms inside.

Largely. The main apartment route is reached mostly on one level with lifts to the principal floor, though some historic thresholds and the gardens' gravel paths are uneven. Accessible parking is near the entrance. Contact us in advance for the current accessible route and any assistance.

Easily. The Forest of Fontainebleau — famous for its sandstone bouldering and the Barbizon painters — begins within walking distance of the gate. The relaxed pattern is the palace and gardens in the morning, lunch in town, and the forest in the afternoon.