Fontainebleau Palace

Royal Palace Lived In By French Monarchs For Eight Centuries, From The Medieval Kings To Napoleon III, With Its Park And Forest; UNESCO World Heritage Site Inscribed 1981 · Fontainebleau, Ile-de-France

The Château de Fontainebleau, about 60 kilometres south-east of Paris, was a home of French rulers for some eight hundred years, from the medieval kings who hunted in the surrounding forest to Napoleon III in the 1860s. Because almost every monarch added a wing, a room or a garden, it is a sprawling mix of styles rather than one planned building, and Napoleon I called it the true home of kings. In the sixteenth century François I brought Italian artists such as Rosso Fiorentino and Primaticcio to decorate it, and the gallery that bears his name became a founding work of the French Renaissance. Visitors also see the Renaissance ballroom, the queens' apartments, Napoleon's throne room and private rooms, and the horseshoe staircase in the White Horse Courtyard where he said farewell to his guard in 1814 before exile to Elba. The palace is surrounded by gardens, a carp pond and a canal, and beyond them by the forest of Fontainebleau, famous for walks and bouldering. It is far less crowded than Versailles.

Place Charles de Gaulle, 77300 Fontainebleau, Seine-et-Marne, Fontainebleau, Ile-de-France, France

The palace is open most days of the year, with one weekly closing day, traditionally Tuesday (confirm), and it closes on a few public holidays such as 1 January, 1 May and Christmas Day. Opening hours are shorter from about October to March and longer from April to September, with last admission well before closing; the state apartments empty earlier than the official closing time. The gardens and park are free and have their own, longer hours, following daylight and staying open on many days when the palace interior is closed, though they can shut in storms or high wind (confirm). Some rooms, such as the Napoleon III theatre, the Chinese museum and the private apartments, can be seen only on guided tours on set days, which have limited places and are worth booking. Entry to the palace has traditionally been free on the first Sunday of the month outside summer (confirm), which makes those days busier. Tickets can be bought on site or online; queues are usually short compared with Versailles, except on summer weekends and during events.

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