Spend a Royal day at Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte

Just 20 minutes away from Paris!

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The chateau was built in the mid 1600’s for Louis XIV’s finance minister. Nicolas Fouquet. It’s construction bought together, for the first time, the landscape designer Andre Le Notre, the architect Louis le Vau, and the painter-decorator Charles le Brun. Together, these three men developed at Vaux le Vicomte what was to become known as the “Louis XIV style”. The magnificence of Vaux le Vicomte eventually led to Fouquet being accused of missappropriating public funds, being stripped of his wealth, and being sent into exile. However the three men responsible for its design (le Notre, le Vau and le Brun) were bought together again to work on the palace and gardens at Versailles.

How to get there

To get to Vaux le Vicomte the first step is to get to Melun. This can be done by either taking the RER D (Green) line from any stop within Paris (major stops are Gare du Nord, Chatelet, and Gare de Lyon) or a regional train from Gare de Lyon. The regional train is quicker as it has fewer stops and is probably the preferable option.

When you arrive in Melun there are three options for getting to the chateau.

The easiest is a taxi. The ride is 6km from Melun to Vaux le Vicomte.

From mid-April to early-November there is a shuttle bus that is timed to leave from Melun train station (opposite cafe de la gare) 15 minutes after the arrival of the train from Gare de Lyon (not the RER). The bus costs 7 Euro for a round trip and also includes Blandy les tours as a stop meaning you can visit both on the same day on the same ticket. Be aware of the timetable of the bus and that the last bus leaving Blandy les tours is 18h55.

The final option is to walk to Vaux le Vicomte. It is 6km and should take around 1 – 1.5 hours. It is a nice walk through farmland and countryside. It is possible to combine walking with either the bus or a taxi.

(You can take your bikes)

+BONUS Good Idea:

You can also have a picnik on the hill with an AmAZinG view !!

(see picture N°2)

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The visit includes access to Nicolas Fouquet’s private apartments on the 1st floor of the castle followed by the stately rooms on the ground floor and the kitchen and cellar areas in the basement.

At the end of the circuit, visitors will find out the exclusive new exhibition “André Le Nôtre at Vaux le Vicomte, the initial model of french formal garden”.

The Dome access : Possibility to visit the 17th century complex frame of the castle roofs and access to the dome, highest point of the estate, from which there is an extraordinary view of the property and its surroundings. As an option (3€ per person).

Blandy les Tours

If you are taking a day trip from Paris to Vaux le Vicomte then adding on a side trip to Blandy les Tours is a nice addition to the day. (+5km)

Blandy les Tours is a medieval castle set in the middle of a small village. The castle was built in the 14th Century and upgraded in the 16th Century. It was extensively restored in the in 1992.