Versailles

Versailles, just outside Paris, remains the definitive statement of French royal ambition, built for Louis XIV and expanded over decades into the vast palace and gardens visitors see today. The Hall of Mirrors alone justifies the visit, but it is the gardens, laid out with fountains and parterres stretching for kilometres, that best convey the scale of what Louis set out to achieve. Go early, or go late, for any real hope of having the place to yourself.