If you’re planning a Paris trip, a jaunt about the city of Lights or Versailles by bike with the incredible Boutique Bike Tours should absolutely be at the top of your must-do list. Whether you’re a first time visitor or on a return trip, seeing Paris and Versailles by bike is such a special way to experience these incredible cities. Helmed and staffed by passionate and highly experienced guides, Boutique Bike Tours offers you a fun and intimate way of discovering the sights, sounds, and tastes of Paris and Versailles. Owners Stu and Nikki have curated a selection of tours that highlight the rich history of two of France’s greatest cities in a fun and intimate way. In fact, not only are the guides of Boutique Bike Tours licensed guides (a highly regulated designation in France that requires specialized training or a higher education degree like a Masters in History) they are also multi-lingual and have backgrounds in complimentary fields like winemaking and cycling.
I discovered Boutique Bike Tours purely be chance on Instagram. I’ll be honest, their gorgeous and perfectly cared for vintage bikes in an array of pretty colours were the first thing to grab me. However, I was all the more intrigued when I saw their offering of tours and the quality of their guides. With a girls trip to Paris booked for August, I figured that this would be a fun activity for us to enjoy. Our group of nine girls is pretty active and includes some who’ve never been to Paris while others haven’t been in ages, and a few who go as often as possible. While Boutique Bike Tours offers group tours, there are no more than 12 people included in their general tours, allowing participants to still experience individualized attention and an intimate atmosphere of discovery. However, I thought it would be all the more fun to take advantage of the private option for our group of 9, and reached out to the Boutique Bike Tours team with my request. The fabulous Nikki quickly touched base with me and expertly helped plan out a gossipy Versailles tour that will take us through the utterly charming village of Versailles to discover the weekend farmers market, shop for picnic provisions, and then take us on to the grand Château Versailles for a picnic along the Grand Canal and a guided tour of the main Château, gardens, and Queen’s hamlet. Needless to say, after our call I was even more excited about the tour in August.
That excitement ended up really manifesting itself as soon as my mum and I touched down in Paris this past April. We ended up having a free afternoon so I reached out to Nikki and she worked her magic to book us a private half-day tour focused on Marie-Antoinette and her hamlet in Versailles. Pairing us with the equally incredible Dina, Boutique Bike Tours makes your travel out to Versailles absolutely effortless. They are wonderful with communication, Nikki connected with me the day before via WhatsApp to send me super clear (read, idiot proof and with photos) directions for taking the Paris metro to the train station that our express train to Versailles would leave from. She even plotted and gave me advice on the best times to leave from the nearest metro station to where we were having lunch before heading out for our tour. Stu also communicated with me the day of to ensure our metro travel went well and that we were able to connect with our guide Dina who was waiting at Gare Montparnasse for us with train tickets in hand. Not only does the price of the tour with Boutique Bike Tours cover your tour guides expertise and time, the bike and helmet (they even offer children’s bikes and tandem bikes for younger guests), but also the express roundtrip train ticket to and from Versailles as well as your ticket to Versailles.
After a super quick train ride out of Paris with Dina, we arrived in the town of Versailles and picked up our ADORABLE bikes from their storage location directly across from the train station. After getting situated on our bikes (Nikki even sweetly ensured there was a pink one waiting for me!) we headed out on to the charming streets of the town of Versailles following behind Dina. As she pointed out interesting local spots and landmarks, Dina also did an incredible job of checking in on us and keeping an eye on us to ensure that we were safely and comfortably biking the streets of Versailles. I will say, for someone who hadn’t been on a bike in quite a few years this made me feel all the more comfortable. The town was incredibly bike-friendly and there are clear and easily usable bike lanes with local drivers being very accommodating.
After a nice ride through the town, we arrived at the entrance to Versailles where Dina began regailing us with tales of Marie-Antoinette’s arrival to the French court as a young bride-to-be and of the creation of the legendary Château . After our introduction there, we hopped back on our bikes and headed through the parkland around the main Château towards the Queens Hamlet. The Hamlet comprises the Petite Trianon, several beautiful follies, and a little Breton-inspired farmhouse and outbuildings where Marie-Antoinette would play at being a simple country girl. Thanks to the skip the line access that is afforded to Boutique Bike Tours and their guides, we were quickly welcomed into the Petit Trianon. A jewel box of a little palace, it was amazing to walk in the footsteps of Marie-Antoinette, her family, friends, enemies, and even lover while Dina continued to give us a fascinating insight into her life and times. After the Petit Trianon, we continued by bike to discover the rest of the hamlet where we even had the privilege of seeing a restoration team at work on one of the buildings on the farmhouse’s grounds. Dina continued to share her incredible passion for and knowledge of French history with us and our time together flew by. After a ride around the grand canal to take in the imposing and absolutely breathtaking view of the back of the main Château we headed back into the town of Versailles to drop off our bikes and take the express train back into Paris.
I’ve had the privilege of traveling to France quite a few times and have had so many incredible experiences during those trips. Our private bike tour in Versailles is absolutely hands down one of my favourite experiences of all. In fact, my mum and I both kept saying to each other that we wished we had booked a full day tour because we had such an incredible time. From the incredibly attentive and kind customer service Nikki and Stu provided, to the expert knowledge and wonderful personality of our guide Dina and the enjoyment of discovering such a special location in this way, I can not recommend booking a bike tour with Boutique Bike Tours enough. They are the top 3rd rated outdoor activity in Paris on Trip Advisor and have hundreds of well deserved glowing reviews. Needless to say, I’m counting down the days till August when my girls and I will be able spend a whole day exploring Versailles and everything that it has to offer with Boutique Bike Tours!
To book with Boutique Bike Tours, you can do so {HERE}
A little note: My mum and I happily paid full price for our tour as are the girls and I. This review is totally and wholly to support an incredible small business that is staffed and run by amazing people who are clearly so passionate about what they do.
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