chateau de st-germain

Before VERSAILLES, one of the most famous and wonderful castle WHERE LOUIS 14 the Sun King was born!

The royal castle of Saint Germain-en-Laye is a most impressive building which houses the Museum of National Archaeology. The building history is set out in various languages in a handout. Well worth a visit

This huge historic Chateau exterior and park is wonderful to see in the heart of Saint Germain-en-Laye, just outside of Paris, however the interior visit is extremely limiting because the Chateau inside is hidden by cheap modern walls to host the archeological collections...virtually we see very little of the Chateau interior. This is too bad as it is a vast Chateau and could have a great deal of historical architectural details to offer having been built in 1122 by Louis VI le Gros then reconstructed in 1539 by Francois 1er. Equally the magnificent gothic chapel built 1238 by the King St Louis, shows the beautiful stained glass windows but ground level inside hides the ambiance of the interior again with the partition walls hosting the exposition, preventing the chapel to be visible in all it's glory.Napoleon III played a large role in transforming this great Chateau into an archeological museum which may have been a great idea, but today this historic monument is cheaply converted into exposition panels hiding history, beauty and glory...in the name of a museum from the bronze age, Gaulois and ancient Roman and Greek times and through to the middle ages....currently highlighting Greek objects.Hopefully the day will come when the archeological museum will find a new home out of this important Chateau so we can gaze and relish in the magnificence of some of the earliest architecture created by Kings...we were disappointed that we could not see the Chateau as well as the lack of quality of the current exposition. For unknown reasons, most of the Chateau was closed off and our visit lasted only 20 minutes...totally not on par with world historical visits.

Spent half a day there today. Very easy to get to from Paris. RER stop is right next to the chateau. Very impressive building with a very interesting museum of archaeology with, unfortunately, very little information in English. Amazingly beautiful and huge park around the chateau. It was so lovely sitting in a cafe overlooking the terrace and Paris in the distance. Perfect day!

Very beautiful place, especially with the weather we had! Quiet and nice to look around the grounds.

The Chateau de St-Germain is a magnificent building attached to spacious grounds. Wonderful to walk around the grounds and see the different areas. You can see the Eiffel Tower from the grounds.Lots of play areas for children. The Chateau houses the Museum of Archaeology and is well worth a visit. Don't muss of on seeing the chapel, which is accessed from the courtyard. The museum shop has quality souvenirs and a large selection of beautiful books on history and art. Also lots of children's books.

You don't actually get to see a chateau. Rather it is an archaeology museum housed inside a chateau, but if you are tired of fighting the crowds in Paris, then this is a good substitute. The fact that it's not overly larges makes it quite attractive if you don't want to spend all day inside a museum. The displays are unique in that it showcases mostly stuff found inside France, from stone-age times to the middle-ages. Crowds are few, and you even get a discount if you come near closing time. It only takes an hour to browse everything, and there is a direct RER train to here from the Auber station in Paris. The town is a beautiful and convenient place to stay if you want cheaper accommodations near Paris as the train ride is only about 20 minutes from Auber.

The chateau is quite big and looks "strong" from outside, but the inside is not that impressive as other chateau.The garden outside the chateau is very big.Actually I felt, the garden is actually more interesting here.From the end of the garden, the view is quite attractive where you can see the river and La Defense in the end of horizon.

We live in the area of St Germain-en-laye but never visited the chateau. We visited the immaculate gardens and marveled at the excellent view over Paris. Unfortunately this time we did not visit the museaum but we are definitely coming back again.

Very good museum of prehistory and medieval history. The collections are impressive especially on the Gauls. The exhibitions are often quite good. The 12th century gothic chapel is awesome. The Château however is quite austere and probably does not advertise enough its treasures.

There is a large park just outside of the Chateau. We took the RER red line #1 from Place Charles de Gaulle (l'Etoile) in Paris out to ST.Germain-en-Laye. The park was dotted with pieces celebrating Le Notre ( the famous landscape architect). We also toured the interior of the Chateau and were delighted by its meticulous arrangement of the various periods. The large, domed room with the fireplace became my favorite although I was very impressed with the mosaic tile floor leading into this area as well. It was a day trip for us out and back from Paris and was worth the journey. It has a calm that Paris lacks. The RER exit is just across from the park and Chateau. It's a very convenient and worthwhile outing.

Only went to the park and gardens. It is a nice area for a stroll and a good cup of coffee. There is plenty of open space for kids and a view of Paris from a different angle. It is worth a visit.A cafe is located inside the park if you feel like sitting down and spending some time there.

Unless there is a special exhibition there is no visit of the chateau inside. You can see the court yard and a little bit if the old chapel,not worth the visit.The gardens are much better.

You don't need to travel south to Loire to find a great chateau, you have one in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, just 25 min with the RER A from Paris. I really love this place! I was living in the city for 2.5 years and I never got bored from it. First, this is the birth place of Louis XIV, so everyone who enjoys the French history will appreciate the sanctity of the place. The chateau itself is absolutely gorgeous; it has one of a kind architecture, and the building is well preserved/restore.My only problem with it is that inside it looks like a modern building. I guess all the construction that had to be done to preserve the building led to modern walls, stairs, and rooms. Which is quite unusual for France. Anyway, there are still couple of rooms that keep the history, and not to forget the chapel! The authorities make use of this "modern" look by hosting different treasures. So every time you go you might bet to come upon a really nice exhibition. The garden is nothing special, compared to Versailles, but it's extremely charming and beautiful, and the terrace over Seine presents a spectacular view of the region, La Defence included.And don't forget to have a glass of wine in one of the cafes in front of the chateau - you will have an amazing view of the building and experience the local culture of having fun with friends all day long :)

The château itself masks an important page of French history though does not contain enough relics of the past. The gardens, with its view on Paris, long tree covered alleys and small café wher we can have a cup of coffee admiring the view on Paris.Worth visting.