On the eastern outskirts of Paris, near the town of Vincennes, and beside the Bois de Vincennes, explore the former fortress and royal home known as The Château de Vincennes . The majority of its construction took place between 1361 and 1369, and from the 14th through 16th centuries, it served as the French Kings' favored palace, second only to the Palais de la Cité. Discover the fascinating past of this remarkable structure, which served as a prison before becoming a barracks and an arsenal during the Napoleonic era.
Highlights
- Visit the famous Château de Vincennes, and be fascinated by the all-white, classic medieval building that bears witness to its former status as a royal palace.
- Explore its lofty towers and dungeon, which served to fortify the castle during battles, and stroll around its historic hallways.
- Discover the well-preserved medieval keep, the tallest fortified tower in Europe at 52 meters, where King Henry V died and see where Fouquet , the Marquis de Sade, and Mirabeau were held.
- Experience the Gothic building's awe-inspiring external flamboyance and beautiful rose window at the Sainte Chapelle de Vincennes.
Very nice place to visit. There is not so much to see but I would say that it is worth it. Generally you would spend about an hour or so. The castle is located in a less touristy area so there are barely any visitors compared to other attractions in Paris, making the place really quiet. It is very accessible by metro.
This castle wasn't as captivating as Chateau de Rambouillet further out of Paris, but Vincennes was super easy to reach by Parisian Metro Line A, with the walk to the castle being a very small distance. We were there for opening. Surprisingly, there was initially no one waiting, and then two or three turned up. I found this surprising as it was in what in Australia we'd call the inner suburbs - but this is Europe! It was simple to purchase admission tickets at the gift shop located inside the grounds. We spent about an hour here, including a visit (as Catholics) to Sainte-Chapelle that was austere inside, though it had copious most attractive stained glass windows. One could walk around the Castle grounds and its upper walkway. I did not go right to the top. Even when we departed, there were few visitors, but it was a weekday. We didn't visit a cafe in the town but there looked to be quite a few across the road from the castle.
We decided to spend half the day at this lovely understated Chateau. It was only a few more metro stops past the area where we were staying. The metro stop drops you off in front of the Chateau. We arrived a few minutes before they opened. You walk in through the drawbridge and the ticket office/gift shop is in the building to the right. You will need a ticket to get into the main Chateau building and to get into the Sainte-Chapelle de Vincennes. We decided to spend a few Euros and get the self audio tour which was definitely worth it! I would highly recommend the audio tour since it was easy to use and provided a detailed description of what was once in then Chateau. Sainte-Chapelle was just beautiful especially with the morning sunshine coming in though the stained glass. There is also a museum of the French military in another building that was quite interesting to walk through. All in all this was an excellent half day excursion without the large crowds. Both couples enjoyed the time we spent there and were happy we decided to visit.