The stunning Palace of Versailles has reopened to visitors

While France's borders remain closed to most visitors at present, the Palace of Versailles has reopened. It's one of the most-visited attractions in France, second only to the Eiffel Tower, but, like most visitor attractions worldwide, it was forced to close to the public back in March to help curb the spread of COVID-19.

The Palace of Versailles has reopened © Jimena Contreras/500px

Now a grand musuem, Château de Versailles was the site of royal decadence and debauchery before the French Revolution. With its chandelier-laden Hall of Mirrors (Galerie des Glaces) and approximately 2300 rooms filled with paintings, tapestries and other treasures, the attraction in Versailles welcomed eight million visitors in 2019, with 80% hailing from different countries. With so many travel restrictions still in place in France, the palace - named a Unesco World Heritage site in 1979 - is only expecting to welcome a fraction of its daily visitors in the near future.

The new measures include that visitors to the palace must book in advance and select a specific time slot. The wearing of masks is compulsory for those over the age of 11, and as an extra precaution, visitors will be asked to follow a one-way route through the palace complex. The music in the gardens - a masterpiece in themselves - and the fountain show events will resume, although there will be no nightly fountain shows. In addition, Château de Versailles Spectacles has cancelled or postponed all concerts and operas originally scheduled for June 2020.

Visitors will be asked to follow a one-way route through the palace complex © VWB photos/Getty Images