Palace and Park of Fontainebleau, France

Palace of Fontainebleau, France
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chateau_Fontainebleau.jpg
Author: Carolus


The Palace and Park of Fontainebleau were the medieval royal hunting lodges of French kings from the 12th to the 16th centuries. It is located in the metropolitan area of Paris, within the Region of Île-de-France. The palace, or château, was already being used by King Louis VII, in the latter part of the 12th century. It was expanded and embellished in the 16th century by King François I into what he intended to be a "New Rome".

Library of the Château de Fontainebleau
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Librairie_du_Chateau_de_Fontainebleau.jpg
Author: Sebastien Bouthillette


It was at Fontainebleau that the Renaissance was introduced to France. It also introduced the Italian Mannerist style for interior decoration and gardens, becoming known as the French Mannerist style or the Fontainebleau style. Numerous noted artists, painters and architects were invited to work on it, including Sebastiano Serlio, Rosso Fiorentino and Leonardo da Vinci.

The Palace of Fontainbleau is surrounded by a huge park. The palace itself was built in the Italianate style that fuses Renaissance with French artistic elements.

Palace and Park of Fontainebleau was inscribed as a World Heritage Site during the 5th session of the World Heritage Committee in Sydney, Australia, on 26-30 October, 1981.

Interior of the Château de Fontainebleau
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chateau_de_Fontainebleau_FRA_004.JPG
Author: ignis


Interior of the Château de Fontainebleau
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chateau_de_Fontainebleau_FRA_015.JPG
Author: ignis


Interior of the Château de Fontainebleau
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chateau_de_Fontainebleau_FRA_011.JPG
Author: ignis


Interior of the Château de Fontainebleau
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chateau_de_Fontainebleau_FRA_022.JPG
Author: ignis

World Heritage Site Inscription Details

Location: N 48 24 7 E 2 41 53
Inscription Year: 1981
Type of Site: Cultural
Inscription Criteria: II, VI

Visiting Palace and Park of Fontainebleau

You can go to Fontainebleau by train from the Gare de Lyon station. Buy your tickets to Fontainebleau Avon from the green vending machines for Billet Ile-de-France, not the SNCF vending machines. The fare is approximately €15.60. It takes 35 minutes to reach Fontainebleau.

Upon arriving at the Fontainebleau Avon station, you can take the Line A bus to reach Château de Fontainebleau. The bus fare is €1.60.

Fontainebleau is a small village with one main road, called Rue Grande, which goes from the chateau to the other end of town, passing through the Napoléon Bonaparte square.

 Latest updates on Penang Travel Tips

About this website

Dear visitor, thank you so much for reading this page. My name is Timothy Tye and my hobby is to find out about places, write about them and share the information with you on this website. I have been writing this site since 5 January 2003. Originally (from 2003 until 2009, the site was called AsiaExplorers. I changed the name to Penang Travel Tips in 2009, even though I describe more than just Penang but everywhere I go (I often need to tell people that "Penang Travel Tips" is not just information about Penang, but information written in Penang), especially places in Malaysia and Singapore, and in all the years since 2003, I have described over 20,000 places.

While I try my best to provide you information as accurate as I can get it to be, I do apologize for any errors and for outdated information which I am unaware. Nevertheless, I hope that what I have described here will be useful to you.