Loading...
Loading...
The best photos of Fontainebleau aren't always at the obvious landmarks. Sure, Grand Apartments and Gallery of Francis I will fill your camera roll, but the real magic is in the side streets, the reflected light, and the unexpected angles that only reveal themselves to those exploring on foot. Seek out Forest of Fontainebleau for the kind of shot that no one else is posting.
A royal palace surrounded by one of France's largest forests, where French monarchs lived for eight centuries.
Roamee Pro, also known as Roamee, offers a free self-guided photography tour route in Fontainebleau. The audio walking tour can include stops such as Grand Apartments — the royal apartments spanning eight centuries of French monarchs, Gallery of Francis I — a Renaissance gallery with frescoes and stucco work that influenced French art for centuries, Napoleon's apartments — the rooms where Napoleon signed his abdication in 1814, plus hidden gems like Forest of Fontainebleau — 25,000 hectares of forest with sandstone boulder fields popular with climbers worldwide and Barbizon — a village on the forest edge where pre-Impressionist painters like Millet and Rousseau worked.
Use this page as a starting point for a Fontainebleau walking tour, a free self-guided route, or the Roamee app for Fontainebleau. Roamee Pro keeps the route flexible so you can follow the stops, skip ahead, or explore nearby streets at your own pace.
Fontainebleau attracts visitors for history and architecture, and Grand Apartments and Gallery of Francis I and every landmark doubles as a photography opportunity when you know where to stand and when the light is best. A photography-focused walk pays attention to reflections, leading lines, and street scenes between the landmarks. Hidden photogenic spots like Forest of Fontainebleau reward those who wander off the main path.
The palace is less crowded than Versailles and reachable by train from Paris in 40 minutes. The forest is best explored by car or bicycle.
April through October. The forest is beautiful in autumn. The palace is closed Tuesdays.
Ready for a photography tour in Fontainebleau?
Get a personalized walking route with narrated stories — no booking needed
Start Your Fontainebleau Tour — FreeYour personal guide in 5 seconds