Why go

For more than 850 years Notre-Dame has stood at the heart of Paris, on the island where the city began. The fire of April 2019, which destroyed the roof and the spire, shocked the world; the restoration that followed brought back the cathedral in remarkable condition. Today the pale stone glows, the stained glass is cleaner than it has been for generations, and the new spire rises above the Île de la Cité once more.

It is also one of the great free experiences in Paris. Entry costs nothing, the cathedral is open every day, and a quiet half-hour inside is a reminder that this is still a working church as well as a monument. Volunteers also run free guided tours of the outside of the building, explaining the sculpture and the story of its construction.

What to see

  • The west front. Three carved portals, the Gallery of Kings and the great rose window form one of the masterpieces of Gothic architecture.
  • The rose windows. The north and south roses, with medieval glass, are at their most vivid on a sunny afternoon.
  • The restored interior. The cleaned nave and choir, the new liturgical furniture and the chapels show the scale of the restoration.
  • The towers. A separate tour climbs 424 steps to 69 metres, past the bells and the famous gargoyles, with views across the Seine.
  • The Great Organ. Its free Sunday recital at 4pm fills the nave with sound.

Plan your visit

The cathedral is open every day. From Monday to Friday it opens from 7.50am to 7pm, staying open until 10pm on Thursdays, and at weekends from 8.15am to 7.30pm. Last entry is 30 minutes before closing. Services take place throughout the day, so keep noise down and respect areas set aside for prayer.

Entry is free for everyone. You can reserve a free time slot on the official website, which helps you skip the main queue, but it is optional. The cathedral warns that it does not authorise any third party to sell entry tickets, so avoid paid offers that promise to jump the line. Paid guided tours from licensed guides are a different matter and can add a lot of context.

The tower tour is run separately by the Centre des monuments nationaux. Tickets cost €16 and must be bought online; nothing is sold on site. The climb is steep and narrow in places, there is no lift, and time at the top is limited to five minutes. From October to March it runs from 9am to 5.30pm, and from April to September until 11pm.

Dress for a place of worship, with shoulders and thighs covered. Allow an hour for the cathedral and another for the towers. The square in front, the Parvis, is the point from which all road distances in France are measured, marked by a small bronze star.

Nearby

The Sainte-Chapelle and the Conciergerie are five minutes’ walk along the island. Across the Pont Saint-Louis, the Île Saint-Louis has some of the prettiest streets in Paris, and the Latin Quarter and Shakespeare and Company are just over the river on the Left Bank.