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Notre Dame Tour: Gothic Architecture Insights
4.9
27 Ratings
Paris
Explore Notre Dame’s facade and interior in a 1-hour tour, uncovering biblical details and historical events that shaped this architectural marvel.
Explore Notre Dame’s facade and interior in a 1-hour tour, uncovering biblical details and historical events that shaped this architectural marvel.
Duration:
1 hour
Cancellation:
24 hours
Highlights
- Cathedrale Notre-Dame de Paris - Join the tour guide at the Charlemagne equestrian statue, located to the right when facing the cathedral. The guide will be identifiable by a yellow bag. The tour begins with a discussion on the origins of Paris and its earliest residents. The guide will provide insights into the facade and explain the “Gothic”…
- Cathedrale Notre-Dame de Paris - Join the tour guide at the Charlemagne equestrian statue, located to the right when facing the cathedral. The guide will be identifiable by a yellow bag. The tour begins with a discussion on the origins of Paris and its earliest residents. The guide will provide insights into the facade and explain the “Gothic” architectural style. The certified tour guide will present images of Notre Dame’s highlights to ensure nothing is missed. Enjoy stories of historical events like Napoleon Bonaparte’s coronation, intriguing tales from Victor Hugo’s “Notre Dame de Paris,” and notable incidents in French history. Explore the cathedral independently at your leisure, appreciating its Gothic architecture, paintings, stained glass windows, organ, and more.
- Cathedrale Notre-Dame de Paris - The tour includes a detailed look at the facade and an explanation of the “Gothic” architectural style.
- Cathedrale Notre-Dame de Paris - The official tour guide will present images to highlight Notre Dame’s interior features, concluding with stories of historical events such as Napoleon Bonaparte’s coronation, Victor Hugo’s “Notre Dame de Paris,” and significant incidents in French history.
- Cathedrale Notre-Dame de Paris - Explore independently and at your own pace, enjoying the many paintings, stained glass windows, and, if desired, the small museum for an additional fee.
What's Included
- Certified tour guide with lively commentary
- Professional art historian as your guide
- Preview images of cathedral highlights
- Live commentary on board
- Certified tour guide with lively commentary
- Professional art historian as your guide
- Preview images of cathedral highlights
- Live commentary on board
What's Not Included
- Transportation to/from attractions
- interior guiding tour
- Transportation to/from attractions
- interior guiding tour
Additional Information
This 45-minute tour takes place outside Notre Dame, beginning with an introduction to its location, “Île de la Cité,” a key historical area in Paris. The official tour guide will explain the facade, help you understand the significance of the Gothic architectural style, share captivating historical events that occurred at this cathedral, and discuss the…
This 45-minute tour takes place outside Notre Dame, beginning with an introduction to its location, “Île de la Cité,” a key historical area in Paris. The official tour guide will explain the facade, help you understand the significance of the Gothic architectural style, share captivating historical events that occurred at this cathedral, and discuss the importance of Victor Hugo’s book “Notre Dame de Paris.”
Before you explore the interior at your own pace, the tour guide will present images of the highlights to ensure you don’t miss anything inside, including the original stained glass windows, the paintings known as “mays,” the three relics of Jesus Christ, and much more.
- The entrance to Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris is free and open to all. The services offered are independent of access to the interior of the building.
- Please be at the meeting point of the tour 10 to 15 minutes before its starting time
- A dress code is required to enter places of worship. No shorts or sleeveless tops allowed. Knees and shoulders MUST be covered for both men and women. You may risk refused entry if you fail to comply with these dress requirements
- A minimum of 2 people per booking is required
- if after this tour you want to tour La Sainte Chapelle, please let us know to give you details
Location
Parvis Notre Dame - Place Jean-Paul II
The tours departs at 8h30. Meet your tour guide OUTSIDE NOTRE DAME, your guide will be facing the central portal/ door of Notre Dame. She/he will be holding a 'yellow bag' for you to see her/him easily. Please arrive on time and mind the traffic.
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
4.9
(27 Ratings)
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Gregory_g
Jun 24, 2025
Breathtaking Stained Glass and Notre Dame Still Standing!!! - One of my best tours in Paris! Cynthia was generous with her wonderful insight and knowledge. She is also an absolute delight to journey through both spaces with. I had the very fortunate pleasure of being the only guest who signed up for the tour this day and it helped to make this such a memorable time. I laughed, asked questions receiving thoughtful answers, and ending up crying while hugging Cynthia. The beautiful stained glass of Saint Chappelle was the highlight after learning about the many nuisances of Notre Dame. Highly recommend this tour! Thanks for reading my review and Cynthia also recommended going in the warmer months as they open up doors and the sunshine allows for some better photo opportunities!
Review provided by Viator
Francoisgaouette
May 19, 2025
You need a guide like Cinthia - We learned a lot about the history of the churches. Cinthia was knowledgeable and fun to interact with. There is so much to see. Having a guide like her helped us focus on the important things.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Kris_l
May 6, 2025
Personal touches appreciated - Thank you Anastasia! The loveliest way to see and learn about Notre dame and the bonus of st. Chappell! Stunning , breathtaking and all with Anastasia's support answering so many questions and providing historical context of both locations. Highly recommend this " visit" and tour.
Review provided by Viator
Susan_t
May 3, 2025
Notre Dame and Saint Chapelle - The guide was very friendly and informative! Love the skip the line at Saint Chapelle! This is definitely a must do activity in Paris if you love stained glass windows
Review provided by Viator
Shelley_e
Apr 27, 2025
Very moving. Tour guide... - Tour guide Cynthia was very informative, and organized, and did a great job of keeping the group together. She was easy to find, holding the yellow bag at the meeting place.
Review provided by Viator
Lisa_t
Mar 13, 2025
Informative Tour with Cynthia - Cynthia was fantastic! We were lucky to have a small group of 4. There was a family of three that arrived late and then disappeared after Notre Dame so we had to move on without them after making a lot of effort to try to locate them. They wasted our precious time but Cynthia was able to pack in a lot of information in two hours. She gave us a lot of fun facts and historical information.
Review provided by Viator
Heather_r
Mar 12, 2025
Our tour guide was... - Our tour guide was wonderful and very knowledgeable. We really enjoyed seeing both Notre Dame and St Chappelle.
Review provided by Viator
Michael_r
Feb 23, 2025
Notre Dame and St Chapel - Martha made contact with us early in the day to set a meeting place. Her knowledge of Notre Dame and St Chapel was great. Even to the time to show us an app we could download to learn more about St Chapel. Also gave us some ideas on things to do in the the surrounding neighborhood which was also great to walk around even on a cloudy chilly day. I’d recommend the tour and Martha as a guide.
Review provided by Viator
Stephanie_l
Jan 22, 2025
Our guide was super... - Our guide was super friendly and very informative. It was such a lovely trip. She took some pictures of us and told us exactly where to stand for the best shot. We were amazed by her plethora of information.
Review provided by Viator
Williamandrew_l
Apr 26, 2025
Notre Dame Tour - We signed up for the 9:30 AM tour, which was moved to 8:30 AM.
We arrived at the rendezvous point looking for our guide - and only saw 3 security people. No guide. The instructions were to find her/him which was not helpful since no one looked like a guide - nothing distinguishing from other visitors. And no yellow bag that we could see.
We then went back to the app and copied the address into our maps - as it suggested. The map on took us away from the rendezvous point and more towards an information kiosk - which was not open.
We messaged the app and then went back to the front where we met our guide. She was carrying a yellow bag.
The guide was very informative and knows her history. Very passionate about Notre Dame.
It was during this discussion that we learned that we had approximately 15-minutes to see Notre Dame inside, since it is before June 8? This was news to us. Unless you can explain that to me in your literature or messages.
Again, the guide was very informative and very nice and passionate about her knowledge of the Notre Dame Cathedral and the chappelle.
She seemed a little upset that I sent the message about us not finding her, but I’m being honest. We arrived at 8:15 AM. I looked all over for a guide or a him her that looked like a guide and I could not find them.
The pin drop sent us to the front and away from the rendezvous point.
These are all facts that you can check for yourself.
Another small issue. There were not enough headsets. The guide was savvy enough to find an extra earpiece so that we could use one for one of our children. I stayed close to the guide so that I could hear her tour. This is not the guide’s fault. This is the responsibility of the company to have the earpiece is ready. This is an example of how she was prepared and flexible.
I’m giving the overall two or three stars. I could’ve given it two stars, but the guide was very passionate and informative about the tour.
Do I think it was worth the price of admission? No, I do not. I am being honest.
I am a business owner and I’m sure that you want to be a successful company. I would definitely do something more to distinguish your guides from tourists.
I would make sure that that map is correct since when we come from thousands of miles away, we are relying heavily upon technology to make things work.
I would also notify people ahead of time that the tour will only be 15 minutes of Notre Dame. That was too short.
The tour of Saint Chapelle was very nice. The guide was very informative and knew her context.
Review provided by Viator
