The first time I visited the Notre Dame de Paris cathedral, I was 14 and on a two week “study abroad” trip to Paris with my high school. A group of us, clad in sweatshirts carrying Sony CD players, spent a few hours in an enormous crowd touring the cathedral.
I took photos of the iconic Rose Windows on my film camera, the stone walls of Notre Dame visibly dark with soot after centuries of candles and pollution. We wandered the battlements, taking photographs of each other with gargoyles along the roofline.
Sadly, a fire broke out in the wooden “forest” of the Notre Dame ceiling in April, 2019. Much of the roof and spires were destroyed and the cathedral closed for rebuilding. It reopened in December of 2024 after reconstruction work by hundreds of artisans. Wikipedia has an amazing visual graphic showing a cross-section of Notre Dame, and where the damage hit hardest.
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Getting there
Notre Dame de Paris is located on the Île de la Cité, a very small island in the middle of the river Seine, which divides Paris into the Left Bank and Right Bank. The île can be reached on foot by crossing one of the several bridges, including Pont Neuf, one of the oldest bridges in the city (Pont Neuf means “new bridge”) or Pont au Change, which provides the iconic photo opportunities.
Via metro, the nearest stops are:
- RER Lines B and C, Saint-Michel – Notre-Dame station
- Line 4: Cité or Saint-Michel station
- Lines 1, 11: Hôtel de Ville station
- Line 10: Maubert-Mutualité or Cluny – La Sorbonne station
- Lines 7, 11, and 14: Châtelet station
Several bus lines also have stops near the cathedral:
- Line 47: Cité or Saint-Michel station
- Line 87: Hôtel de Ville station
- Line 75: Maubert-Mutualité or Cluny – La Sorbonne station
Tickets
Tickets to Notre Dame are free. FREE. In my research, I found a lot of sites selling “skip the line” tickets. You do not need to pay anything to visit Notre Dame. It is always free.
Timed entry tickets can be reserved free on Notre Dame’s official site prior to your visit: https://www.notredamedeparis.fr/en/ . Tickets are available 48 hours to a few hours before the day begins. I had luck reserving mine at 2am when I woke up from jet lag. A QR code is emailed to you for entry.
If you are not able to secure a free timed entry ticket, there is a line for people without reservations (sans reservations) in the square in front of the cathedral. The cathedral is open:
- Monday to Friday 7:50 AM – 7:00 PM, and until 10:00 PM on Thursday
- Saturday and Sunday 8:15 AM – 7:30 PM
Hilariously, I showed up for my entry an entire day early. My epic fail is brought to you by the French language, where in my jet lagged stupor, I thought the M on the calendar reservation page meant Monday. In French, Monday is lundi, and Tuesday is mardi. Imagine my surprise and embarrassment when the nice ticket taker told me I was far, far too early to enter.
Please also know that I started learning French 32 years ago, and was complimented on my French no fewer than three times on my last trip.
Thank goodness for rainy March Mondays, because there was no one in the general admission line, and I walked right into the church.
Audio Tours and Guided Tours
Fans of Hi Friends, It’s Laura will know I love an audio tour. Great news, there is one at Notre Dame for €6 just inside the entrance. Pros will bring their own plug-in headphones to make it more comfortable to listen to the audio. There are several guides available, including a spiritual guide and architectural tour. I found the guide very helpful to understanding the various chapels and some of the art installed after the restoration. Well worth the six euros for me.
Free outdoor tours of the cathedral are provided by CASA dailly at 14:30 in French, with English tours most Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. The meeting place is in front of Statue of the Virgin and Child, on the right side of the forecourt. Up to date tour calendar is on the CASA website.
In addition, paid tours of the cathedral are also available that include reserved access and an interior tour. If you yourself are traveling in a group of more than 10 people, you can book a free guided tour ahead of time via the official Notre Dame website. The slots fill up in the summer quickly, so plan ahead.
Inside the Cathedral
Once I made it through the no reservations line, I was inside the main portion of the cathedral, where I was able to rent an audio guide for €6. Despite the absent line to enter, the interior was still extremely crowded. I felt pulled along by the crowd as I viewed the first part of the chapels.
There are seats and pews inside the church, so you can sit down to listen to the audio guide and contemplate the massiveness of the 900-year old cathedral (or you could pray, if that’s your thing).
What struck me about the interior was how clean the stone walls were. The walls gleamed white in the light. I compared my current photos to my photos from 2001 and the walls are drastically different in color. The restoration of the interior makes it feel like an entirely different place.
As you follow the audio guide, you tour the interior of the church clockwise, walking by several chapels dedicated to different saints. Several of these have been restored, with additional contemporary artwork as well after the restoration. As I mentioned, you are somewhat caught up in the crowd as you make your way through, although you can take your time if you need to.
What is not open yet is the rooftop of the cathedral, with its views of gargoyles and Paris. This are was particularly damaged by the fire and still under reconstruction. From the exterior you can still see the scaffolding and cranes.
Additionally, you can pay €12 for entrance into the Treasury, which houses “precious objects used in Catholic liturgy, such as sacred vessels, ornaments and liturgical books.” I did not pay the extra money for this, so I don’t know if it’s worth it. Let me know by sending an email to laura at hifriendsitslaura dot com if you visit.
Expect to spend one to two hours inside the church. I spent one hour, and might have spent more time if it wasn’t crowded. I visited on a rainy day in March, so I expect it only gets more crowded during the summer.
About the Fire
Interestingly, there is not much information about the fire on the Notre Dame website. When I visited Paris in 2021, the cathedral had an outdoor exhibit covering the damage and the work artisans were doing to rebuild. However in 2025, there was no such exhibit within or near the cathedral. I found Wikipedia to have a good summary of the fire damage, which is helpful to put the cathedral as it’s seen today into context. If you have another source of information, or know of an exhibit in Paris, please comment and let me know!
Near Notre Dame
Activities
Also on the île are Saint-Chappelle and the Conciergerie. I visited these in 2021 for the first time and was blown away.
Saint-Chappelle is a chapel built by King Louis IX, the future Saint Louis. It features 1113 stained glass windows, and was originally built to house the Crown of Thorns (now housed in Notre Dame, and available to view one Friday a month). The interior of the chapel is away in rich cerulean blue walls, painted with gold leaf and the aforementioned stained glass windows.
Nearby is the Conciergerie, which offers a combo ticket with entrance to Saint-Chappelle. La Conciergerie was a medieval palace that ended up as a prison during the French Revolution. Marie Antoinette and Robespierre were counted among the prisoners.
The prison is a grim reminder of the terror of the Revolution, and includes a room that has the name of everyone executed during the Revolutionary Tribunals. I highly recommend visiting to put into perspective the rise and fall of the monarchy in France, and the rise (and fall and rise) of democracy.
Tickets for Saint-Chappelle are €19 during the summer high season, and a combo ticket with the Conciergerie is €25. There are a number of ways to receive a discounted ticket, including on Wednesdays or with a rail pass etc. The Saint-Chappelle website has a thorough list – decide your entrance date and then see if you qualify for a discount. Both sites have audio guides as well!
Food
Nearby on the Left Bank is the iconic bookshop Shakespeare and Company, reached by crossing the Petit Pont-Cardinal Lustiger. We ate lunch next door at Le Petit Châtelet, and my friend said it was one of the best meals she had all trip. In general, I would skip eating near Notre Dame, as it’s a very expensive, touristy area. If you can, walk a bit further into the Left Bank and you’ll find excellent restaurants.
Where to stay
When I visited Paris last summer, I stayed on the Left Bank for two nights and near Pigalle for the other two nights. On my most recent trip this year, I stayed again on the Left Bank in the 6eme at the Hotel Bel Ami. This boutique hotel was charming, and the service was top notch. The hotel is a 20 minute walk to Notre Dame, and also right by the Saint-Germain-des-Prés metro stop.
Added bonus – I signed up for an Amex Platinum Card (my referral link, if you are interested) this year to get a bunch of Amex points. One of the benefits is a $200 statement credit on Fine Hotels + Resorts or Hotel Collection hotels, plus 5x points on travel booked on the card. In addition, I received $100 food and beverage at the hotel, breakfast included, plus early check in.
