Paris Free Tour
The SANDEMANs Free Tour of Paris starts at Place Saint-Michel and walks along the Seine covering Notre-Dame, the Louvre exterior, and Sainte-Chapelle. It is the most established free walking tour option in Paris.
Church in Paris
Notre-Dame Cathedral
Also known as Notre Dame
Partly free, partly paidSome of it costs nothing, some of it charges.
Notre-Dame is the Gothic cathedral on Ile de la Cite, the island in the Seine where Paris was born, and one of the most important medieval buildings in Europe. Entry to the cathedral interior is free. It reopened in December 2024 after the 2019 fire, so the restored nave, the rose windows, and the vaulted ceiling are on view again, all without a ticket.
The free experience here is generous. The parvis (the square in front) is open to anyone, and the kilometre-zero marker set into it is the point from which every road distance in France is measured. Walk around the building from the riverbank to see the flying buttresses and the spire, then follow the free Seine Riverbanks in either direction. The cathedral stands a short walk from Sainte-Chapelle and a bridge from the quiet lanes of Ile Saint-Louis.
The only paid part is the tower climb, a separately ticketed attraction up to the gallery and bells, and it is entirely optional. Budget travelers see the most famous cathedral in France for free: the interior, the square, and the exterior from the Seine. Notre-Dame is also the headline stop on the Paris Free Tour, and it pairs naturally with the city’s other free highlights such as Sacre-Coeur and Pere Lachaise Cemetery.
Practical
Before you go
- Address
- Parvis Notre-Dame - Place Jean-Paul II 6, 75004 Paris
- Good to know
On foot
Walks that pass through
Free and low-cost routes that stop at Notre-Dame Cathedral.
Nearby
More in Paris
Other places worth the walk, and what each one costs.
Arc de Triomphe
The Arc de Triomphe is Napoleon's triumphal arch at the western end of the Champs-Elysees, the largest triumphal arch in the world at nearly 50 meters tall. Napoleon commissioned it in 1806 to honor the Grande Armee, and it was finished in 1836, long after his fall.
Canal Saint-Martin
Canal Saint-Martin is a tree-lined waterway in the 10th arrondissement, threaded with arched iron footbridges and a chain of locks that still raise and lower passing boats. Napoleon ordered it dug to bring clean water into the city, and it opened in 1825.
Champs-Elysees
The Avenue des Champs-Elysees runs from the Place de la Concorde to the Arc de Triomphe, the most famous boulevard in the world. It forms the central stretch of the historic axis that lines up with the Tuileries Garden and the Louvre Museum to the east. Free to walk.
Eiffel Tower
The Eiffel Tower is the most recognized structure in the world, built for the 1889 World's Fair by Gustave Eiffel's engineering company and never taken down. It was meant to be temporary, a 20-year exhibit, but its usefulness as a radio and telegraph mast saved it and it has stood in the 7th arrondissement ever since.
Grand Canal Versailles
The Grand Canal is a cruciform artificial lake at the western end of the Palace of Versailles Gardens, roughly 1.6 kilometers along its long arm. Andre Le Notre designed it as the vanishing point of the garden's central axis and as a mirror for the sky, so the whole layout pulls the eye toward the water.
Ile de la Cite
Ile de la Cite is the island in the Seine where Paris began, the spot where the Gallic Parisii and then Roman Lutetia first took root before the city spread to both banks. It is the historic heart of Paris, and almost everything on it can be seen for free.
Working out what Paris costs?
The whole of Paris