10 top tips for visiting Notre-Dame, Paris

Since re-opening in December 2024, following a devastating fire in 2019, more than 11 million people have been to marvel at the rebuilt Notre-Dame Cathedral, making it France's most popular monument. If you are soon to become one of the 30-35,000 people through its doors every day, here are ten insider recommendations for making that trip stress-free.

1. Entry is free so don't bother buying a "skip the line" ticket. There are no official paid skip-the-line entry tickets for the cathedral itself. The only paid areas are the bell towers, treasury and crypt.

2. Log on to notredamedeparis.fr to book your ticket two days in advance. The free booking system lets you reserve a specific time slot up to 48 hours ahead, and new slots are released on a rolling basis – sometimes just hours before – as the system rebalances. Check the site (or app) early and often on your target day. Your slot is valid for 20 minutes from your arrival time.

3. Try booking right when the window opens. Because slots fill up fast, it's worth visiting the booking site before 8am two days before your chosen day – you may first be placed on a waiting list, and refreshing the page can cost you your place in the queue.

4. Weekday mornings are the sweet spot. Early mornings – before 10am – tend to be quietest, while weekends, particularly mid-morning to lunchtime on Saturday, are the busiest.

5. Thursday evenings are a hidden gem. Thursdays from 7pm are considered the quietest window of the entire week, and the cathedral stays open until 10pm that day.

6. Going to Mass gets you straight in. If you attend a service, arriving about ten minutes beforehand lets you walk right past the main queue.

7. Save your QR code as a screenshot. Phone signal in the entry queue is unreliable, so screenshot your reservation QR code rather than risk not being able to access it.

8. Allow time for security and know it's one-way. Plan for roughly 10–20 minutes of airport-style security screening, and remember the visitor route only moves in one direction, so you can't retrace your steps for a second look. The visit direction now runs clockwise; before the fire it was anticlockwise.

9. The bell towers need a separate, extra booking. Climbing the towers requires its own ticket, reserved through tours-notre-dame-de-paris.fr/en. You cannot turn up and pay – tickets must be booked online. It's €16 for adults, with free entry for under-18s and the disabled with an accompanying adult.

10. Dress modestly. Shoulders and knees should be covered, and hats should be removed inside.

Oh, one last thing: there are no toilets inside the cathedral. You'll find free public loos on Rue d'Arcole, to the left of the cathedral as you face its main doors.

Bonne voyage!

Photo by Sebastien on Unsplash

Photo by Narbeh Arakil on Unsplash

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