Discover the Gothic architecture, medieval artifacts and centuries of heritage on this art history walking tour of Paris. After a traditional Parisian snack of coffee and croissants by the Seine River, explore the 12th-century Notre Dame Cathedral with your guide. Visit the Sainte Chapelle on the Île de la Cité and admire the spectacular 13th-century stained glass windows in the nave. Finish your tour at the Conciergerie, once part of the Palais de la Cité. Your tour size is limited to eight to ensure a more personalized experience.

Private tour of Notre Dame Cathedral, the Sainte Chapelle and the Conciergerie
Start with a traditional French snack of coffee and croissants on the banks of the Seine River
Admire the Gothic grandeur of Notre Dame Cathedral, the symbol of medieval Paris
Choose between a morning or afternoon tour

What's Included

Professional guide
All tickets included

Gratuities
Food and drinks
Hotel pickup and drop-off

Meeting And Pickup

Meeting point

Boulevard du Palais & Rue de Lutèce
Boulevard du Palais & Rue de Lutèce, 75004 Paris, France
We will meet at the corner or intersection of Boulevard du Palais and Rue de Lutèce

End point

Panthéon
75005 Paris, France

What To Expect

Meet your guide on the Île Saint-Louis in central Paris in the morning or afternoon (depending on option selected). Then, start your tour in typical French style with coffee and croissants in a local café.

Afterward, head on to Notre Dame Cathedral with your guide and admire its striking Gothic façade before stepping inside to explore further. Widely considered among the most famous churches in the world, Notre Dame Cathedral was built during the reign of King Louis VII in the 12th century and it stands today as one of Paris’ most iconic medieval buildings. Admire the stained-glass windows and religious artifacts on display and learn the significance behind several of the surviving statues.

Continue on to the Sainte Chapelle, a 13th-century church constructed by King Louis IX. During your visit, marvel at the spectacular stained-glass windows in the nave and listen as your guide details the stories they tell.

Your visit after the Sainte Chapelle will proceed to the Conciergerie. This medieval building (which now houses the Paris law courts) is the oldest royal palace in Paris. It was the residence and seat of power of the French kings for centuries during the Middle Ages, then it was converted into a prison in the 15th century. You will see the impressive 14th century Hall of Men-at-arms where the banquets took place in the Middle Ages and the Guardroom with its gothic style vaults. Then you will tour the prison itself, with the Grooming room where the condemned prisoners were stripped from their personal belongings and you will see the different cells, including that of Marie-Antoinette, where she spent the last weeks of her life before being beheaded by guillotine.

Sainte-Chapelle

This will be our meeting point at the corner of Boulevard du Palais and Rue de Lutèce. A Royal Chapel Built in 1238 in the Gothic Style. Finished in 7 years to house King Louis XI collection of passion relics, among which the Crown of Thorns, it remains a model of the Radiant Gothic.

45 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Conciergerie

Now a Law Court, it was a Town Hall in medieval time, becoming the first royal Palace in Paris by the middle of the 13 C. Marie Antoinette spent her last nights there.

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Wheelchair accessible
A moderate amount of walking is involved; please wear appropriate footwear
Stroller accessible
Service animals allowed

Near public transportation
Transportation is wheelchair accessible
Surfaces are wheelchair accessible
Travellers should have a moderate physical fitness level
This is a private tour/activity. Only your group will participate

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.

Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.
Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.

Traveller Tips

I suggest in the Conciergerie that the tablets get included as part of the tour since it's not the same looking at bare walls as opposed to seeing in the tablet how it looked back then.

Reviews

4.5

46 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travellers.

Showing 1-10 of 46 reviews

SCAM!!! Stay away!

Dan_N, May 2022

As of May 2022, this tour is a scam. It only covers a HALF of the itinerary and does NOT cover Latin Quarter, Cluny, Roman Baths, nor does it include any food/drinks. This tour is approximately 3 hours long and we spent the first half of it waiting for our tour guide to get the tickets to Sainte Chapelle. This left very little time for the rest of the tour which did not include the second half of the promised itinerary. The tour operator denies any wrongdoing and isn't willing to do even a partial refund. They claim that since we spent 3 hours with the tour guide we received the full tour. They also claim we were 10 minutes late, which is a lie. We've done dozens of tours, some good and some bad. This one is neither, it is literally a scam. Please stay away from it.

awful directions!!

lynette_Z, June 2019

We missed the whole tour because the "street" intersection is in a pedestrian mall. We asked police, taxi driver and other guides if they knew where this meeting place was. NO ONE KNEW!! The phone number given was a non working number! We were so disappointed. Book with another company!! Do NOT BOOK WITH THIS COMPANY! They are NOT helpful.

Awful!

lynette_Z, June 2019

Do NOT BOOK THIS TOUR!!! They give terrible directions and don’t answer phone when you call. We missed the whole tour and they only refunded half the cost. Book through someone else. Save yourself the hassle. Go to these historic places with SOMEONE ELSE!!!

Excellent

Enrique_G, June 2019

We were a party of 4 and the tour guide was very nice. We had some difficulty understanding her sometimes but she was very knowledgeable. I suggest in the Conciergerie that the tablets get included as part of the tour since it's not the same looking at bare walls as opposed to seeing in the tablet how it looked back then.

Saint Chapelle et al,

Chris_G, June 2019

Emily was superb with a charming demeanor and personality and an extraordinary grasp of French history with lots of very interesting antidotes. Just terrific!

Couldn’t find guide

lynette_Z, June 2019

So disappointed that we couldn’t find our guide. Phone calls made with no answer. Phone number given wasn’t a working number. We asked taxi/police/other tour operators WHERE IS THIS MEETING PLACE?!! No one knew. Missed Conciergerie and Cluny.

Response from Host, June 2019

Dear Mrs Wheelock, while I am absoutely upset about your haivng missed the Sainte Chapelle tour that substitutes the Notre Dame tour suspended for the next ten years, what you accuse us of is unfair. First of all we kept you informed, as we are asked to do from Trip Avisor, in your Extrnet Page Message to the clients. This last message will still be there. The phone Number we give, which is 0044 772 0812 183 is always opened and regsteres every call. No call was received. No message was left from anyone in the day previous or the day of your tour. In the extranet message was also a map of your meeting place, where your guide spent one hour waiting for you. However I am so sorry that you missed those margellous places for various circumstances, that if you go back to Paris in any time in the next two years, I will be delighted to offer you for free the Sainte Chapelle Tour with our best guide - the one who waited - Manuela. Regards Rosa Maria Letts

Regina

AliceRegOni, June 2018

Our guide Clemence was wonderful - she was very knowledgeable and informative and had a pleasant disposition. Our private tour turned out to be for only the three of us including my two teenage children who very much enjoyed Clemence’s historical story telling.

I highly recommend a private tour...

Roxann I, Feb 2018

I highly recommend a private tour. There is so much to see and explore. By having a private tour, we were able to truly understand the magnificence of the cathedral and chapel. The private tour guide was brilliant. Marie Christine was the best tour guide in the world. She has so much knowledge and understanding of the buildings and history. We got chills when she explained how people did pilgrimages to Notre Dame and how St. Louis displayed the crown of thorns. The Conciergerie was incredible and sad at the same time. Listening to how the Queen was treated was difficult and painful. But walking through the halls brought a sense of astonishment for the love of God and Faith. I recommend Marie Christine and will ask for her again when we go to Paris next year!

Manuella did a great job showing us...

Christina_M, Nov 2017

Manuella did a great job showing us the sites of Notre Dame, the Sainte Chapelle and the Conciergerie. She was very personable, and knowledgeable. We would recommend her!

Manuela did a great job with the...

Lisa K, Oct 2017

Manuela did a great job with the history of Notre Dame and Sainte Chapelle.

Our private tour-guide, Marie...

warwick p, Sept 2017

Our private tour-guide, Marie Christine, was a veritable font of knowledge and we enjoyed every part of this tour. She was a Parisien who had lived overseas and was highly educated so one felt one received an unbiased historic account of these three amazing places. I'd highly recommend this tour, well worth the money.

Our guide was well spoken and very...

Theresa C, Sept 2017

Our guide was well spoken and very knowledgeable about all three locations. The tour is just about the right length of time to be a good overview of the sights. It was a very enjoyable morning.

This is an informative and...

Randall P, Sept 2017

This is an informative and interesting tour. The meeting place was a bit confusing and finding the guide amounted to asking around until you bump into each other. Norte dame Cathedral is a bit of a tourist trap but the Sainte Chapelle and Conciergerie were great.

Excellent tour guide, extremely...

AKASupahighway, Sept 2017

Excellent tour guide, extremely professional and has done this type of work for many years. We were the only 2 taking this first tour of the day so were able to ask any questions and have the guides full and immediately attention. We've been touring Europe for the past month and this guide was one of our favourites forgive us as we forget name, too long a holiday : Would highly recommend this tour to everyone as the history was amazing and were lucky enough to visit this Cathedral during a service. We were also provided a headset so never missed any information during the tour whilst service was in progress. Thank you for such a professional informative tour, we wish we had this guide for our entire trip.

Short, concise and time saving! On top...

Horia A, Aug 2017

Short, concise and time saving! On top of it, the chance to see a great monument.

Excellent tour. Marie-Christine was...

Brian C, May 2017

Excellent tour. Marie-Christine was wonderful. She was prompt and very knowledgeable. We thoroughly enjoyed Notre Dame, Saint Chappelle, and the Conciergerie and having Marie-Christine allowed us to full understand the history of these amazing landmarks. I would highly recommend this tour and MarieC

Emelie our guide was wonderful. She...

Daniel S, May 2017

Emelie our guide was wonderful. She gave us interesting information that went well beyond the surface of the sights and gave us a view of Paris that made our experience too notch. She was friendly, extremely knwledgeable and very personable. I would recommend Emelie for ALl, tour of Paris etc

Very knowledgeable and because I was...

Wallace_M, Apr 2017

Very knowledgeable and because I was short on time, she was very accommodating.

Our guide was informative and friendly...

JEFFREY_S, Feb 2017

Our guide was informative and friendly. We enjoyed the experience.

Chris our tour guide was an amazing...

Kerry B, Dec 2016

Chris our tour guide was an amazing resource of information as she walked as though these three important complexes. They played such an important role in French and Parisian history. Chris explained the historical significance, but also architectural features. We never would have been able to appreciate all of this without Chris' guidance. Headsets and books only go so far. This was an excellent tour. Highly recommended