Five years after the world watched the spire fall in flames, Notre-Dame cathedral Paris reopened its doors on December 8, 2024. Notre-Dame de Paris had been silent since the catastrophic April 15, 2019 fire that destroyed the spire and most of the wooden roof structure (la forêt, the famous 13th-century timber lattice nicknamed “the forest”). The 5-year, €700 million restoration involved 2,000 craftspeople — charpentiers, sculpteurs sur pierre, vitraillistes, maîtres verriers, géomètres — and brought the cathedral back to a brighter, cleaner version of its 19th-century glory. This guide covers everything you need to know to visit Notre-Dame post-reopening: how to reserve a free timed entry slot, what’s changed inside, the status of the tower climb and the Crypte Archéologique, and the best photo spots around the Île de la Cité. Notre-Dame is once again the beating heart of Paris — and visiting it in 2026 is both easier and more impressive than at any point this century.
For the bigger picture of monuments and landmarks across the city, this guide sits inside our broader Paris attractions hub. Notre-Dame is the spiritual and geographic centre — kilometre zero of all French roads is marked on the parvis directly in front — and almost every visitor itinerary eventually passes through it.
Notre-Dame Post-Reopening: What’s Different in 2026
Notre-Dame officially reopened to the public on December 8, 2024 after the December 7 inaugural Mass and state ceremony. If you visited Paris between April 2019 and late 2024 you would have seen only the boarded-up parvis, the bare front towers, scaffolding clouds rising over the apse, and a thick blue construction fence wrapped around the Île de la Cité. That’s all gone. The cathedral is back, free to enter, and visibly different from the Notre-Dame older guidebooks describe.
The first thing returning visitors notice is the light. Before the fire, centuries of soot, candle smoke and coal-dust had darkened the limestone walls to a deep grey-brown. Restorers cleaned every interior surface, and the cathedral is now markedly brighter — walls have returned to their original pale gold Lutétien limestone, the 13th-century blue-with-gold-stars vault paint was reinstated above the choir, and the 18th-century gilding on the choir screen and side chapels gleams again. Stained-glass panels were cleaned pane by pane. On a sunny morning the nave is filled with coloured light from windows you previously only half-saw.
The new oak spire, installed in December 2023, is a faithful reconstruction of the 96-metre Viollet-le-Duc design from 1859. It was topped with the original golden cockerel weather-vane (which had fallen during the fire and was found intact in the rubble), now containing fresh relics — a fragment of the Crown of Thorns, relics of Saint Geneviève and Saint Denis, and a parchment listing the 2,000 restoration workers by name. From the parvis the silhouette looks identical to pre-fire photographs; only the new lead sheathing catches a fresher gleam.
Inside, the new liturgical furnishings — designed by Pierre Bernard and unveiled at the reopening — replace the entire pre-fire set. Bronze altar, bronze ambo, bronze baptistery, bronze cathedra (bishop’s chair), and a reliquary for the Crown of Thorns. The pieces are deliberately contemporary but sit comfortably with the medieval architecture. Reaction has been mixed locally but the consensus among visitors is that they feel less intrusive in person than in press photographs.
The famous Notre-Dame organ — 8,000 pipes, the second-largest in France after Saint-Sulpice — was completely dismantled, cleaned of lead dust from the fire, and reinstalled. Restoration finished in November 2024 and the instrument was blessed at the reopening. You can hear it during Mass, vespers, and the monthly first-Friday organ recitals.
One thing has not reopened: the tower climb. As of early 2026 there is no public access to the north or south towers, no Gallery of Chimeras visit, no Emmanuel Bell viewing. The Centre des Monuments Nationaux expects to reopen towers in mid-2026; see the dedicated section below for what to expect when access returns.
And finally, the biggest practical change for visitors: a free timed-reservation system. You can still walk up, but the queue regularly hits 60-90 minutes in summer. Reserving a slot via the official “Notre-Dame de Paris” app or notredamedeparis.fr takes 30 seconds and routes you through a separate, near-instant entry lane. It’s the single best piece of advice for a 2026 visit.
The Fire and the Restoration: A Brief Story
At 6:18 p.m. on Monday April 15, 2019 — the start of Holy Week — fire alarms sounded inside Notre-Dame. A roof renovation was underway; investigators later concluded the most likely cause was either an electrical short circuit or a discarded cigarette in the construction zone, though no definitive verdict has ever been published. By the time firefighters reached the attic, flames were tearing through the medieval timber forêt. At 7:50 p.m. the spire collapsed live on global television, falling through the stone vault below and igniting the choir. Parisians gathered along the Seine and on the bridges and sang hymns through the night.
The cathedral was saved by a few crucial things. The 400 sapeurs-pompiers of the Brigade des sapeurs-pompiers de Paris fought from inside the towers, choosing to defend the north belfry rather than the spire — a decision that almost certainly prevented total collapse. The stone vault largely held, catching most of the molten lead from the roof. The two great front towers, the west facade, and the three medieval rose windows all survived. The wooden “forêt” (more than 1,300 oak beams, some over 800 years old) was completely destroyed, along with the 19th-century spire and the lead roof, which melted into the cathedral floor.
Donations arrived within hours. By the end of the first week, more than €840 million had been pledged. The Pinault, Arnault and Bettencourt-Meyers families alone contributed over €500 million between them. President Emmanuel Macron promised reconstruction in five years — a deadline most experts dismissed as fantasy. It was met.
The work involved 250 companies and approximately 2,000 craftspeople: charpentiers cutting traditional mortise-and-tenon joints with hand axes, vitraillistes restoring stained glass pane by pane in workshops across France, sculpteurs sur pierre carving replacement gargoyles and finials. Some 8,000 oak trees — most donated from state forests — were felled to rebuild the forêt exactly as it had stood in the 13th century. The new oak truss is structurally identical to the medieval original; only the metal connectors are modern.
The reopening on December 7-8, 2024 was the largest French state event in decades. President Macron spoke inside the nave; the Archbishop of Paris re-consecrated the cathedral; the great organ was awakened with a liturgical dialogue. More than 40 heads of state attended, including U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and most European royal and government leaders. The next day, the doors opened to the public.
How to Visit: Free Entry, Reservations, and Hours
Notre-Dame remains what it has always been: a working Catholic cathedral. Entry to the nave is free and no ticket is required. What has changed is the volume of visitors — expect 30,000+ people on summer days — which is why the timed-reservation system exists.
| Visit element | 2026 status | Cost | Reservation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nave / interior | Open | Free | Optional but strongly recommended |
| Tower climb | Closed (reopens mid-2026) | €13 (when open) | Required when reopened |
| Treasury | Open | €10 | On-site, not required |
| Crypte Archéologique | Open Tue–Sun | €9 | Optional |
| Mass attendance | Open to all | Free | Major feast days only |
Reservations: book a free timed slot through the official “Notre-Dame de Paris” app or notredamedeparis.fr. Slots release up to two days in advance, with additional batches released the morning of the visit. If a date looks full, refresh around 8 a.m. local time. Holding a reservation routes you to a dedicated entry lane that typically moves in under 10 minutes.
Walk-up queue: still exists. In summer expect 60-90 minutes; in winter and shoulder season 30-45 minutes. The queue forms on the parvis and zig-zags toward the south tower entrance.
Hours: typically 7:45 a.m.–7 p.m. Monday to Friday; 8:15 a.m.–7:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The cathedral closes briefly during Mass to non-worshippers, though you can join the service. Hours occasionally shift for feast days — always check the official site the day before.
Best times to go: 8 a.m. opening, when the cathedral is almost empty and the morning light is gentle. Second-best is the last hour before closing — the warm evening light is especially beautiful in the south transept around 6:30 p.m. in summer. Avoid weekend midday and any time during major Catholic feast days unless you specifically want to attend Mass.
Tower climb: not open as of early 2026. When it reopens it will cost €13 with timed entry managed by the Centre des Monuments Nationaux, via monuments-nationaux.fr. Expected reopening mid-2026.
Crypte Archéologique: the underground archaeological crypt beneath the parvis is a separate site managed by Paris Musées. Entry is €9 (free first Sunday of the month and for under-18 EU residents) and it has fully reopened. See dedicated section below.
What to See Inside Notre-Dame: Highlights Tour
Plan on 45-75 minutes inside if you’re browsing the highlights; longer if you also visit the Treasury. Move down the right (south) aisle, around the ambulatory behind the choir, and back up the left (north) aisle — the traditional pilgrim route. Here’s what to look for in order.
The Nave
You enter under the west rose window into a 35-metre-high vaulted space, the medieval engineering miracle that defined Gothic architecture. Look up: the restored blue paint with gold stars across the high vaults recreates the 13th-century decoration discovered under later layers. The pointed arches and the slender colonettes draw the eye upward, exactly as the original architects intended.
Crown of Thorns
Notre-Dame’s most precious relic returned home in 2024 after being kept safe at the Louvre during the restoration. The Crown of Thorns — said to be the wreath placed on Christ’s head during the Passion — is venerated publicly on the first Friday of every month at 3 p.m., every Friday during Lent, and on Good Friday. Outside those times it is held in the Treasury.
Rose Windows
All three monumental rose windows survived the fire: the West Rose (c. 1220s), North Rose (c. 1250s) and South Rose (c. 1260s). The South Rose is the most photogenic — at solar noon, on a clear day, sunlight pours through 84 separate panels and paints the south transept floor in red and blue. The North Rose, depicting Old Testament prophets and the Virgin, is the best preserved and contains the most original 13th-century glass anywhere in France.
The Great Organ
Mounted above the west door, the grand orgue has 8,000 pipes across five keyboards and is the second-largest pipe organ in France after Saint-Sulpice. Restoration was completed in November 2024 after every pipe was individually cleaned of lead dust. Olivier Latry remains one of the titular organists. The instrument is audible at every Mass and at the monthly first-Friday recitals.
The Choir and Stone Screen
The choir dates to the 13th century, surrounded by a 14th-century stone screen carved with scenes from the Gospels. The Renaissance choir stalls and the marble pavement were restored to their pre-fire condition. Walk slowly around the ambulatory behind the high altar — the screen’s small-scale carvings are easy to miss but reward attention.
The Pieta of Nicolas Coustou
Behind the high altar stands the 17th-century Pietà by Nicolas Coustou (completed 1723), commissioned by Louis XIII as part of his vow to dedicate France to the Virgin Mary. It is flanked by Coustou’s kneeling statues of Louis XIII and Louis XIV. The marble survived the fire intact.
Treasury
The Treasury (Trésor) is a separate room off the south side of the choir, €10 entry. It holds the Crown of Thorns reliquary (a contemporary design by Sylvain Dubuisson), a fragment of the True Cross, the Holy Nail, sacred vessels, episcopal vestments, and a small museum of post-fire restoration objects including the original golden cockerel from the spire. Highly recommended.
Choir Pulpit
The restored 19th-century pulpit is a Viollet-le-Duc work, intricate stonecarving accessible from a winding staircase. It survived the fire untouched.
Stained Glass Beyond the Roses
Most visitors look only at the three rose windows. Don’t miss the lancet windows along the north aisle — a handful contain 13th-century original glass, easily distinguished from later replacements by the deeper, irregular blue tones.
New Liturgical Furnishings
Pierre Bernard’s bronze altar, ambo, baptistery, and cathedra were unveiled at the December 2024 reopening. They sit at the crossing of the transept. Critics complained pre-installation that they would clash; in person the warm dark bronze reads as deliberately contemporary but quiet, more sympathetic to the building than the sleek photos suggested.
Mass and Services: How to Attend
Notre-Dame is the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Paris and active liturgy resumed in full at reopening. Anyone is welcome to attend Mass regardless of faith — you simply sit quietly in the nave or choir-side pews. There is no ticket and no reservation for normal weekday or Sunday Mass.
- Weekday Mass (Monday–Friday): 9 a.m., 12 noon, 6:15 p.m.
- Saturday Mass: 12 noon and 6:30 p.m. anticipated Sunday Mass.
- Sunday Mass: 8:30 a.m. (low), 10 a.m. (Latin with Gregorian chant), 11:30 a.m. (sung), 6:30 p.m.
- Vespers: sung evening prayer at 5:45 p.m. daily.
- Confessions: available daily; check the schedule posted near the south transept.
For Mass attendance, arrive 15 minutes early to find a seat. The 10 a.m. Sunday Latin Mass with Gregorian chant is particularly atmospheric and the most popular among non-French speakers because the liturgy remains familiar across language. The Notre-Dame choir — the Maîtrise de Notre-Dame — sings at the 11:30 a.m. Sunday Mass.
For major Catholic feast days — Christmas Eve Midnight Mass, Easter Vigil, Pentecost, the Assumption on August 15, and All Saints’ Day — you must reserve a seat ahead via the cathedral website. These fill within hours of release.
Beyond Mass, Notre-Dame hosts a sacred concert season. Organ recitals on the first Friday evening of every month are free and need no reservation. Choral concerts during Advent and Lent are ticketed via the Musique Sacrée à Notre-Dame de Paris association.
The Tower Climb: Status and What to Expect When It Reopens
The Notre-Dame tower climb has been closed continuously since the April 2019 fire. The Centre des Monuments Nationaux (CMN), which manages the towers as a separate ticketed monument, has signalled a mid-2026 reopening, though the precise date keeps shifting. Check monuments-nationaux.fr for the official update before assuming you can go up.
When open, the climb is one of the great experiences in Paris. The route is a 422-step spiral staircase up the north tower to a 70-metre-high platform. Tickets will be €13 (the pre-fire price) with timed entry, and you should also expect a €25 combination ticket linking Notre-Dame towers with Sainte-Chapelle and the Conciergerie via Paris Musées.
Highlights along the way: the Gallery of Chimeras, the famous walkway where Quasimodo crouched in Hugo’s Notre-Dame de Paris (1831) — the chimeras are 19th-century additions by Viollet-le-Duc, not medieval, but instantly recognisable; the Emmanuel Bell in the south tower, cast in 1681, weighing 13 tonnes, still rung by hand on major feast days; and finally the open platform with panoramic views over the Île de la Cité, the Seine, and the rooftops of central Paris.
Note: the tower climb is not wheelchair accessible. The spiral staircase is narrow and steep, with no elevator. Children should be over 6 and comfortable with heights and tight spaces.
Crypte Archéologique: The Hidden Layer Below
Beneath the Notre-Dame parvis — the square in front of the west facade — lies a 2,000-square-metre archaeological crypt that most visitors miss entirely. Entry is €9 (free for under-18 EU residents and on the first Sunday of every month), open Tuesday–Sunday 10 a.m.–6 p.m., closed Mondays.
The crypt preserves layered ruins discovered during 1965 parking-garage excavations: the Gallo-Roman city wall of Lutetia (1st century), Merovingian-era foundations, medieval house cellars from the early Christian quarter, 18th-century Enfants-Trouvés orphanage cellars, and the 19th-century sewers laid by Haussmann. It is the only place in Paris where you can walk through 2,000 years of foundations in one continuous archaeological space.
Plan 30-45 minutes. The site is small, the lighting is dim and atmospheric, and signage is bilingual French-English. The Crypte Archéologique combines especially well with a visit to the Musée Carnavalet in the Marais for a full chronological tour of Paris history.
Best Photo Spots & Vantage Points
Notre-Dame is photogenic from almost any angle, but a handful of vantage points consistently outperform the rest. Most are within a 5-minute walk; with a Seine cruise ticket you can also shoot from water level.
- Pont de l’Archevêché (south side) — the classic angle of the apse and flying buttresses. Best in late-afternoon light.
- Square Jean-XXIII (directly behind the cathedral) — a small public garden offering a rare ground-level rear view, free and rarely crowded.
- Pont de la Tournelle (south, further east) — the bridge carries a statue of Sainte Geneviève facing the cathedral; you get the postcard side angle from here.
- Pont au Double (north side) — frontal towers view, the easiest classic shot for first-time visitors.
- Quai de Montebello (Left Bank, opposite the front) — the broad south panorama, with the river in the foreground.
- Pont Saint-Michel — west-angle composition with the Latin Quarter rooftops layering in.
- From the river on a Seine river cruise — water-level angles you cannot get any other way.
- Square du Vert-Galant — the tip of the Île de la Cité, looking back upstream toward the cathedral at sunset.
Light tip: the golden hour begins about 90 minutes before sunset and the limestone glows warm gold across the west facade. The blue hour — roughly 30 minutes after sunset — is when the cathedral’s exterior lighting kicks in and the deep blue sky contrasts beautifully with the lit stone. For full lists of city vantage points, see our Paris photo spots guide.
Pre-fire, the single best photo location in Paris was the Notre-Dame tower platform itself, looking out over the Seine. Once the towers reopen in mid-2026 it will return to that list. Until then, the bridges are your best bet.
Notre-Dame’s History: 850+ Years
Construction of Notre-Dame de Paris began in 1163 under Bishop Maurice de Sully on the site of an earlier Romanesque cathedral, itself built over a 4th-century Christian basilica that had replaced a Gallo-Roman temple to Jupiter. The first stone was laid in the presence of Pope Alexander III. The nave was largely complete by 1200, the west facade and towers by 1245, and the cathedral was substantially finished by 1260, with smaller works continuing into the 14th century.
On December 2, 1804, Pope Pius VII consecrated Napoleon Bonaparte as Emperor of the French inside Notre-Dame — an event Jacques-Louis David painted across an entire wall of the Louvre. It remains arguably the single most consequential ceremony ever held in the building, marking the cathedral’s return to active use after the French Revolution had stripped it of statues, beheaded the 28 kings on the west facade (Revolutionary mobs mistook them for kings of France rather than kings of Judah), and briefly converted the building into a Temple of Reason.
By the 1830s, Notre-Dame was decrepit. Victor Hugo’s 1831 novel Notre-Dame de Paris (translated as The Hunchback of Notre-Dame) triggered a national restoration campaign. Architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc led the work from 1844 to 1864, adding the spire, the gargoyles and chimeras of the upper galleries, restoring the west facade statues, and consolidating the flying buttresses. Most of what visitors photograph as “medieval Notre-Dame” today is in fact a 19th-century Gothic Revival reconstruction layered over genuine 12th- and 13th-century structure.
August 26, 1944: General Charles de Gaulle attended a Mass of thanksgiving inside Notre-Dame the day after the Liberation of Paris — sniper fire reportedly broke out inside the cathedral but de Gaulle refused to duck. In the decades since, Notre-Dame has hosted state funerals (Charles de Gaulle, Georges Pompidou, François Mitterrand), papal visits, and Catholic World Youth Day events.
And then April 15, 2019. The fire was the most consequential event in the building’s life since the 1804 coronation. The reopening on December 8, 2024 closed that chapter and opened a new one — the first Notre-Dame of the 21st century.
What’s Around Notre-Dame: Île de la Cité & Île Saint-Louis
Notre-Dame sits on the Île de la Cité, the original Paris — the small Seine island where the Parisii tribe settled in the 3rd century BC and the Romans built Lutetia. Most of the Île, plus the adjoining Île Saint-Louis, can be walked in a single afternoon. Here is a half-day itinerary you can pair with the cathedral visit.
- Sainte-Chapelle — 5-minute walk west, €13 (€19 combo with the Conciergerie). The 13th-century stained-glass jewel built by Louis IX to house the Crown of Thorns before it was moved to Notre-Dame.
- Conciergerie — right next to Sainte-Chapelle, €13. The medieval royal palace turned Revolutionary prison; Marie Antoinette was held in a cell here before her execution.
- Mémorial des Martyrs de la Déportation — tip of the Île directly behind Notre-Dame, free. A sober, claustrophobic Holocaust memorial honouring the 200,000 French deportees who died in Nazi camps.
- Square Jean XXIII — the gardens immediately behind the cathedral, free, with the best rear view.
- Square du Vert-Galant — the western tip of the Île de la Cité, a small park at river level under the Pont Neuf, classic Paris sunset spot.
- Île Saint-Louis — the adjoining island, smaller and quieter. Berthillon (#31 Rue Saint-Louis-en-l’Île) is the legendary ice-cream maker; the island is also a showcase of 17th-century hôtels particuliers (private mansions).
- Pont Saint-Louis — pedestrian bridge between the two islands; you will almost always find street musicians here.
- Shakespeare and Company — 37 Rue de la Bûcherie, just across the south bridge. The English-language bookshop that has anchored the Left Bank since 1951.
- Café Saint-Régis — 6 Rue Jean-du-Bellay on the Île Saint-Louis. A locals’ corner café with consistent reviews; a smart lunch stop after visiting the cathedral.
For the broader Right Bank and Left Bank context around these islands, see our Paris neighborhoods guide.
Practical Tips & Etiquette
Notre-Dame is an active cathedral, not a museum, and visitor behaviour is held to a higher standard than at most Paris monuments. The basics:
- Dress modestly. Shoulders and knees covered. In summer, no shorts, tank tops, or short skirts. A scarf or light shawl is the simple fix.
- Stay quiet. Whispering only inside the nave; no talking at all during Mass.
- No photography during Mass. Outside of services photography is permitted, but no flash and no tripods.
- Bag check. All bags pass through X-ray at the entrance. Large suitcases and oversized backpacks are not permitted.
- Wheelchair access. The nave is fully wheelchair accessible via a ramp at the south entrance. The tower climb is not.
- Restrooms. A small WC is available inside near the entrance; free public toilets are available behind the cathedral in Square Jean XXIII.
- Candles. €2 suggested donation per votive candle; multiple stands inside the side chapels.
- Donations. Welcome but never required; entry is and will remain free.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Notre-Dame open to visitors in 2026?
Yes. Notre-Dame officially reopened to the public on December 8, 2024 and is open daily for visitors and worshippers in 2026. The cathedral interior, Treasury, and Crypte Archéologique are all fully open. The only element still closed is the tower climb, expected to reopen in mid-2026.
Do you need a ticket to enter Notre-Dame?
No. Entry to the nave is free and no ticket is required. However, a free timed reservation through the “Notre-Dame de Paris” app or notredamedeparis.fr is strongly recommended — it gives you a separate priority entry lane and saves the typical 60-90 minute walk-up queue. Reservations can be made up to two days in advance, with additional batches released the morning of the visit.
Can you climb the Notre-Dame towers in 2026?
Not yet. The tower climb has been closed since the 2019 fire and remains closed as of early 2026. The Centre des Monuments Nationaux has indicated a mid-2026 reopening; the entry fee will likely be €13 with timed reservations via monuments-nationaux.fr. Check the official site for the latest reopening date before assuming you can go up.
How long does it take to visit Notre-Dame?
Allow 45-75 minutes for the nave, side chapels, ambulatory and rose windows. Add 30 minutes if you also visit the Treasury (€10), and another 30-45 minutes for the Crypte Archéologique under the parvis. A full Notre-Dame visit including all three sites runs about 2-2.5 hours. Add 30 minutes minimum for the walk-up queue if you do not have a reservation.
When did Notre-Dame reopen after the fire?
Notre-Dame reopened on December 8, 2024, exactly 5 years and 7 months after the April 15, 2019 fire. The state inaugural ceremony was held on December 7 with President Emmanuel Macron and more than 40 heads of state present, and the cathedral opened to the general public the following day.
What was destroyed in the Notre-Dame fire?
The April 15, 2019 fire destroyed the 96-metre 19th-century oak-and-lead spire (by Viollet-le-Duc), most of the medieval timber roof frame known as la forêt (more than 1,300 oak beams, some 800+ years old), and the lead roof itself, which melted onto the stone vault below. The three great rose windows, the two front towers, the great organ, and most of the medieval stone structure were saved by firefighters. The Crown of Thorns and most of the Treasury were evacuated during the fire.
Can you attend Mass at Notre-Dame?
Yes. Anyone is welcome to attend Mass regardless of religious affiliation. Daily Masses are at 9 a.m., noon, and 6:15 p.m. Monday to Friday; Sunday Masses are at 8:30 a.m., 10 a.m. (Latin with Gregorian chant), 11:30 a.m. (sung), and 6:30 p.m. Vespers is sung at 5:45 p.m. daily. For Christmas Eve, Easter Vigil, and other major feasts you must reserve a seat ahead via the cathedral website.
Is Notre-Dame wheelchair accessible?
The nave is fully wheelchair accessible via a ramp at the south side entrance, and the main cathedral floor is level throughout. The Treasury is also accessible. The Crypte Archéologique is partially accessible with assistance. The tower climb is not accessible — it is a 422-step spiral staircase with no elevator.
Plan the Rest of Your Paris Visit
Notre-Dame is one of nine major landmarks covered in our Paris attractions pillar. Pair your visit with the nearby Sainte-Chapelle and Conciergerie for a complete Île de la Cité morning. For other Paris landmarks see our guides to the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Sacré-Coeur and Montmartre, the Arc de Triomphe, the Panthéon, the Paris Catacombs, Versailles, and Disneyland Paris. For an unusual lens on the city, see our unique things to do in Paris guide. And to see Notre-Dame from a different angle entirely, book a Seine river cruise at dusk — the cathedral floodlit from the water is one of those Paris memories that stays with you.