Notre-Dame to Le Marais Private Tour

An iconic tour for Paris first timers. It starts in île de la Cité in front of Notre-Dame Cathedral and continue to le Marais. This is a great way to discover and understand the evolution of Paris from Gallo-Roman origin to the medieval era, from Notre-Dame early gothic to Renaissance design and to le Marais 17th century hôtels particuliers mansions. A private tour done by a fully licensed guide lecturer.

Photo of Notre-Dame, Ile de la Cité, Ile Saint-Louis, Le Marais to illustrate à Paris Notre Dame to Le Marais Guided Tour in France.

View of Paris Notre-Dame Cathedral chevet and Pope John XXIII Garden on Ile de la Cité. On the right: Ile Saint-Louis south bank. In the foreground is the Pont de Sully bridge crossing the Seine River. Our Paris Notre-Dame to Le Marais Walking Tour starts right there on Île Saint-Louis but on the other side of Notre-Dame.

Notre-Dame to Marais Private Tour Essentials

130 € for 1 to 2 people + 25 € per extra person 

  • +/- 2-hour history oriented guided tour in English
  • Really private tour = your party only (6 people max.)
  • +/- 3 km distance covered
  • Postgraduate (MPhil) certified French national guide
  • Flexible schedule  – 7/7 if available

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What’s in the tour?

Sacred Architecture

17th Century Paris

French & Paris History

Middle-Age Paris

Civil Architecture

Highlights

Paris Medieval City Wall

Baroque & Gothique Churches

Ile de la Cité

Half Timbered Houses

Place-des-Vosges Royal Square

Village Saint-Paul

Hôtel de Sully 17e Century Mansion 

Ile-Saint-Louis

Notre-Dame Cathedrale 

Hôtel-de-Sens Royal Gothic Mansion

River Seine Sceneries

Panthéon

Hôtel-de-Ville

Saint-Louis Footbrige

Tour Saint-Jacques

Pont-Marie

Your Private Tour Guide in Paris

Certified French national guide
BA, Magna Cum Laude, Heritage Developpement & Preservation from Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers
Postgraduate from Paris Dauphine-PSL University

Know more about Yves, your private tour guide in Paris

Why A Marais Walking Tour startING from Notre-Dame?

Well, just because it is more logical to start to visit a city from the beginning.

This tour does not only gives you the opportunity to discover some of the most important landmarks of Paris, but it is also before all the best way to understand the evolution of the city from Roman Empire to the modern era.

A tour definitively designed for those who like history.

 

The Notre-Dame to Le Marais Walking Tour is definitively
a must to get a glimpse of Paris from Roman Empire to 19th-century !

Photo of Notre-Dame facade in the morning in Ile de la Cité to illustrate a walking tour from Notre-Dame to Le Marais in  Paris, France.

Notre-Dame Cathedral harmonic facade with its two symmetrical towers in the morning light. Damaged during the French Revolution the facade was restored in the 19th century by architect Eugène Violet le Duc. Beneath the parvis (from which start the tour) is an archeological crypt where are some vestiges of Gallo-Roman Paris (entry 8 €).

Tour Content

Île de la Cité: the Heart of Paris

This Island is well known to be the island where is located Notre-Dame, the Paris cathedral, one of the most visited and photographed locations in the whole world. But the Cité island is also the historical heart of Paris, it was in the first centuries of our era the place where was standing a Gallo-Roman city first called Lutecia, which name changed during the beginning of the 4th century in civitas Parisiorum shorten in Paris.

Notre-Dame: Gothic Splendor

This cathedral is a work of art and poetry. We will start by admiring the details of the facade and go into the symbolism evoked by the artists who built and eventually restored Notre-Dame.

We will get a small taste of the fear and sheer despair felt by the prisoners who were asked to beg for forgiveness and redeem themselves right before they die in front of the portal portraying The Last Judgment.

We will look at the gargoyles, the statues, the shapes, the flying buttresses, the parvis

Sculptures photo of Notre-Dame Cathedral facade to illustrate a Notre Dame to Le Marais Guided Tour  in Paris, France.

Notre-Dame Cathedral facade northern doorway sculptures. Symbolism is everywhere, even in a simple column. The beheaded statue on the photo represents Saint-Denis, bishop of Paris in the third century venerated in the Catholic Church as the Paris patron saint.

Île Saint-Louis: Entry Gate of Le Marais

We will then walk through some of the quainter and more quiet places passing along Isle Saint-Louis finally reaching Le Marais.

Charming Saint-Louis Bridge links Cité Island and Saint-Louis Island, the place is often animated by street painters, singers, or musicians, and allows a nice view of two important monuments of the Le Marais west-end.

  • Tour Saint-Jacques: a route of Santiago de Compostela UNESCO World Heritage monument.
  • Hôtel de Ville: The Paris City Hall, drew by famous Italian Renaissance architect Boccador.

Previously used as pastureland the Saint-Louis island was only urbanized during the 17th century and it is full of hôtels particuliers (private mansions) of the time. They are so many of them that the place is often called “the island of the mansions”.

Ile Saint-Louis is also well known for its famous Bertillon Ice Creams which have the reputation to be the best in Paris.

Pont Marie in Le Marais to illustrate à Notre-Dame to Le Marais Guided Tour in Paris, France.

Night view of illuminated Pont Marie, one of the oldest bridges of Paris (1365).  The bridge links the right bank of the Seine River (le Marais), on the left of the picture, and Saint-Louis Island on the right. The view is taken from one of the bridges we will cross during our tour.

Le Marais: Paris’s History Storefront

This district of Paris, as Ile Saint-Louis, is mainly known for its 17th-century Hôtels Particuliers. Nevertheless, we will see that Middle Ages also left their mark there. The discovery of medieval Paris is an important aspect of our Notre-Dame to Le Marais Walking Tour.

South Marais, quay of the Seine River with Pont-Marie in the background to illustrate the Notre-Dame to Marais private tour.

View of the 17th-century building of the Isle Saint Louis with, in the background, the Pont-Marie Bridge. 

In fact, Le Marais is one of the oldest districts of Paris which follows the traces of the ancient French kings as well as the various revolutions and riots which were not too scarce in the Paris of the past.

After evoking disappeared fortresses and royal palaces, the tour will come to an end as we pass through the unexpectedly quiet urban Village Saint Paul where tourists are encouraged to take in the beauty and peace of this off-the-beaten-track spot in Paris.

Place des Vosges: Le Marais Royal Square

Ultimately, our tour will come to a full closure at the prestigious Place des Vosges, initially named “Place Royale”, it is the oldest square of Paris and the most famous sightseeing of Le Marais. Built by the willingness of Henri IV, it is finally inaugurated for King Louis XIII’s wedding in 1610. A few times later the square became famous for its sword fighting duels as related in the famous Three Musketeers Alexandre Dumas Novel.

Photo of Place des Vosges  to illustrate a guided tour from notre Dame to Le Marais in Paris, France.

The Place des Vosges, formerly on of Paris Royal Square. Victor Hugo lived on the second floor of the hôtel particulier located at number 6 of the square where is now the Maison de Victor Hugo a City of Paris Museum with free entrance for the permanent collection.

Things to know before Booking

Meeting Point

Close to Notre-Dame Cathedral,
exact meeting point is given in booking document. 

Access: Metro line 4 station Cité or Saint-Michel. RER B or C station Saint-Michel – Notre-Dame

 

Notre-Dame to Marais Tour Attention Points

  • Tour is on foot.
  • Prices do not include transportation, food, drinks, or any other extra services.
  • Neighborhood tour: we don’t enter monuments unless otherwise specified. More specifically here we don’t enter in Notre-Dame. Nevertheless, we may enter Saint-Paul and/or Saint-Protais churches.
  • Tour duration & content are purely indicative, they may vary due to contingencies.
  • Weather: the tour will start on schedule rain or shine.

Book your Notre-Dame to Marais Private Tour

Choose below your tour: You will then be  asked : -> choose the number of people, date & hours of visit -> after our validation-> pay on line.

Photo of Bust of Victor Hugo photo, the famous French writer author of the Hunchback of Notre-Dame de Paris to illustrate the  Notre-Dame to Le Marais guided tour in Paris, France.

Bust of Victor Hugo photo, the famous French writer author of the Hunchback of Notre-Dame de Paris. You will see that the novelist will “follow” us all along during our Notre-Dame to Marais Walking Tour. Credit Pixabay 139904