Paris Essentials Tours – 2.5 Hours

A Paris private tour specifically design for first timers who want a first comprehensive discovery of the historical heart of the French capital in a minimum of time.

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.

Paris Private Tour The Essentials in 2.5 Hours in a Nutshell

175 € for 1 to 2 people + 45 € per extra person

+/- 2.5-hour history-oriented guided tour in English
Really private tour = your party only (6 people max.)
+/- 3.5 km distance covered
Postgraduate (MPhil) certified French national guide
Flexible schedule – 7/7 if available

KNOW MORE / BOOK NOW

What’s in the tour?

Architecture

Ancient Rome

Moderne Era

Middle Age

History

Highlights

Institut

Louvre

Sainte-Chapelle

Conciergerie

Cluny

Arc du Caroussel

Palais Royal

Quartier Latin

River Seine Scenery

Ile de la Cité

Notre-Dame

Hôtel-de-Ville

Pont-Neuf

Pont-des-Arts

What to Expect in the Tour? How it is organized?

The principle of the Paris essential 2.5-hour tour is very simple. Starting at the very beginning (the ancient Rome Paris once called Lutetia) at Cluny, to give you a maximum of knowledge and insights of the historical heart of Paris in a limited time.

The first part of the tour is very centered on île de la cité (where is Notre-Dame) ending point of the tour depends on the rhythm of visit you want. Tour may normally end somewhere around Louvre or Palais Royal.

We also propose an extended 3.5-hour version of the tour for an even more comprehensive overview of the heart of Paris.

Photo of the louvre great pyramid to illustrate the Louvre private tour, Paris, France.

Your Private Tour Guide in Paris

Certified French national guide
BA, Magna Cum Laude, Heritage Development & Preservation
from Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers (Grande Ecole established in 1794)
Postgraduate from Paris Dauphine-PSL University

Know more about Yves, your private tour guide in Paris

Yves is the best!

We had two truly exceptional tours with Yves during our time in Paris: the 2-hour Paris Essentials tour and the 2-hour Louvre highlights tour. He is such a wealth of information and a great storyteller that both times we wish we had booked a longer tour with him. He goes out of his way to tailor the tour to your interests and really makes the most out of your time together. My partner and I are pretty nerdy tour people who love to ask lots of questions and Yves was delighted to answer all of them. In the rare instance on our first tour that he didn’t know the answer to one of them, he came prepared during our 2nd tour with the answer! A plus is that the Broaden Horizons online booking system was very easy to navigate in English (a rarity for French websites) and communication leading up to the tour was perfect. Yves was hands down one of the best tour guides we’ve ever had, and we couldn’t recommend him highly enough.

Jennifer C

September 2024 - Tripadvisor

Things to know before Booking

Meeting Point

Close to Musée de Cluny,
the exact meeting point is given in the booking document.

Access: Metro Line 10 station Cluny la Sorbonne. RER B or C station Saint-Michel – Notre-Dame.

Paris Private Tour The Essentials in 2.5 Hours 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.
Tour duration & content are purely indicative; they may vary due to contingencies.
Weather: the tour will start on schedule rain or shine.