Notre Dame Island Medieval Tour with Skip the Line of Sainte-Chapelle Combo Tour

Explore the island where Paris began and discover how the gothic architecture of World Heritage sites Notre Dame and Sainte Chapelle came to represent the soul of medieval Paris.

Along with your English-speaking expert guide, you’ll stroll around the outside of Notre Dame Cathedral and the inside of Sainte Chapelle. You’ll discover the key stories from the birth of Paris through to the radical architecture and regal palaces that still stand despite shifting power struggles, revolutions, and tragic events.

Itinerary
This is a typical itinerary for this product

Stop At: Ile de la Cite, 75001 Paris France

This walking tour of Île de la Cité will explore the architecture of medieval Paris over the course of two hours. Your English-speaking historian guide will take you through the history of the settlement from the time of the Parissi tribe up to the modern day. You will discover pagan temples, Roman remains, and royal palaces. The highpoint was during the medieval period when the French kings decided to make this their home. That is why there are so many royal buildings here. Along with the Notre Dame Cathedral and Sainte Chapelle you will also stroll down streets where the Palais de Justice and the threatening Conciergerie overlook your route. All of these, you will discover, were the homes and private buildings of the monarchy. These streets echoed with tales of courtly romance, political intrigue between the monarchy and the church and the terror which came from the guillotine during the revolution. Walking through the island you’ll learn how the French kings lent their weight to Christianity. Without them, the church would not have become so powerful. It was this relationship which led to an explosion of gothic church building. The result of this are the UNESCO world heritage sites of Notre Dame and Sainte Chapelle.

Although Notre Dame Cathedral* is closed after the recent fire and is undergoing restoration your guide will enlighten you on how this new church type was so different. Nobody had seen such a detailed façade before. The combination of hypnotic gargoyles, climbing spires, and rib-like vaults are now the norm, but they would have looked alien to Parisians at the time. Despite being nearly destroyed many times and witnessing the weakening of the church and monarchy in France, it is still loved by the people. Picasso painted it, Walt Disney animated it and gamers immersed themselves in it over the years. To get a better view of it your guide will take you across to the Left Bank where you can also see the celebrated Parisian bookstore Shakespeare & Co. Notre Dame is not the only medieval gem worth visiting on Île de la Cité.
*Please note that the streets around the Cathedral are closed until further notice. Therefore, we won’t be able to access the square in front of Notre Dame and see the 0km point. However, your guide will ensure to take you through alternative routes so you can get as close as possible to the Cathedral

Duration: 1 hour

Stop At: Sainte-Chapelle, 8 Boulevard du Palais, 75001 Paris France

Continue to Sainte-Chapelle, a former chapel of King Louis IX. Enjoy skip-the-line entry to step straight inside and marvel at the chapel’s display of stained glass windows, it’s one of the most extensive displays in the world. When your Sainte-Chappelle visit comes to an end, step outside the chapel to conclude your tour.

Duration: 1 hour