Towers of Notre-Dame de Paris visitor guide — everything you need to know before visiting

At a glance

Address

Towers of Notre-Dame de Paris, 6 Parvis Notre-Dame – Place Jean-Paul II, 75004 Paris, France

Operator

Centre des monuments nationaux — a public body of the French state, which manages the tower climb

Reopening

The towers reopened to climbers in September 2025, after the cathedral reopened in December 2024

The climb

424 steps up a narrow spiral staircase, no lift, rising about 69 metres above the Île de la Cité

Highlights

The Galerie des Chimères (the grotesques), the great bourdon bell 'Emmanuel', and the rooftop panorama over Paris

Ticket type

Timed climb slot — small groups, sold online only, no on-the-day sales; e-ticket accepted on the phone

Cathedral entry

Free of charge and reserved separately — this ticket covers the tower climb only

Free places

Under-18s climb free; EU residents aged 18–25 climb free with ID; not suitable for children under 6

Fitness

A physical climb; narrow (45 cm) and low passages; not recommended for heart conditions, vertigo or pregnancy

Typical visit

About 45 minutes to an hour for the climb, one-way up and down; arrive a few minutes before your slot

What are the towers of Notre-Dame?

The towers of Notre-Dame de Paris are the twin western towers of the medieval Gothic cathedral that has stood on the Île de la Cité, an island in the Seine, since construction began in 1163. Rising above the celebrated west front — with its rose window, its rows of carved kings and its great doorways — the two towers have crowned the Paris skyline for well over seven centuries, and were made famous the world over by Victor Hugo's novel 'The Hunchback of Notre-Dame'. Climbing them, up among the gargoyles and the bells and out onto the roof of the old city, has long been one of the defining things to do in Paris.

The cathedral is owned by the French state and cared for by its public heritage bodies, and it forms part of the UNESCO-listed banks of the Seine. The fire of April 2019 destroyed the spire and the timber roof but spared the two western towers and their bells, and the whole monument then closed for a long and closely watched restoration. The cathedral itself reopened in December 2024, and the towers have since reopened to visitors as part of that renewal; because arrangements have evolved through the restoration, the operator publishes the current opening times and booking rules, which we confirm when we secure your slot. It is worth being clear that this ticket covers the tower climb — a paid, timed experience — while entry to the cathedral at ground level is free and reserved separately. Our role is simply to secure the scarce, timed climb slot on your behalf.

The climb: 424 steps to the roof of Paris

The climb is an adventure in stone rather than a lift ride to a viewing deck. It begins in the North Tower and winds up a tight medieval spiral staircase of around 424 steps — there is no lift — before crossing to the South Tower and coming back down the same way. The route rises roughly 69 metres above the parvis, the square in front of the cathedral, and the staircase is genuinely narrow: some upper passages are only about 45 centimetres wide and low enough that you have to stoop. That physical effort is part of the experience, letting you feel the age and the scale of the building in your legs as you climb through its living fabric. Because of the stairs, the climb is not for everyone.

It is not recommended for those with heart conditions or a strong fear of heights, for pregnant women, or for young children, and there is no step-free alternative — the spiral stair is the only way up and down. Anyone reasonably fit who can manage stairs will cope well with a pause or two, and comfortable, sure-footed shoes make all the difference. Most climbers spend around 45 minutes to an hour on the whole up-and-down route, plus a little time at the entrance for their timed slot. Exact opening hours shift with the season, and the operator publishes the current timetable, so we confirm the precise time of your climb when we book it. Arriving a few minutes early is wise, as the timed entry is strict and the route runs one way.

The chimeras, the grotesques and the great bell

The most famous stop on the climb is the Galerie des Chimères, the gallery that runs between the two towers and is lined with the brooding stone creatures that have become symbols of Paris. These grotesques and chimeras — the pensive, chin-in-hand Stryge the most celebrated of them all — feel medieval, but they are not: they were designed in the nineteenth century by the restorer Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, who reimagined the towers' decoration in the spirit of the original Gothic style during his great restoration of the cathedral. Standing among them, with the rooftops of Paris framed between wings and horns, is one of the most photographed moments in the whole city.

Higher in the South Tower hangs the bourdon 'Emmanuel', the cathedral's largest and most venerable bell, cast in the seventeenth century and famous for the deep, pure note that has marked the most solemn occasions of French history. It came through the 2019 fire unharmed, along with the towers themselves, and the route lets you see this colossal bell up close, in the dim of the belfry, before the final ascent to the open rooftop. Between the grotesques and the great bell, the climb is as much a journey through the cathedral's fabric and legend as it is a route to a viewpoint — you pass through the working, sounding parts of a living cathedral rather than simply riding up to a terrace. It is this density of history, close enough to touch, that makes the tower visit so memorable.

The view from the top

The reward at the summit is a rooftop panorama that few other viewpoints in Paris can match for atmosphere. From nearly 70 metres up you look out over the Seine as it wraps around the Île de la Cité, across the roofs of the Latin Quarter and the Marais, to the Eiffel Tower, the dome of the Panthéon and Sacré-Cœur on its distant hill. Unlike the sweeping, distant outlook from the Eiffel Tower, this view places you in the medieval heart of the city, among the stonework rather than looking in from the edge — a more intimate, historic panorama that many Paris regulars quietly prefer.

Most striking of all is the view straight down onto the cathedral itself: the rebuilt spire, faithfully recreated after the fire to its pre-fire design, and the freshly restored roof and flying buttresses, seen from an angle that was hidden from the public throughout the years of restoration. For anyone who followed the fire and the long rebuilding, this close-up of the resurrected Notre-Dame is a genuinely moving sight, and it is unique to the tower climb — no other vantage point in the city offers it. The open top can be windy and cool even on a fine day, and the light changes the scene completely: soft and clear in the early morning, warm and golden in the late afternoon. A clear day transforms the distant panorama, while a grey one still delivers the gargoyles and the drama of the rooftops close at hand.

Towers or cathedral? What this ticket covers

It is worth being completely clear about the two separate visits, because they are often confused. Entry to the cathedral of Notre-Dame — walking the nave and aisles at ground level, beneath the great rose windows — is free of charge and reserved through the cathedral's own booking system, which releases short-notice time slots to manage the crowds. That ground-level visit is not what this ticket covers, and we could not sell it even if we wished to, because it is free. The tower climb, by contrast, is a paid, ticketed and timed experience up the spiral staircase to the gargoyles, the great bell and the rooftop, with its own separate entrance on the north side of the cathedral.

It is this climb, and only this climb, that our ticket secures. Many visitors do both on the same day, and it makes for a wonderful combination — the soaring interior at ground level and the rooftop climb high above, the same great building experienced from within and from on high. Because the free cathedral slots and the paid tower slots are released and managed differently, a little planning helps, so the two reservations do not clash and you leave enough time to move between the separate entrances. Our concierge team is glad to explain the current cathedral reservation process and help you line up a free cathedral visit around the tower slot we secure for you. We are an independent booking service, not the official ticket office; what we add is the removal of the hardest friction in the whole visit.

How booking works — and why slots are so scarce

Since the cathedral's restoration, the tower climb has been one of the most in-demand experiences in Paris. The slots are timed and small — only a handful of climbers per departure, to protect the narrow staircase — and they are sold online, with the operator publishing when and how tickets are released. In practice, popular dates and times are taken well ahead, and travellers who wait until they arrive in Paris frequently find nothing available for the days they want. Turning up hoping for a place is the surest way to miss the climb altogether. This is exactly where a concierge booking earns its place.

We watch the release calendar, understand when and how slots come available, and secure your chosen date and time before they vanish, then deliver the e-ticket to your inbox to show on your phone at the tower entrance. The displayed price includes our service fee, disclosed inline at checkout, and we charge in your own currency with no foreign-exchange surprise from your bank. We are an independent facilitator, not the official ticket office: for those who prefer to book the climb directly, the operator's own website is the place to do it. What we offer is simply to take the scramble for a scarce, timed slot off your hands — the single hardest part of arranging a visit to the towers — and to stand by in your own language before and during your visit, so that the climb itself is all you have to think about.

How do you get to the towers?

Notre-Dame stands on the Île de la Cité, in the very centre of Paris, so reaching it is straightforward. The nearest Métro stations are Cité and Saint-Michel, both on line 4 and both a short walk away, while the RER regional trains on lines B and C stop at Saint-Michel–Notre-Dame just across the river — often the quickest route from the airports and the mainline stations with a single change. Several bus routes serve the island and the neighbouring quays, and the whole area is easily walkable from the Latin Quarter, the Louvre, Sainte-Chapelle and the Marais; the riverside stroll along the Seine is one of the loveliest approaches in the city. The important detail is that the tower entrance is not the same as the cathedral entrance.

The climb starts from the north side of the cathedral, outside, whereas the free cathedral visit begins at the west front, and going to the wrong door can cost precious minutes against a strict timed slot. We send clear directions and a map with your ticket, pinpointing the tower entrance and the best way to reach it from the nearest stations, so you arrive at the right place with time to spare. Arriving a few minutes before your slot is wise, since the timed entry is strict and the streets around the cathedral can be crowded. If anything is unclear on the day, our concierge team is reachable to point you in the right direction — one of the practical advantages of booking the climb through us rather than leaving it to chance.

Notre-Dame after the fire: what has changed

The fire of 15 April 2019 broke out beneath the cathedral's roof and spread through the medieval timber framework known as 'the forest', consuming the roof and bringing down the nineteenth-century spire in scenes watched live around the world. Yet the losses, grave as they were, were not total: the stone vaults largely held, protecting the interior from the collapsing roof, and firefighters saved the façade, the two western towers and their bells. That mixture of devastation and survival set the stage for one of the most closely watched restorations in modern history.

In the years that followed, an international effort restored the cathedral, with the decision taken to rebuild the spire and roof faithfully to their pre-fire design, using traditional techniques to recreate the timber framework and the spire that had fallen. The stonework was cleaned and consolidated and the interior restored to a brightness unseen for generations. The cathedral reopened in December 2024, its interior startlingly luminous after cleaning, and the towers have since reopened to climbers as part of the same renewal, with a reimagined visitor route; the operator publishes the current opening arrangements, which we confirm when we book. For visitors today, the climb carries an added resonance. From the towers you look down on a spire and roof painstakingly rebuilt, and across a monument brought back from the brink — witnessing, up close, the restoration of one of the world's most beloved buildings, which is a large part of why the reopened climb has been so sought after.

Frequently asked questions