Free tours in Paris

Paris is a city to walk in short, densely packed stretches: almost everything you will want to see fits between the bank of the Seine and the streets that climb towards Montmartre. Distances are deceptive because every corner holds something, so a free walking tour helps you read the city in layers, from the medieval Paris of the Île de la Cité to the grand boulevards Haussmann opened up in the 19th century. The metro covers the long hops, but the central core is best enjoyed on foot, with stops to grasp why the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame and the Louvre ended up where they are.

Three routes shape a first visit. The first joins the Seine to the great monuments: from the esplanade of the Eiffel Tower you cross to Les Invalides, with Napoleon's tomb, and carry on through the Place de la Concorde to the Louvre. The second climbs Montmartre, the bohemian heart of the city, with the Sacré Coeur basilica, the painters' Place du Tertre and the lanes where Picasso and Toulouse Lautrec lived. The third stays in the Latin Quarter, the origins of the Roman city, among the Sorbonne, the Panthéon and the bookshops beside Saint Michel. If the unusual appeals to you, Père Lachaise cemetery and the legend and mystery routes show another face of the historic centre.

The walks usually leave from unmistakable points: the Trocadéro esplanade or the Champ de Mars for the Eiffel Tower area, the square in front of the Sacré Coeur for Montmartre, and around the Saint Michel fountain for the Latin Quarter. Morning departures, around 10:00 or 10:30, catch fewer people in Montmartre and better light by the Seine; mid-afternoon ones work well in summer, when night falls after 21:00. Booking is free and, at the end, each person leaves the voluntary contribution they see fit for the guide. Bring comfortable shoes: between the cobbles and the Montmartre slopes you cover several kilometres.