Figuring out timing for getting advance tickets in Paris for multiple sights

Regarding Notre Dame, within the last two weeks, I went twice without tickets. The first time was around 1:00pm, and I waited in line for 15 minutes. The second time was around 9:00am, and I walked right in with no wait. The first time, I hadn’t planned to go in but decided to because the wait time was so short, and I just gave it a quick visit. The second time, I spent about an hour or a little more.

I was also wondering about Notre Dame- from the website it seemed like they were discouraging visitors (outside of attending mass) that week altogether? Similarly we would try to go Monday or Tuesday (I didn’t see services scheduled for either day). It’s still ok to visit right, you just can’t get reserved tickets?

Hi! If you are visiting both Sainte-Chapelle and Notre Dame on the same day, I would recommend visting Sainte-Chapelle first and then Notre Dame due to the stricter entrance process at Sainte-Chapelle and because there will be no time slots/reservations available for Notre Dame from Sunday, April 13th until after Sunday, April 20th.

Something else to keep in mind is that Spring Break for schools in France is on rotating weeks between April 5th and May 5th (based on zones/regions). Schools in the Paris region are on break from April 12th to April 28th, and all regions overlap during Easter. During school holidays, sites are more crowded and wait times to enter are longer.

For Sainte-Chapelle, I would plan for a minimum of 2.5/3 hours to visit, since you'll be visting during a busy time and just in case getting in takes longer than expected, and so that you're not stressed/rushing between whatever you have planned before/after. Sainte-Chapelle is within the perimeter of the Palace of Justice, which includes the courthouse/the supreme court for criminal and civil cases, so in comparison to other monuments, security is much tighter and the entrance process takes much longer (ie. think "airport security"). You'll need to arrive in the queue at least 30-45 minutes ahead of your reserved time slot. I'd recommend visiting in the morning (before 11:00am) to minimize the wait time, and so you don't risk not being able to enter due to the backlog of people (yes, unfortunately this can happen, even with a reservation). The first time slot of the day is at 9:00am.

As for Notre Dame, there are no special Easter services on Monday, April 14th (or Tuesday, April 15th), but there will still be regular services and a large number of people that are expected to visit/attend on those days.

If you're not attending a Mass/service, you can still wait in the "Access without reservations" queue (blue signage), which is on the left side (if you're facing/looking at Notre Dame), but those who are attending for Mass/services and for prayer/worship get priority entrance over visitors/tourists. The crowds are expected to be very high during Holy Week and Easter, so be prepared for the possibility that you could be waiting up to 3 hours, with no guarantee that you'll be able to enter (if the capacity limit is reached).

For the average tourist, visting Notre Dame takes approximately 45 minutes, not including the wait time in the queue to enter.

In an effort to "put everything in one place", I also just created a separate forum topic with all the details about visiting Notre Dame during Holy Week and Easter: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/france/a-guide-to-visting-notre-dame-during-holy-week-easter-resource

Yeah I wouldn't assume you could visit Notre Dame with only a 15-minute wait anytime around Easter. That is a recipe for disappointment.