Need a little advice about timing for St. Chappelle and Notre Dame

I think the security lines for Sainte Chapelle always take a long time, so I do think going to Notre Dame first is a good idea. BUT, I'd spread it out with enough time to enjoy Notre Dame at your leisure and with enough time to then go get coffee/French pastry in between. Just so you aren't stressed about timing. I like to stroll through Marche aux Fleurs de Paris in between the two.

Our last visit was two years ago, so hopefully still current, but you line up outside for St Chapelle at the sign with your entrance time. (The signs are shoulder height, and easy to miss.) Then at their leisure they start to move your line to begin the slow security process. Once through security, you can explore St Chapelle. (In case you haven't been, it's not like you have a 17:30 ticket and get to go through security before that time. Hope that makes sense. Or helps with your planning!)

So, to be clear, if I have a ticket for 17:30, that is (theoretically) the time I would begin the process of getting through security. So not much advantage of showing up much before 17:30. Correct?
I am thinking of allowing an hour at Notre Dame. Does that seem reasonable?

davidfox, correct, that was our experience at St. Chapelle. I would definitely arrive earlier than your time. But don't expect to arrive at 1700 and think you'll be getting through security inside by 1730. But Notre Dame was still closed for constructionon our last visit, so we were relegated to sitting on the outdoor bleachers watching the cranes move about and ponder the goings on. So I can't say if an hour is enough in Notre Dame.

I'm sure someone will chime in with more recent experience.

Just did this last week. But it was at a different time. Chapelle at 9am and Notre Dame at 1030. We didn't linger around in Chapelle. It was about 30 min of security and we go there at 845. Different times might result in a longer line. Or much longer. Just keep this in mind. Notre Dame was early and during the week so security took 5 min to get through. Walking there is about 6 min. I would say to see the whole thing it's maybe 1 hour max unless you intend to climb up.

If you're ticket to Sainte-Chapelle is for 1730, I would not wait until 1730 to get in the security line. In the past there have been 2 lines- 1 for tickets on the hour, 2 for tickets on the half hour.

To visit Notre Dame first, I would try to enter no later than 1600 (with or without a ticket).

I would allow 90 minutes for Notre Dame. I went last October, and it was shoulder-to-shoulder walking through. I think I left after 60 minutes, as I was by myself and it felt a bit claustrophobic for me.

davidfox,
I am with KD. Give yourself time between Notre Dame and Ste. Chapelle. Going backward...get in your 17:30 line around 17:00. Figure a half hour stroll between the two places, but tack on an hour for a coffee or aperitif in a cafe on the way between them. That means leaving ND around 3:30. With an hour inside (a bit short IMO, but that is me), get inside ND by 2:30. Without tickets maybe get in line there at 2:00?

Of course, I like to build in slow time and cafe time, and you may move more quickly than I do, so feel free to ignore my suggestions. I will say that entrance to Ste. Chapelle is a pain and the security part moves very slowly, so take that into consideration. I also recommend going to the top level first so you don't cut your time there short. You can check out the lower level afterward.

Enjoy your time at both places! They are worth it!

My experience last week was similar to Gail’s and that was with doing the free tour with a CASA volunteer. We met at 10:30, the security guard made the volunteer take the group to the back of the reserved entry line which took 15 minutes. She said that was unusual. We got in at 1050 or so and were done with her tour about 1150. I did another lap around but it was still shoulder to shoulder in kind of a lock step one way around the nave. I guess that was about 15 minutes and I was ready to get out of the throng.

So…I’d say an hour to 1h15m depending on your tolerance for sardines.

I’ll add that when I went last October it was the same level of crowdedness.

They do have donation points where you can give via contactless/ApplePay so I hope all those people are contributing to pay for cleaners and security!

You may be heading in to overthinking territory. 😉

We went to Notre Dame 2 weeks ago, Monday April 20th. We forgot to book the tickets ahead of time so decided to get there early. We arrived at 9:55 and just walked in. Interestingly the line for people with 10am reservations was longer because they weren't letting them in yet. At the time, facing the church entry, the line to the left was for not ticket holders, the line toward the center was for reserved timed tickets. The church was already crowded when we got in but really crowded in the time we were there. I'd say we lasted about an hour but for me at least 15 minutes of that was sitting, waiting for others in my family to finish. By the time we left the church both lines were quite long and the area outside was also very full.

I had timed tickets for St. Chappelle, I believe it was 9:30 AM. I was inside about an hour. Regarding Notre Dame, I did that one afternoon and took my chances waiting in line, no ticket. The line moved fast. I was inside less than an hour. It was elbow to elbow inside. The center of the church is roped off and you can only move up one side and down the other side. It was pandemonium. I really have no memory of what I saw due to the crowds.

I would second all those who said get to St. Chappelle early, earlier than you might think. We visited In September 2024 and were glad we checked out the line hours before our 3 pm time. We decided to arrive at 2 pm and it took us an hour to get in. There was a lot of lag time between the groups of people let in, and not many were allowed to go through each time.

Like mentioned before there are two lines and the signs are not very visible. We were lucky to find that out when we checked out how long the lines were and were able to get in the right line. Many people were in the wrong line and every few minutes we were in line it seemed we were answering people who didn't have tickets passing by whether they could just get in line.

We were lucky in that it was raining just before we got in line and the sun came out just before we entered. May the sun shine for you on your visit, it is beautiful.