Notre Dame Bell Tour, Louvre at night

“ was it worth it “

Of course it is TO ME ( and millions of others) , however it may not be to you .

I personally have been up at least 4-5 times over the last few decades . I love the history , and the views are great . It does involve climbing a narrow winding stone staircase , and yes there are quite a few steps . To see the Towers of ND you have to pay , and the line up does move slowly as they only let up 20 people at a time . However I understand that now they do sell time slot tickets you buy in advance , I haven’t been up for a few yrs so I don’t know the details the details in those but Notre Famr does have an official website which you can look up . The line for the Towers is on the left side of the building ( as you face it ) .

The line to enter the actual cathedral is in front and it looks long but moves along quickly as there is no admission cost - and people just move through church at a fairly even pace . I love going through the cathedral- that I’ve done at least a dozen times !! The history is incredible to me ( may not be to you ) .

Thank you! We do love history so that was helpful!

No one lines up for the Notre Dame Tower anymore. They only admit those with reservations which are obtained the day you want to climb. You sign up on an app or a machine at the site the morning of your climb (I think sign up starts at 7:30) and you receive a reservation for a particular time. You show up 15 minutes before that time and are admitted with your group. You pay when you get to the first level or show your museum pass if you are using that. When you sign up you will have some choice as to the time you want to climb from what is still available. It normally sells out mid morning some time.

You never need advanced tickets for the Louvre and the security lines are even shorter on evenings. I'd enter at the Carrousel entrance and get tickets from machines in the room for this purpose in side in the Pyramid courtyard. There is also a check room where you can leave coats, small bags etc in your own personal locker.

Thanks Janet for information on the reservation system at the Towers ! Sounds much better now ! I’d be there early to sign up !

For the towers (note the French word is "tours"): You can download the Duck the Line app if you have a smartphone or tablet, connect to your hotel wireless, and on a day with nice weather, at 7:30 am, choose your time from the comfort of your hotel room.

Sounds good - thank you everyone!

The app works at a particular distance from the Tower -- people have reported it working from hotels near Notre Dame and not from more distant hotels -- would be useful to know just how far to expect it to go -- probably test it out the day before to see if your hotel is close enough.