Notre Dame Tower Climb

Yes, I did this in October. You can stop and catch your breath. It has disclaimers about who shouldn't do it. I never considered it claustrophobic. It's a really cool experience. I think doing it in the evening with the buildings lit up was especially cool.

I'd be interested in this too.

We love climbing towers and always planned on climbing the towers of Notre Dame, but then came the fire.

Since then unfortunately I've had a hip and leg injury that makes stairs harder, but so long as there is a rail I am fine.

In the last few months I managed climbing the acropolis in Athens and the one in Lindos, so hopefully for those that have done both I should be okay.

I'd love to hear more responses from people who've done the towers, we'll be getting the Passion Monument pass so it seems silly to miss it and it is one of the few things in Paris we haven't already done.

I climbed the tower the weekend it reopened in September. There are several places along the one-way route that you can stop and look around, catch your breath. I do not remember it being claustrophobic. Be aware that you will have to keep moving along, in other words you can't hang out indefinitely at any one spot. I am 68, in decent shape.

We just did this in December. There are places to stop and catch your breath. In fact, there is one area that is set up to see a model of the cathedral and just wander around that is quite large. I will warn you that when you get to the top they are quite strict about five minutes at the top to walk around and take pictures. We were hustled out quite fast to start the descent.

I climbed the tower with friends on March 21. One member of our group was recovering from knee surgery so she climbed slowly and rested when necessary but she made it to the top. Nobody in our group felt it was claustrophobic because it was well-lit and more spacious than some winding church towers. Since the surface of the actual steps was new it was easier than climbing ancient stone steps that are worn and uneven. When you go up pay attention to the occasional signs on the wall—they indicate the number of steps you’ve climbed and the number left to the top. It was a great experience for our group.

Great replies which really help me decide whether to do it. Thanks everyone.

How long did the entire trip up take from joining the queue to being back down the bottom?

I ask because on top of hip and leg issues, I also have a bladder issue, so there is a limit as to how long I can go without a toilet break. Isn't getting old fun?

When I did this with my daughter 30 years ago we were able to sit under one of the big bells while they lectured about the Tower -- And we could stay as long as we wished -- at least we were not hustled out in 5 minutes. If I am reading this right, that is no longer the case so that does change the desirability of doing that big climb if you have little time to take photos and enjoy the view. And no 'bell sitting?'

Our trip took approximately 1 hour 20 minutes from when we were admitted until we exited. We were only waiting in line for a few minutes.

Videos have shown that the 5-minute limit is one station of the multi-part visit. There are several different stations to stop during the visit. It's not like it was in 1981, the last time we went up, where you went up and down the same stairs, no signage, nobody else up there, not even Quasimodo, just a gargoyle or two.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvEV2_gB5A4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1u0ULBUIiyE

i have always been the one to make every climb -- but I think I will pass on doing this again if the time at the top is limited. It would take me more than 5 minutes to recover and more than 5 minutes to get the pictures I would want. But I may be sending my daughter and grandson up.

Hi! The visitor route of the bell towers has changed since the reopening. There's 424 stairs in total, but not all at once. There's 7 different areas to visit.

1. The lower level
2. The quatrefoil room
3. The south belfry (landing)
4. The summit (of the south bell tower)
5. The south belfry (bells)
6. The terrace
7. The north belfry

Generally speaking, visiting the bell towers takes approximately 1-1.5 hours. There's a very limited, and fixed, amount of people allowed in each area at a time and visiting each of the 7 areas has to be done in a sequential order. You might have various periods of additional wait time while waiting for capacity to open in the subsequent area(s). Depending on the day/time (ie. peak season, in the afternoon, etc), it can take up to 2 hours.

A maximum of 18 people are allowed at the top/the summit of the south tower, for maximum of 5 minutes. This is because of the very limited amount of space, and the staircase to the summit is only wide enough for 1 direction of traffic. They send a group up to spend their 5 minutes, that group comes down, and then they send another group up to repeat this process. The summit is the only area with a time limit.

"In fact, there is one area that is set up to see a model of the cathedral"

This model is in the lower level (the first stop on the visitor route). I just wish someone quality checked it before putting it on display! It looks neat, but there's significant architectural errors...and the whole purpose of this model is to be architecturally accurate.

Both the stone tracery and the backlight of the north and south rose windows are on the wrong/opposite sides, and the configuration of the flying buttresses around the apse is incorrect!

Thanks so much for all the information. We won't be there this time until mid-October, so hopefully less crowded than in the madness of summer.

How silly of me not to realize the old stairway has been redone . I guess I assumed since it was stone it would have just been cleaned up. The old staircase was claustrophobic a bit for me , but I did love the feeling of walking somewhere so old in the same footsteps as many others have done for hundreds of years !

Sounds like I should google and look for some images now of redo .
Sounds like new staircase is actually much better than old one , except it’s new lol

Thank you all for all of this useful feedback and information. I look forward to making the climb!

Yes I did it circa 2017 before Notre Dame burned. I am claustrophobic and another couple had a reluctant husband. Both my husband and that lady (gosh bless her) encouraged us and we did it. There were periodic openings - so I was actually focussed on my breathing and making it up the next stair etc.

Wow - all I can says is wow. When we got up there we could wander and we entered a belfry - yes with a bell and have pics of my husband and I crouching in the entry with the bell, other pics with gargoyles a la Victor Hugo's Hunchback - if you are really badly claustrophobic - take a half a valium but DO NOT MISS THIS!