Hi - we just reserved our time slot for Notre Dame tower entry. Does that give us access to the church too or will we need to stand in line after or before the climb?
Posted by
Austin, Texas, USA
600 posts
When I went (before the fire), our access to the tower climb was a separate door from the main entry. We saw the inside but it was a different entry point from the tower. It might have changed since the fire but that's how it was before.
Posted by
USA
313 posts
No you'll stand in line outside and at the end of the visit you'll be outside. I just did this in October.
Posted by
Minnesota 🎒
17679 posts
According to the website, tickets for the towers don't include access to the cathedral.
https://tickets.monuments-nationaux.fr/en-GB/session-products
Posted by
Belgium
171 posts
Time slots/reservations for the main floor and the bell towers are independent from one another. You will also need to exit the main floor and re-enter to visit the bell towers (or vice versa).
The main floor of the cathedral & the treasury, the bell towers, and the archaeological crypt are all managed by different organizations. They each have different reservation systems to book time slots, and they each have different queues/entrances/exits.
The entrance to the bell towers is outside of the cathedral, to the right side of Notre Dame (if you're facing it). There's a small opening marked by 2 stone columns.
You can still visit the main floor of the cathedral without a time slot/reservation by waiting in the "Access without reservations" queue, which is on the left side of Notre Dame (if you're facing it), and is marked by blue signage/banners. The wait time varies, depending on the combination of: the season, the day of the week, the time of day, if there's any liturgical services happening at that time, if there's any special events happening at that time, etc.