Forum member Lynn from Western Washington found this Reddit thread that is absolutely chock-full of detailed information on how to visit Notre Dame with the new reservation system — what time to get online, how many tickets you can get, etc.
She shared it as a response to another Forum member's question, but it is so helpful that I thought it would be great to give it its own “home.”
Thanks again to Lynn for finding this wonderful resource !!
I will just add one note to the author's info about the reservations system opening up at midnight Paris time (although she says that there are some problems this weekend).
I have been checking the reservations when I get up at 5 am or 6 am (cats! ), and consistently every morning when I look at that time, it offers me tickets for that very same morning — 9 am, 9:30 am, sometimes up to 10 am). So that is another thing to keep in mind. If you don't have an office job preventing you from snagging one of those same-morning reservations, it might be “just the ticket” for you!
Thanks to Kim and Lynn!
I follow Adventures with Sarah and she has been saying that it seems to work to go before opening (9?) and wait in a line that moves fairly quickly. I believe she said 15 minutes. Yet, when possible, I'd opt for a ticket if obtainable.
Over the past 2 days, I've been noticing same day tickets being released every 30 minutes in the morning. For example 5 am Paris time, tickets are released for a 9 am time slot. 5:30 am Paris time, 9:30 am time slot, 6:00 am Paris time, 10:00 am time slot. I wouldn't count on this being the pattern all day, but if one doesn't get a ticket ahead of time, perhaps have another shot at it if you get up early in the morning.
I'm taking my first trip to Paris in February and very much want to see Notre Dame, so have been trying to figure it out ahead of time.
And a side note, while waiting in the queue, if the site doesn't automatically refresh, manually refresh. That has been glitching.
Thank you, all, for such great information. We plan to go in March 2025. We are staying in London and taking the Eurostar to Paris, probably on Wednesday, 3/26, but maybe we will change that to Thursday, 3/27, since Notre Dame is open later and we will have a better chance of getting in. I truly appreciate all your kind help. Happy New Year and may we all get to see this miraculous cathedral.
Hi! I'm Emily and I came across this forum and I wanted to introduce myself because I'm the author of this Reddit post. I'm glad to hear that it's been helpful!
I'm originally from Canada and I moved to Paris specifically for Notre Dame and to, quite literally, pursue a career as an expert in all things Notre Dame - or, as I like to joke, “a professional fangirl”. I'm a self-employed tour guide giving private tours that focus on the cathedral's architectural history, the restoration and its role in art, media and literature.
At the time of this forum post, yes, there were issues with the reservation system. But luckily, it seems to be working more smoothly now, than when it was first launched! The auto-refresh functionality is working again, the wait time in the virtual "waiting room"/queue to enter the system has reduced significantly, and openings for new time slots are more evenly dispersed!
And yes, new/additional "same day" time slots are released 4 hours in advance. For example: At 5:00am (Paris time), new time slots are released for 9:00am for that same day. At 5:30am, new time slots are released for 9:30am, etc. However, there are certain hours when no time slots are ever offered, therefore no new time slots are released 4 hours in advance of those hours. For example: No time slots are offered at 12:00pm, therefore no new time slots will be released at 8:00am. The availability of these time is still subject to the current available capacity inside the cathedral.
There's truly nothing I love doing more than sharing my love and knowledge of all things Notre Dame. I'd be more than happy to help if anyone has any additional questions about visiting Notre Dame!
(Please let me know if this comment breaks any of the Community Guidelines and I will edit/remove if needed)
Thanks for chiming in, Emily. Very helpful and you will be a great resource in the future. How did you initially become so captivated by Notre Dame?
Thanks Emily, I’ve bookmarked your info for our visit this spring. I really appreciate the time you’ve spent putting all this info together..
@Lyndash
Thanks for chiming in, Emily. Very helpful and you will be a great resource in the future. How did you initially become so captivated by Notre Dame?
You're welcome! Oh boy, it's a bit of a long story, but I I'll try to make it short (well, short-ish, haha).
I first learned about Notre Dame around 2003 while I was in elementary school. There was a curriculum about Medieval Times and you had to do a final report on a chosen topic from a list. I chose to do my report on "Stained Glass in Gothic Cathedrals". I still have no idea why, because at that point, I'd never heard of any Gothic cathedrals! I didn't keep many school projects over the years, but for whatever reason, I kept that one and I'm glad I did because I had a complete full circle moment earlier this year. While packing to move to Paris, I dug up this old report and brought it with me. I've been fortunate to make personal connections with the craftsmen, artisan and scientific research teams who worked on/are working on the restoration - one of those teams being the team working on the stained glass windows. While attending one of their conferences, I got to tell them this story and team signed the report.
Then around 2006, I was introduced to Victor Hugo’s novel “Notre Dame de Paris” in French class (or “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”, as its known in English) - quickly followed by the popular French musical adaptation by Riccardo Cocciante & Luc Plamondon.
Since then, I've spent my life immersed in every Notre Dame/Hunchback of Notre Dame related thing imaginable - you name it and I've more than likely seen it, done it, know it, or own it!
@ncangelose
Thanks Emily, I’ve bookmarked your info for our visit this spring. I really appreciate the time you’ve spent putting all this info together.
You're welcome! I hope you get to visit Notre Dame when you're here in the spring!!
