Review-Basilica of St. Denis

Tammy, you're absolutely right. Saint-Denis is an absolute gem. I took a tour there (in French) that was absolutely fascinating and afterwoords got an excellent couscous outside.

Tammy, I concur. And seeing the basilica there is a great bookend after seeing the cathedral at Reims, where so many kings were crowned!

This is one of my favorite sites! Easy to get to on the Metro as well. Their Audio-guide is very well-done, too.

I love the sculptures on the stone columns in the crypt area! So interesting!

Not so long ago there was a similar post about cathedrals to visit in France. So many cathedrals! Which one would you pick?

Mine was:

In Paris I would go anyway to “Baselique Cathédrale” Saint-Denis. Once the burial place of French Royalty, it’s an amazing place with so much history packed in one building. It was also where the Gothic style started.
Think my visit dates back some twenty years ago and still can remember as special. The more steward Dominique as he showed me around crossing the rope barrier and walking between the tombs explaining the details.

St. Denis is the oldest gothic church in Europe. It is amazing although alas when they buffed things up for the Olympics they also installed a lot of railings that lilmit close access to the tombs; the tombs are really fascinating to view from many angles. We visited a long time ago. https://janettravels.wordpress.com/2010/10/26/confronting-mortality-at-st-denis/
and then last spring took our daughter and then went to the Legion of Honor park nearby after wards and made our way to another metro. (the park is adjacent to the Basilica but the entrance is a long ways away so we were no longer near the Basilique metro stop). Just an excellent excursion on the metro.

The Basilica of St. Denis can very easily be visited by metro/subway (line #13) from central Paris, no need for an expensive taxi ride. This magnificent church is the final resting place of lots of the Kings and Queens of France (Louis XIV &Marie-Antoinette amongst many others) and has a very rich history. I highly recommend the audio guide, it’s very informative and tells the tales of all the kings and queens that are laid to rest there.

I’m glad you enjoyed your visit, but I will admit that I’m a little uncomfortable by how you described the neighborhood and that you felt the need to stress that you visited during the day and saw a police presence. I hope you meant well, but please understand that words do matter.

Because of forum recs it was on my list of possible sights when we were in Paris in 2024, but we didn’t make it. Maybe next time!

@Dutch-Traveler. I am a bit dismayed by your response. First, a cab is sometimes absolutely needed if there are mobility issues or a health problem. You don’t need to judge. We are perfectly capable of deciding for ourselves what is best. The cab ride was not expensive. 31 euros. If that’s too much, then maybe you can’t afford to travel.
Secondly, I mentioned the neighborhood because in reading and doing my research for this site on past questions/responses about the Basilica, others expressed concern, that is why I said we felt safe. And my impressions are my impressions, I own them and get to have them. You can have different ones.

There is a massive difference between virtue-signaling on a forum and giving practical travel advice. Let’s look at this realistically: if a friend told you they were visiting Paris for the first time, would you honestly recommend they book a hotel in Saint-Denis or wander around there after dark? Of course not, and there's a reason for that.
Acknowledging that the area has significantly higher crime rates and requires a high level of situational awareness isn't being alarmist or pedantic—it’s just being honest. It is a fine daytime excursion for the Basilica or a match at the Stade de France, but we shouldn't debate semantics over the facts. It requires a level of urban awareness that standard tourist areas do not, and it is absolutely not a neighborhood where an average tourist would want to hang around at night.

Thanks for the review, Tammy. I’ve been 3 times but not since 2019 and it’s on my list for my next trip in 2027. Interesting to read it’s a bit different now, post Olympics. Unless you read tour information quite closely I think a lot of people don’t know that it is there and great way to be awed by another amazing cathedral.

I wanted to see St. Denis and tried to get a taxi to go there in Paris several years ago and the drivers said it was not. a safe area and talked me out of going.

Feel the need to say, I’ve been 3 times lastly in 2019, by metro. Single female and I never felt unsafe.

We went to Basilica Saint Denis in 2014 during one of our extended stays in Paris. At that time, travel sources ‘recommended’ visiting during the day. We took the Metro and also wandered around an outdoor Marche that was close by and filled with food items (including fruits and vegetables) used by a range of folks from around the world and some were unfamiliar to me. We browsed and said hello/bonjour. We were glad we did the outing to the Basilica and to this Marche; both were worthwhile and highly recommended.