Time slot for Notre Dame

One news outlet reported all time slots were booked for the next couple weeks. All you can do is keep trying in case something opens up.

You can stand in line and attempt to get a ticket that way. I read that it might be a two to three hour wait, though.

I did a "dry run" yesterday and the 30-minute wait online actually took @ 20 minutes. The page refreshes automatically @ every 20 seconds and can jump ahead (by 8 minutes in my experience). All slots for the three days were "sold out". I want to go the first week of January, so now I know what I'm in store for.
I also am interested in what time the slots open up. Good luck to you.

You can stand in line and attempt to get a ticket that way. I read that it might be a two to three hour wait, though.

As of now, no. They had announced this would be possible but press reporting from last night indicates that they were having to turn anyone away who didn't have the QR code.

(Le Parisien, "'Si vous n'avez pas de QR Code, vous n'entrez pas!' Notre-Dame de Paris victime de son succès." December 9, 18:47 Paris time)

I am currently in Paris. Yesterday, I went to the website for Notre Dame reservations. There were several available then (January 6th), none for January 7th and quite a few for January 8th. I reserved two for January 8th in the afternoon. I obtained those tickets at 8:35 a.m. Not sure that's significant. . .
A few days earlier, we were outside ND and noticed that the line to get in was very short--not sure if those in line had tickets or not. I'll return here tomorrow after our visit to give more information. Can't wait to see the "brighter" interior of ND.

Thanks Lindy, on the ground info is invaluable!

The week of December 16, I visited twice - no tickets needed. The first time (Dec 16), a short line moved quickly circa 9:30-10 AM. The cathedral was fairly crowded but folks moved along well. I was able to sit down from time to time. On Thursday, Dec 19, no line at all, 8:30 AM. No tickets needed and no one collecting them. Was it a fluke? There are employees/staff at the door, but no ticket takers. Other folks I travelled with went at different times sans tickets, too.

I just had the same experience as Debbie: we had 3:00 p.m. reservations today but walked in at a few minutes before noon! No reservations necessary. There was no line--we just walked in. It's Wednesday, January 8th and I'm guessing most people are back to work/school and it's mid-week. This may change on weekends and in the spring/summer.

The interior of ND is indeed brighter. Bon chance on your visit everyone!

Hi!

• The first batch of new time slots is released at midnight (Paris time), for the date 2 days ahead. For example: At midnight (Paris time) on April 1st, time slots will be released for April 3rd. Any dates beyond April 3rd will automatically be greyed out/appear to be full. This first batch can fill up within ~20 minutes of being released, so I recommend opening the reservation system around 11:50pm.
• 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 (see below), 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.
• New/additional "spontaneous" time slots are released sporadically throughout the day. The availability of these time slots is based on the current available capacity inside the cathedral.

Monday to Thursday & Saturday, time slots are usually offered at 9:00am, 9:30am, 10:00am, 10:30am, 11:00am, 1:00pm, 1:30pm, 2:00pm, 2:30pm, 3:00pm, 3:30pm and 4:00pm. On Thursday, additional time slots are usually offered at 7:00pm, 7:30pm, 8:00pm, 8:30pm and 9:00pm.

On Friday, time slots are usually offered at 9:00am, 9:30am, 10:00am and 10:30am.

On Sunday, time slots are usually offered at 1:30pm, 2:00pm, 2:30pm and 3:00pm.

(There are less time slots offered on Sunday and Friday, due to the increased number of Masses and/or liturgical services (ie. the Veneration of the Crown of Thorns on Friday afternoons). Visitors are still permitted to enter during Mass/liturgical services, but priority entrance is given to those attending Mass/liturgical services.)

If you don’t have a reservation, you can wait in the "Free/open entry without reservations" queue in front of Notre Dame. However, entrance is not guaranteed. The wait time varies significantly, between no wait time and up to 3 hours, depending on the combination of the season, the day of the week, the time of day, if there's any special liturgical celebrations happening at that time, and the available capacity inside the cathedral

For the best chance at visiting without a reservation, I recommend visiting at the following times: Any time when it's raining (there's typically no wait time when it's raining), before 9:30am, or after 4:00pm (and/or after 7:00pm on Thursdays when Notre Dame is open late).

The OP went to Paris in December and is long back.

Emilyofnotredame, your information is very helpful. Is the procedure different if you want to attend mass?

@ MJinNC

Emilyofnotredame, your information is very helpful. Is the procedure different if you want to attend mass?

Hi! You're very welcome.

No reservations are needed to attend Mass. There is a separate queue for those attending Mass, marked "Mass access only". Entrance still subject to the available capacity inside the cathedral.

Once you enter, you'll go directly to the Nave (the middle/centre section) to take a seat for Mass. Mass is approximately 40-45 minutes on ordinary days and 1-1.5 hours on liturgical celebrations/holidays. After Morning Mass* and Afternoon Mass, you can stay and visit the rest of the main floor of the cathedral without having to reserve a time slot. Evening Mass runs until closing, so there isn't time to visit the rest of the main floor of the cathedral after Evening Mass (except on Thursday when Notre Dame is open late until 10:00pm).

*FYI, the Morning Mass during the week, and on Saturday doesn't include the Notre Dame de Paris Choir.

This is great info— dovetailing off of earlier questions for both time slots and mass — I have a question about lent masses and in particular Friday afternoon veneration of the crown of thorns: is this special occasion something that would have time slots available? Or perhaps is it only open to worship/ mass attendees? My family and I will be in Paris in late March and would love to witness this special event, but have no clue how to handle.

glancy_chris,
FYI, the website masstimes.org can provide mass times for churches all over the world. I have used it to find mass times in Istanbul, Paris, Boston......many places. Scroll down the list of churches in a city to find the one you want and check their website. ND may have info there about the Crown of Thorns exposition. Of course, since ND is a cultural site for Paris as well, I would check through the Paris websites also.

This is great info— dovetailing off of earlier questions for both time slots and mass — I have a question about lent masses and in particular Friday afternoon veneration of the crown of thorns: is this special occasion something that would have time slots available? Or perhaps is it only open to worship/ mass attendees? My family and I will be in Paris in late March and would love to witness this special event, but have no clue how to handle.

Hi glancy_chris!

No reservations are needed to attend the Veneration of the Crown of Thorns. You can enter in the "Mass access only" queue.

On the Fridays when the Veneration of the Crown of Thorns is in the afternoon (every Friday between now and Good Friday, and then first Friday of each month), visitor time slots are only available at 9:00am, 9:30am, 10:00am and 10:30am anyways. The Veneration of the Crown of Thorns is from 3:00pm until 5:00pm.

In late March, I would recommend arriving at least 45 minutes in advance.

If you're REALLY determined, you could in theory reserve a visitor time slot for 10:30am and wait inside until 3:00pm for the Veneration. (Don't worry, I wouldn't judge - on December 24th, I arrived in the queue at 6:03am, I was the first inside at 7:48am and waited inside all day to attend the Vigil/Midnight Mass. By the time I was outside again, it was 1:42am on December 25th...)

Emilyofnotredame, your information is super super helpful. Thank you so much for the wonderful and helpful details. I have two questions.

1 - I will be in Paris later this spring (after Easter). The mass schedule shows the following schedule for Sundays. I am Catholic, but not familiar with these different types of masses. I would like to hear beautiful music while attending mass. Which mass would you suggest I attend?

SUNDAY SCHEDULE
8:30 AM – Mass
9:30 AM – Lauds
10:00 AM – Gregorian Mass
11:30 AM – Mass
5:15 PM – Vespers
6:00 PM – Diocesan Mass

2 - I may be there the first Friday of the month and I'm interested in the Crown of Thorns veneration, which is from 3-5pm. You wrote upthread that a previous poster should arrive at 2:15 for a veneration in March/lent. Is the veneration a full two hour service? If I am not worried about a front row seat (and don't mind standing in the back) is it OK to show up at 3:00 (or later, as long as I arrive in the 3-5 window)? I am not familiar with this type of service either.

Thank you very much.