I have heard that there are line ups up to 4 hours long. Is this true?
I understand that there is no early entry with the pass.
We will be there the last week in September and will not be able to allow 4 hours out of our allotted 7 days in Paris just to get in this site.
Any comments out there?
Thanks,
Maureen
I was in Paris the last couple of days of September 2007. There really wasn't any line at all and it wasn't incredibly busy either. Actually I didn't wait in any crazy lines anywhere. The only place there was a line was at the Louvre to get through security and even that was less than 10 minutes long.
You're there in September, don't worry, there won't be any 4-hr lines. There's a separate entry line for the tower climb. The Museum Pass does not cover entry into the cathedral (you won't need to bypass a line there; the Pass does cover the admission price of the tower climb, however passholders cannot bypass the tower climb line.
We got to Notre Dame on a Sunday about 5 pm, at the end of March. We waited less than 10 minutes. There was an organ concert going on at the time. Worshippers can go in and sit down, and tourists file around through the cathedral. I say "file around" but it's not like you're on a moving sidewalk. You can stop whenever you want. We did not go up into the tower, and that may have been a longer line.
Hi Maureen,
We were in Paris in September, and there was actually NO line to get into Notre Dame. And we were there about noon, so it's not like we just beat the crowds.
In fact, aside from the humidity, we found September to be a great time for visiting sights in Paris becuase we didn't encounter lines anywhere. We walked right up to the Mona Lisa, the eiffle tower (though we did visit this in the evening, after dark), everything. Hope you have a wonderful trip!
Was there last summer and waited less than 10 minutes to get into Notre Dame.
Longest line I waited in was for Eiffel Tower and I arrived 30 minutes before it opened but still had to wait over an hour.
Everything else, Louvre, Musee D'Orsay, etc. was 10 minutes or under.
The Towers are open late some evenings, which many people either don't know about, or don't think of going later in the day as everyone always says " go first thing to avoid lines" . The line watcher told up the evening were usaully very quiet, so go about 5 and see how lines are then.
The line for the church is never that bad because although it may look long, it moves constantly you do not pay to enter so people just shuffle along slowly.
Lines at Lourve, avoid by entering by metro entrance or underground shopping mall( enter off Rue Du Rivoli, under an awning that says shopping or some such thing( I can't remember but I knew it when I saw it) you go downstairs buy ticket from machines and basically walk in( after waiting 10 minutes to go through security) I have done this numerous times, in July and August. Don't bother with Pryamid entrance , lines tend to form there most often.
We were there in July and had limited time as well. The line was indeed extremely long so we chose to pass in order to take in more of the area. Very helpful was Rick Steve's tour of the the area you can download from this site. He gives great insights regarding the the outside of the cathedral as well as the entire isle.
Steve
