In Paris, “people are so excited,” said Meg Zimbeck, who runs the food tour company and review site Paris by Mouth. Locals have been emotional as the cathedral tested bells ahead of opening ceremonies.
“When they start ringing regularly, it’s going to mean a lot,” she said.
A week of events are planned starting today, and French tourism officials expect up to 40,000 visitors per day, almost double the number of people who flock to the Chateau de Versailles.
If you’re thinking about visiting soon, here’s what you need to know.
A sound and light show was projected on the facade of the Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral on the eve of its reopening to the public. Photo / Getty Images
How do you get tickets for Notre Dame?
Tickets are free and available online through the cathedral’s official website. You should definitely reserve them in advance, said Kate Schwab, a spokesperson for the French tourism authority, Atout France.
According to the site, reservations are available on the day of a visit or up to two days in advance. The first available slots for visits starting December 9 will go online today.
“This option is entirely optional and aims solely to streamline entries and minimise unnecessary waiting,” the site says.
Space is first come, first serve for attending Mass. A €10 ($18.13) fee is required for those who’d like to visit the Notre Dame treasury, which is considered a museum. You can make the purchase on-site.
Alternatively, you can sign up for a free guided tour of the exterior with the volunteer organisation CASA.
What special events are happening in Paris?
The cathedral will host reopening events between December 8-15, with a private inauguration today ; event details can be found on the Notre Dame website. The Paris tourist office says giant screens will be set up around the church so members of the public can watch weekend ceremonies live.
Notre Dame will also put on “Exceptional Concerts” featuring “20 international soloists, 15 guest orchestras and choirs, 12 grand organ recitals”, through 2025.
As of December 16, the cathedral will resume its normal daily hours, from 7.45am to 7pm.
French President Emmanuel Macron met US President-elect Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as foreign dignitaries descended on Paris for the reopening of the Notre-Dame Cathedral. Photo / Getty Images
When is the best time to visit Notre Dame?
Of course, Paris is a major tourist destination year-round, and Notre Dame is among its most popular attractions. Don’t expect to get the place to yourself no matter when you visit; the cathedral has a capacity of 2500 people at a time.
Schwab recommends following basic sightseeing protocol to plan a visit. “Go either early in the morning when it first opens or in the last hour,” she said. “Try to avoid the peak of the day.”
The same advice goes for time of year. You can expect the most crowds during the busy summer tourist season, and closer to the holidays, when Paris is also busy with “festive season”.
Small religious groups of up to 10 people will be allowed starting February 1; cultural groups of as many as 25 people are allowed beginning June 9.
Can’t get a ticket and don’t want to face a long wait? Worst-case scenario, you can still admire the cathedral from the outside, as many have over the last five years.
What’s new at Notre Dame?
A new roof, new furniture, new logistics: Notre Dame underwent a historic restoration in just five years. The interior is said to be “more majestic than before the catastrophe.” The undertaking required the expertise of more than 2000 architects, engineers and craftspeople using artisanal methods.
Inside Notre-Dame of Paris Cathedral before its reopening to the public. Photo / Getty Images
The 96m spire, which toppled in the inferno, has been replaced, with a new rooster perched on top. Attic beams have been re-created, and vaulted arches include new and salvaged stone.
If you’ve visited before, you may first notice a small but significant change in traffic flow inside the cathedral. Visitors will now follow a path from north to south, “basically left to right”, Schwab said.
What else should I see in Paris?
Notre Dame is centrally located, so it’s easy to fit into a day of sightseeing in Paris.
Zimbeck recommends a stroll to the flower market on the Ile de la Cite and visiting the Cluny Museum of medieval history. She says you could skip Shakespeare and Company, the always-crowded bookstore, and explore the fun shop Messy Nessy instead.
Schwab says to walk to the Latin Quarter for more shopping. You’ll also find one of her favorite museums there: the Serge Gainsbourg House. The singer’s daughter, actress Charlotte Gainsbourg, does the voice-over for the audio tour, which explains what it was like to live in the house - which was preserved after his death and turned into a museum. It has a cafe open during the day, and by night, it turns into a piano bar.
“It is of course very popular with the French public, but when I was there, there were no other Americans,” Schwab said.
For dining, Zimbeck has compiled an extensive list of where to eat and drink near Notre Dame so you don’t get caught at one of the many tourist traps nearby.
You don’t need to limit yourself to what’s immediately next to Notre Dame because “you can hop across the river in either direction and get on the subway and go almost anywhere within 15 minutes,” Zimbeck said.
Paris is an easy city to get around on feet with the aid of a high-frequency metro system. Photo / Getty Images
What’s a less crowded alternative?
To escape the tourist rush, Schwab recommends a couple of lower-traffic museums, like the Musée Carnavalet which offers a deep dive into the history of Paris, or the nearby Hôtel de la Marine on the Place de la Concorde. “It’s like a mini Versailles, basically,” she said.
The historic property was built in the 18th century and served as the headquarters for the government office responsible for furnishing all royal properties. To restore the property to museum quality, “they had 1000 craftsmen working on it,” Schwab said.
Better yet, it’s “a museum that people don’t really know that much about and it’s definitely not going to be crowded”, Schwab said.
For a less-visited church, Zimbeck goes to La Sainte-Chapelle, one of her favorite places in the city. “It’s a wonderful, amazing cathedral with stained glass that’s quite famous,” she said. “When I’m in a darker mood, I enjoy the Conciergerie, which is the dungeon ... where they locked up Marie Antoinette.”
Clément Decré, founder and chief executive of the travel company Finding France, recommended Saint-Sulpice or Saint-Eustache churches, which he said in an email “offer remarkable architecture and history without the crowds typical at Notre-Dame”.
For those who can travel outside Paris, he suggested the Chartres Cathedral for its “amazing” stained glass, Cathedral of Reims or the Amiens Cathedral.
Are renovations ongoing?
Work is continuing on the cathedral’s flying buttresses; the stained glass rose windows and areas around Notre Dame, including a park.
The Paris tourist office says parts of the church, including the chevet and sacristy, are scheduled for restoration next year. Stained glass windows are expected to be installed in 2026.
French tourism officials say work around the cathedral - including a clearing, 150 trees and an underground parking garage that will become a reception area - is expected to continue for at least three years.
Do the bells still ring?
Yes, the bells are ringing again at Notre Dame - and there are a few new ones. Their return is powerful.
“I used to live around the corner from it and I could physically feel the vibrations from the bells in my body,” Zimbeck said. “So it has this resonance - pardon the pun - for me.”
