Historic Paris Tour

Price:
You choose!
Basic Information
Short Description
Our main tour of the historic centre of Paris, an introduction to the city and its history. If you only have time for one tour, this is the one you are looking for.
Total time
2 h 30 min
Language
English, Spanish (check the booking calendar for availability)
Price
„Pay what you wish” tours do not have a fixed price. It is up to you to evaluate your guide’s work and reward it. Some people give 10€, others 50€ depending on their satisfaction and abilities.
Meeting point
Outside metro Cité - look for a yellow umbrella. Go to map
Ending point
Tuileries Gardens
About

Elegant and monumental 19th century boulevards, medieval churches, the world’s best art museums, unbeatable spirit of its inhabitants and a delicate (or perhaps quite pronounced!) sense of superiority, that’s Paris! Welcome to the world capital of class, elegance, fashion, love, art and amazing cuisine! Occupying this spot continuously since the 17th century!


But Paris wouldn’t be all that without its history. Established on a marshy land surrounded by the river Seine by the brave Gallic tribe of Parisii, taken in a bloody battle by the mighty Roman Empire. It became a capital of the Franks in the 6th century and soon grew to be the political, economic, religious, and cultural (with the second-oldest university in Europe, la Sorbonne) centre of France. With a population of 200 thousand people, Paris was the most populous city in Europe in the medieval ages. Torn by wars with external enemies and internal religious massacres, with time it experienced a true explosion in the field of science and philosophy, becoming the very centre of the Enlightenment movement. Fed on new ideas, but most of all on extreme poverty and inequality, its people found in them the power to overthrow the royal regime, which ended up in the monarchs being finally guillotined. This in turn opened the way for Napoleon seizing power in the country and way, way beyond! People of Paris were (and are!) known for revolting so often that in the 19th century in order to prevent them from doing so a new city was built with wide boulevards, aqueducts, sewers and parks to both appease them and… make it harder to build street barricades. The symbol of its modernization became the Eiffel Tower constructed for the 1889 Universal Exposition, which Parisians hated and protested for decades, only to love it in the end.


On top of all the architectural, cultural and spiritual marvels of the city there is something you simply cannot miss – the wonderful food and wine which can be the sole reason for visiting Paris and France! So, before you go and have a picnic in one of the splendid city gardens, indulge in all the fromage, baguette and wine you can have, join our tour to get the perfect introduction to the incomparable Paris! See among others the Notre Dame Cathedral, Sainte-Chapelle, beautiful and elegant boulevards and bridges, the Louvre and the Tuileries Gardens with a view of the Eiffel Tower. Hear the stories of Quasimodo, Napoleon and Hitler and learn about their connections to the city of love and light. Hear stories about the most daring art theft in history (yes, we are talking about the Mona Lisa), love, desire, and revenge. Get to know Paris at its finest!


During this 2,5 hour tour, you will see and discover:



  • ︎Hotel de Ville(Paris City Hall)

  • Notre-Dame Cathedral 

  • Sainte Chapelle 

  • Conciergerie 

  • Pont Neuf

  • Pont des Arts

  • Louvre (history of the palace and museum)

  • Carrousel Arch

  • Tuileries gardens 

  • And much, much more!


Meeting Point
Outside metro Cité - look for a yellow umbrella.

BOOKING RULES
Booking is obligatory. Walkative! free tours are designed for individual travelers and small groups. In the best interest of our visitors we aim to keep our free tours relatively small. Hence, we cannot accept parties of more than 7 people on our regular free tours and guides have the right to deny participation to such groups. If you travel in a party of 8 or more please choose a paid option or book a Private Tour. For more information please contact us.



Excellent Tour!

Rated 5.0 out of 5
10 months ago

We were a group of 6 friends – hadn’t been to Paris is a loooooong time – and the tour was very informative – and interesting!! I would highly recommend it!

Deborah

Hip hip hooray for Harry!!!

Rated 5.0 out of 5
10 months ago

The historic Paris tour was expertly guided by Harry the hip historian. His knowledge of the culture and history of Paris would rival a lecture from the finest university professor but he kept it lighthearted and accessible enough to hold the attention of 3 travel weary Americans. It provided an excellent overview to heighten our awareness of the surroundings and further improve our understanding of what we had already seen in our brief stay in Paris. Do not hesitate to book this excellent tour and you’ll be lucky if Harry is your guide. He will not disappoint you!

Phil Lawson

Davie an Amazing high Energy Paris Guide!

Rated 5.0 out of 5
10 months ago

Hello Walkative! On your site I didn’t manage to find the review page, so decided to do it here and you can copy paste onto your site accordingly….

Davie took us yesterday for the Paris city walk from Hotel de Ville to Louvre and his energy, delivery and joy in speaking to our group was fabulous! High energy, funny and charismatic – he is truly living his best days as a tour guide for Paris and he is an essential asset, much loved and I will tell everyone about Walkative and Davie is a total pleasure to listen to and be around! Thank you so much for a lovely Paris walking tour and your organisation to bring his expertise to us! The world is a far better place with Davie being your Paris tour guide!

We love him!

Avi

Historical Tour

Rated 5.0 out of 5
10 months ago

Great historical info delivered with true experience and passion by a French guide, Tank!

Brian Philipp

Amazing walking tour with Francesca

Rated 5.0 out of 5
10 months ago

We recently did the Montmartre walking tour with Francesca and had a wonderful time. Francesca was very knowledgeable and she clearly loves and knows Paris. We saw a very quiet side of Montmartre that we would never have discovered ourselves, and at the end of the tour Francesca also shared some restaurant recommendations. I would absolutely recommend any tour done by Francesca.

Cathleen


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This tour is also available as
a Private Tour.

Private tour
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