France · Self-guided walk
Paris in one walk 8 sights, 45 minutes
A self-guided walking tour of the Paris Old Town: 8 sights on one 3.1 km loop, about 45 minutes on foot, back where you started.
No two days to spare? Here is the short version: the big sights in one loop. I would take longer. I always take longer.
At a glance
The walk in numbers.
- Distance
- 3.1 km, a loop
- Time
- about 45 minutes of walking at 4 km/h, plus however long you stop
- Sights
- 8
- Start and finish
- Hôtel de ville
- Steps
- no streets with steps on the route
- Cost
- free: no guide, no booking, no tip
The route
Map of the Paris walk: 8 stops, one loop.
The gold line is the walk. The numbers are the stops, in the order you reach them. The pale lines are every other street in the Old Town.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
The stops
8 sights in Paris, in walking order.
Each stop says how far the next one is and which streets take you there.
1. Hôtel de ville
the start · inside open Mon–Sat 10:00–19:00, Sun closed
The town hall, and the grandest building I have ever seen used for paperwork. Look at the figures along its walls. There are a great many of them, and they all share one thing. The square it faces gave a language a word, too. I am not telling you which.
Next: Église Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis, 640 m, about 10 min.
2. Église Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis
about 10 minutes of walking from the start
A big domed church on the rue Saint-Antoine. Stop just inside the door. A famous neighbour from round the corner left something there, and it is the strangest gift I have seen at a church door. I am not telling you what.
Next: Hôtel de Sully, 180 m, about 3 min.
3. Hôtel de Sully
about 12 minutes of walking from the start
A grand town house on the rue Saint-Antoine. Go in through the courtyard and keep going. A house you can walk through, like a sandwich with two open ends. Where you come out is the surprise.
Next: Place des Vosges, 180 m, about 3 min.
4. Place des Vosges
about 15 minutes of walking from the start
Red-brick houses, all to one plan, closing a square around a garden. The most regular square I have met: a waffle, basically. Walk the covered gallery all the way round. Somewhere along it, a message has been waiting a very long time. I am not telling you where.
Next: Maison de Victor Hugo, 200 m, about 3 min.
5. Maison de Victor Hugo
about 18 minutes of walking from the start · inside open Tue–Sun 10:00–18:00, Mon closed
Victor Hugo's home, on a corner of the square. Climb the stairs and see how the man lived. One piece of his furniture gives away how he worked. Look for it.
Next: Enceinte de Philippe-Auguste, 510 m, about 8 min, along Rue Neuve Saint-Pierre, Rue des Jardins Saint-Paul.
6. Enceinte de Philippe-Auguste
about 26 minutes of walking from the start
The older of the two old city walls in this level, still standing tall on a quiet side street. A wall this old ought to be rubble by now. How it lasted is the best part, and its surface is worth a close look too. Old crust. My kind of crust.
Next: Église Saint-Louis-en-l'Île, 640 m, about 10 min, along Rue des Jardins Saint-Paul, Rue Saint-Louis en l'Île.
7. Église Saint-Louis-en-l'Île
about 35 minutes of walking from the start
The church of the smaller island, tucked so neatly into its main street that people walk right past. The steeple gives it away: lacy as a biscuit, and built that way for a reason.
Next: Mémorial de la Shoah, 460 m, about 7 min.
8. Mémorial de la Shoah
about 42 minutes of walking from the start
Here Paris remembers the Shoah. A quiet building on a quiet street, and on this one I keep my appetite to myself. Take your time with the walls outside. They are worth it.
Back to the start: Hôtel de ville, 320 m, about 5 min, along Allée des Justes parmi les Nations, Passage du Gantelet.
Every stop counts from the street; the hours are for going inside. Opening hours from OpenStreetMap, © OpenStreetMap contributors. Check before you go.
After the walk
The rest of Paris.
This loop is 8 sights. The Old Town is 143 streets, and I have opinions about all of them. Every street of the Paris Old Town, with what to eat and where.
Cobble Gobble is a walking game for iPhone: every street is a line of dots you collect by walking it, and the phone stays in your pocket. Your first city is free.