Did you know that in the Middle Ages the bridges of Paris were lined with houses or that the biggest sundial can be found in Place de la Concorde? No? To find all the secrets and anecdotes about the capital, opt for a guided tour.
The #ExploreParis festival organized by the Paris Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Hauts-de-Seine department (92), Seine-Saint-Denis Tourisme (93) and Val-de-Marne Tourisme et Loisirs (94) offers a wealth of guided walking and bicycle tours as well as trips along the waterways of Greater Paris. This is a pleasant, sustainable and eco-friendly way to explore the heritage, cultural richness and diversity of the places that make up Greater Paris at a relaxed pace and in the open air.
All summer long, from 1 June to 30 September 2022, you will find more than 1,500 tours led by 150 enthusiastic and engaging guides. These affordable outings, starting from €5, will enable you to explore – or rediscover – the many different sides to Greater Paris.
More information about the #ExploreParis festival
When you put yourself in the capable hands of a licensed guide, you will learn all kinds of things about the must-see places that make up Paris’s exceptional and eclectic architectural heritage.
A neighbourhood tour is a good way to get detailed information about Montmartre Hill, the Marais and many other places. On a guided tour through the streets of Montmartre, you will explore the Rue Lepic which is lined with food shops, the iconic Place du Tertre and the charming Square Jehan Rictus with its I Love You wall, a stone’s throw from Place des Abbesses. A stroll around the magnificent Place des Vosges is a highlight of any guided tour of the Marais district, which boasts many other treasures, such as the courtyards of private mansions, museum façades and famous streets (Rue des Rosiers, Rue du Temple, etc.). Many other districts, each with their own particular ethos, can be explored in the course of a guided outdoor tour with a licensed guide. The picturesque Butte-aux-Cailles and its lively street Rue des Cinq-Diamants, a short distance from Paris’s Chinatown, is just one example.
See our Tours with a tourist guide file
Another equally interesting option is a themed walk. Set off to see façades and metro stations, Haussmannian Paris, Gothic Paris, secret Paris and huge street art murals in the 13th arrondissement and Vitry-sur-Seine, or enjoy a gourmet tour including a visit to a Paris food market and tastings of local produce, a garden tour or a foray into a covered passage – all of it on foot, and without ever having to go into a museum.
Paris a Dream offers gourmet walks in various emblematic districts of Paris
Find all our guided walking tours, in different areas of Paris and on different themes
If you’d like to take an outdoor tour through the streets and districts of the capital, but you don’t want to walk, there are plenty of other options available, from the classic double decker bus to the more offbeat tuk-tuk, not to mention a spectacular hot-air balloon ride or a tour in the legendary – and quintessentially French – Citroën 2 CV car.
A Paris tour aboard an original vehicle
And, of course, a Seine River or canal cruise provides a carefree, leisurely discovery of Paris from along the water
