Notre-Dame after restoration: free entry, towers and crypt

Notre-Dame Cathedral is welcoming visitors again, and entry to the nave is free. After the fire of April 15, 2019, the cathedral reopened on December 7 and 8, 2024, and in 2025 more than 11 million people visited it. It is the most visited monument in France (as of 09/2026, RFI).

Paid tickets are required only for the towers, the treasury, and the crypt (as of 09/2026, Tours de Notre-Dame and crypte.paris.fr). Below you will find opening hours, booking procedures, and the honest catches.

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What changed after the fire

💡 In short:

• The cathedral is open every day, entry to the nave is free.
• You only pay for the towers, the treasury, and the archaeological crypt.
• Tower time slots are booked online and are mandatory even for those with a free ticket.
• Prices and opening hours: 09/2026, verified on the cathedral's official website.

The fire of April 15, 2019 destroyed the spire and the oak roof, which is called the "forest" here. The frame was rebuilt by hand using medieval techniques, from oak felled in French forests. The spire was restored according to Viollet-le-Duc's drawings, meaning in the form it had in the 19th century. At the top, the rooster weathervane with relics inside stands once again.

The walls and vaults survived, but the stone had blackened from soot and lead dust. The first years were spent reinforcing the structures: without that, finishing work could not begin. Gentle cleaning compounds were used so as not to erode the historic stone. Now the interior looks unusually bright, and many visitors write that they do not recognize the familiar dimness.

The organ, stained glass, and sculpture survived, and the liturgical furnishings were made anew. The altar, ambo, pulpit, and baptismal font were cast in bronze to a design by Guillaume Bardet. A new reliquary was made for the Crown of Thorns, with the design prepared by Sylvain Dubuisson. The reliquary was installed in the chapel behind the choir, not in the treasury. The great organ with thousands of pipes was dismantled, cleaned of lead dust, and retuned.

The project was funded by donations: 846 million euros from 340,000 people in 150 countries (as of 09/2026, France Culture). Hundreds of craftspeople worked in the workshops. Among them were stonemasons, carpenters, stone carvers, and specialists who prepared mortars according to 12th-century recipes.

Cathedral entry and opening hours

© Jorge Láscar from Melbourne, Australia · CC BYPhoto: Jorge Láscar from Melbourne, Australia, CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), Wikimedia Commons

Entry to the cathedral nave is free; you only pay for the towers, the treasury, and the crypt. The doors are open daily from 7:50 AM to 7:00 PM (as of 09/2026, verified on 09/15/2026 on the cathedral's schedule page).

From April to October, free time slots go quickly, so book your entry online in advance. The line goes through security gates and bag checks. Without a booking, you will spend 20 to 40 minutes getting in. In the morning at opening time and after 5:00 PM on weekdays, there are noticeably fewer people.

Choose a Tuesday or Wednesday morning if you want to calmly take in the stained glass and the portal sculptures. On weekends and holidays, the square fills up by 10:00 AM. Leave large bags and suitcases at your hotel: you will be turned away at security.

Masses are open to everyone and free. During this time, tourists are asked not to walk through the nave with cameras and to speak quietly. If you need silence, come to a weekday morning mass: the pews are almost empty, and the organ sounds without the tourist hum.

Tickets: towers, treasury, and crypt

© TimeTravelRome · CC BYPhoto: TimeTravelRome, CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), Wikimedia Commons

The towers reopened to the public on September 20, 2025, after restoration was completed (as of 09/2026, Centre des monuments nationaux). The route was redesigned: you go up one spiral staircase and come down another, so you don't have to squeeze past people in a narrow passage. There are 424 steps in total, and from the top you see the spire up close and the chimera on the gallery.

A timed tower slot is mandatory for everyone, including those on a free ticket: children and visitors aged 18-25. Book online a week ahead; during peak season, available slots run out several days in advance.

• The catch: there is no elevator in the towers, the climb goes up narrow steps and is not suitable for people with reduced mobility.

The treasury occupies several rooms in the southern part of the cathedral. It displays liturgical vessels and vestments. Tickets are sold at the entrance and online; a visit takes about an hour.

The archaeological crypt is located directly beneath the square in front of the cathedral. You descend to the level of Gallo-Roman structures and see the foundations of earlier cathedrals, in other words two millennia of Île de la Cité history in one room (as of 09/2026, Crypte archéologique de l'Île de la Cité).

Statues of the apostles and the exhibition under the cathedral

Four days before the fire, the statues of the apostles and evangelists were removed from the spire. They were taken away for restoration, so the fire never touched them, and today they are the only large figures that stood on the spire before 2019. In 2023, the statues were returned to the spire.

© Yann Caradec from Paris, France · CC BY-SAPhoto: Yann Caradec from Paris, France, CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0), Wikimedia Commons

The restoration exhibition under the square closed in December 2024, and its space became part of the crypt.

If you are interested in more than just the architecture, start with the crypt and then go up into the cathedral. That way you will see how a Roman city, an early Christian basilica, and the current cathedral succeeded one another on the same site.

⁉️🤔 Frequently asked questions

How much does it cost to enter Notre-Dame Cathedral?

You can visit the cathedral nave for free. Paid tickets are required for the towers (16 €), the treasury (6 €), and the archaeological crypt (11 €, reduced 9 €). Children under 18 enter the crypt and towers free of charge, but a tower slot still has to be booked in advance (as of 09/2026, official crypt website).

Do I need to book a time slot in advance?

You can enter the cathedral without a reservation. From April to October, we recommend getting a free online slot: then you go through security in a separate line. For the towers, booking is mandatory year-round, including for children and reduced-rate categories.

What is there to see in the towers of Notre-Dame?

The climb goes up 424 steps, and the route follows two spiral staircases. On the upper gallery you find yourself right next to the spire and see the chimera, as well as a panorama of Île de la Cité. There is no elevator, so the towers are not suitable for people with reduced mobility.

When is the cathedral least crowded?

Come at opening time, around 7:50, or after 17:00 on a weekday. On weekends and during school holidays, the square fills up already in the morning. During mass, tourists are asked to keep quieter and not disturb worshippers.

What is in the treasury and the crypt?

The treasury displays liturgical vessels and vestments; a visit takes about an hour. The crypt shows Gallo-Roman structures and the foundations of earlier cathedrals. Tickets are purchased separately; there is no combined ticket with the cathedral.

In short: what is worth booking

Notre-Dame is open to everyone, but the towers, treasury, and crypt are worth planning ahead. The cathedral nave is free, while these three sites require separate tickets.

• If this is your first time in Paris: book a tower time slot and go to the cathedral in the morning before the line forms.
• If you're short on time: the free nave and half an hour at the stained glass windows will be enough.
• If you're interested in history: add the crypt, it explains everything else on the square.
• If you're on a budget: entry to the cathedral and masses are free, and you can see the stained glass and portal sculptures without a ticket.

Want to hear the cathedral's story from a guide and walk around Île de la Cité? Check out GetYourGuide tours and pick a time that works for you.