Walking from Notre-Dame de Paris to Eiffel Tower: what to see on the way

It is about 4.7 km from Notre-Dame de Paris to Eiffel Tower on foot, roughly 66 minutes walking. The same route works the other way: from Eiffel Tower back to Notre-Dame de Paris is the same 66 minutes. There are 18 stops along the way, each with its own story. The route runs along Parvis Notre-Dame - Pl. Jean-Paul II, Prom. Marceline Loridan-Ivens, Pl. Justin Godart, Rue de Lille, Rue de l'Université.

Streets on this route

• Parvis Notre-Dame - Pl. Jean-Paul II
• Prom. Marceline Loridan-Ivens
• Pl. Justin Godart
• Rue de Lille
• Rue de l'Université

Stops along the way

1. 1. Notre-Dame Cathedral — Point Zéro

   Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris

   Look down. Right now, beneath your feet... or just a few steps away... there is a small bronze disc embedded in the pavement.

2. 2. Square Jean XXIII — The Hidden Garden

   Square Jean XXIII, Paris

   Take a deep breath... and look around you. You're standing in one of Parizhan's best-kept secrets.

3. 3. Pont Saint-Michel — History in Stone

   Pont Saint-Michel, Paris

   Stand on the Pont Saint-Mishel and feel the stone beneath your feet. This bridge has been here, in one form or another, for over six hundred years. And every version has a story to tell.

4. 4. Quai des Grands Augustins — Paris's Oldest Quay

   Quai des Grands Augustins, Paris

   You are standing on the oldest quay in all of Pari... the Quai des Grands Augustins. Look at the stone beneath your feet.

5. 5. Pont des Arts — Former Love Lock Bridge

   Pont des Arts, Paris

   You're standing on the Pont des Arts... a bridge that has lived not one life, but many. And each one tells a story most visitors never hear. It began with Napoleon Bonaparte.

6. 6. Institut de France

   Institut de France, 23 quai de Conti, Paris

   Look at that magnificent dome rising above the Left Bank of the Seine. The Institu de France... one of the most beautiful buildings in all of Pari.

7. 7. Quai Malaquais — The Antique Dealers' Quay

   Quai Malaquais, Paris

   Take a breath... and look around you. This stretch of stone along the Seine is the Quai Malakais, one of the most quietly storied riverbanks in all of Pari. The name itself hides a mystery.

8. 8. Musée d'Orsay — A Train Station Reborn

   Musée d'Orsay, 1 rue de la Légion d'Honneur, Paris

   Look at this magnificent building stretching along the left bank of the Seine. The Muzay Dorsay... one of the world's greatest art museums. But here's the thing... this place was never meant to hold paintings.

9. 9. Quai Anatole France — Légion d'Honneur Museum

   Musée de la Légion d'Honneur, 2 rue de la Légion d'Honneur, Paris

   The Hôtel de Salm, an 18th-century aristocratic mansion that became the headquarters of Napoleon's Légion d'Honneur, was so admired that Thomas Jefferson — who lived nearby — reportedly visited its construction site…

10. 10. Assemblée Nationale — Palais Bourbon

    Assemblée Nationale, 126 rue de l'Université, Paris

    Look across the river. See those twelve grand columns gazing back at you from across the Seine? That is the Palais Bourbon... home of France's National Assembly. But here is what most people don't know.

11. 11. Pont de la Concorde — Stones of the Bastille

    Pont de la Concorde, Paris

    Look at your feet. No, really... look down. Because what you are standing on right now is not just any bridge. The stones beneath you once formed the walls of the most feared prison in France... the Bastille.

12. 12. Quai d'Orsay — The Ministry of Foreign Affairs

    Ministère de l'Europe et des Affaires étrangères, 37 quai d'Orsay, Paris

    Take a look at this elegant facade across the river... the building at number thirty-seven Quai d'Orsay.

13. 13. Pont Alexandre III

    Pont Alexandre III, Paris

    Look at the bridge around you. Those golden winged horses, those cherubs and nymphs gazing down at the Seine... This is Pont Alexandre the Third, and it is not just the most ornate bridge in Paris.

14. 14. Esplanade des Invalides — The Golden Dome

    Esplanade des Invalides, Paris

    Look up at that blazing golden dome. That is the Dôme des Invalides... one hundred and seven meters of pure ambition, rising higher than Notre Dame and every other church dome in Paris.

15. 15. Pont de l'Alma — The Zouave Flood Statue

    Pont de l'Alma, Paris

    Look down over the railing, and you will see him... a stone soldier standing at the waterline, leaning on his rifle, gazing downriver. He has been here for nearly one hundred and seventy years.

16. 16. Cathédrale Orthodoxe de la Sainte-Trinité

    Cathédrale de la Sainte-Trinité, 88 quai Branly, Paris

    Look up at those gleaming golden bulbs against the Paris sky. You are standing before the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity... the newest cathedral in all of Paris, and one of the most controversial buildings erected in…

17. 17. Musée du quai Branly — Jacques Chirac

    Musée du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac, 37 quai Branly, Paris

    Look at this building in front of you. At first glance, it seems like nature has simply... taken over. A cascade of green, two hundred meters long and twelve meters high, swallowing an entire facade along the Seine.

18. 18. Eiffel Tower — La Dame de Fer

    Tour Eiffel, Champ de Mars, Paris

    Look up at her. La Dame de Fer... the Iron Lady. Three hundred and thirty meters of latticed iron soaring above the Champ de Mars, and quite possibly the most famous silhouette on Earth.

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