Notre-Dame on a Budget: Prices and Free Days
The nave is free. The towers are the only thing you’ll pay for
Notre-Dame reopened on 7 December 2024 after the five-year restoration following the 2019 fire, and entry to the nave has been free the entire time since, no ticket, no charge. The one paid part is the bell towers, reopened separately during Heritage Days weekend in September 2025 and now open year-round through spring 2026, along with the Treasury. If your budget for this sight is zero, you still get the full cathedral interior; the towers are the only optional add-on.
| What | Price | Booking |
|---|---|---|
| Nave entry | Free | None required; optional slot skips a queue |
| Free timed slot | Free | resa.notredamedeparis.fr , opens only hours ahead |
| Bell towers | EUR16 | Mandatory timed slot via CMN, 387 steps |
| Treasury | Small separate fee | On-site |
| Sunday organ recital | Free | No booking; 4pm every Sunday |
Why the free nave still needs a strategy
Entry costs nothing, but a free timed reservation at resa.notredamedeparis.fr skips a second, slower queue; the catch is that slots only open a few hours ahead, not weeks, so you can’t lock one in when you first plan the trip. Without a reservation, expect roughly a 20-minute wait in shoulder season, longer in peak summer. Either way the cost is the same: zero.
Is the EUR16 bell tower climb worth paying for?
Only if the 387-step climb and the gargoyle-level view matter to you specifically; the nave itself, free, already gives you the stained glass, the restored stonework, and the Crown of Thorns relic on view the first Friday of each month. The towers add a different, higher vantage point over the Seine, booked only through the official Centre des Monuments Nationaux portal, no walk-up purchase.
What’s the cheapest way to eat near the cathedral?
Skip the Parvis and the streets directly around it, tourist-menu pricing runs high there. Cross the Petit Pont into the Latin Quarter instead: a boulangerie sandwich runs EUR5-8, and Rue Mouffetard, a fifteen-minute walk south, has a working morning market plus side-street restaurants at real local prices rather than cathedral-adjacent markups.
Where to stay without paying for the view
The Latin Quarter (5th arrondissement) is the sensible budget base, walkable, real neighborhood feel, and priced below the handful of hotels directly on the Parvis that charge a premium for a facade view. Compare rates in the Latin Quarter and the Marais on Booking.com ; a hostel dorm or a small budget double both keep you within a short walk of the cathedral.
Free entry, a free organ recital every Sunday at 4pm, and a fifteen-minute walk to genuinely cheap food, Notre-Dame is one of the least expensive major sights in Paris if you skip the towers. For the honest paid-versus-free breakdown across the whole city, see the Paris on a budget guide or the Paris overview ; for the other free sight nearby, see Sacre-Coeur ; and plan the day around it with the 2-day itinerary .