Free tours and Paris Greeters: sightseeing without an entry ticket
Tip-based "free tours"
A free tour is a walk of about two hours through a heavily visited neighbourhood (Île de la Cité, Montmartre, the Marais, the Latin Quarter), usually in English or Spanish. You book online for free, meet the guide at the meeting point and, at the end, give what you felt the tour was worth. "Free" therefore does not mean no cost: the custom in Paris is around €10 to €15 per person, handed to the guide in cash. The guide receives no fixed wage for the walk, and often pays the booking platform a commission per participant, whether you tip or not.
Groups can exceed twenty people in high season, which makes it hard to hear in narrow streets. Free tours are still a good introduction on your first day, to get your bearings and ask practical questions. To know how much to leave in other situations (restaurant, taxi, hotel), read our guide to tipping in France.
Paris Greeters: a volunteer local
Paris Greeters are volunteer residents who show visitors around their neighbourhood for free. The association says so itself: they are not professional guides, and the walk does not cover museums or the detailed history of monuments. The talk is more about neighbourhood life, quiet streets and good addresses. A walk generally lasts 2 to 3 hours and takes a maximum of 6 people. Requests are made on the association's website, several weeks in advance (at least two): you give your dates, your language and your interests, and an available volunteer is matched with you where possible. Greeters do not accept tips; those who wish to thank them can make a donation to the association.
Museums and monuments: the official tours
The major institutions run their own guided tours, led by their own lecturers. This is often the cheapest option for a quality guided visit, provided you book through the official ticket office.
The Louvre
The Louvre sells "activity" tickets for its guided tours and workshops: €12 full price, €9 reduced. This ticket does not include museum entry, which costs €22 for residents of the European Economic Area and €32 for other visitors (free for under-18s, and for 18-25 year-olds resident in the EEA). The museum is closed on Tuesdays; it opens from 9am to 6pm, until 9pm on Wednesdays and Fridays. For a self-guided visit, the official audio guide rents for €6, with quicker pick-up if you book it online together with your ticket.
The Musée d'Orsay
Orsay runs 90-minute guided tours of its permanent collections, bookable through its online ticket office; they are not open to children under 13. Families with children aged 6 to 12 have dedicated tours, charged at €10 per adult and €4 per child on top of admission.
The Catacombs and the national monuments
The Catacombs, run by Paris Musées, hold the "Discovering the Catacombs" guided tour every Thursday at 1pm: 1h30, 15 people maximum, online booking compulsory, for the price of admission plus €7 (plus €5 at the reduced rate). For the rest of underground Paris, quarries, sewers and reservoirs, see our guide to underground Paris.
Monuments run by the Centre des monuments nationaux (the Panthéon, the Conciergerie, the Sainte-Chapelle, the Arc de Triomphe) also offer guided tours on certain dates; the Panthéon, for example, lists a "History of the Panthéon" tour on Saturdays at 3pm. Check each monument's calendar on its official website and book through the Centre des monuments nationaux ticket office. To find out which sites require advance booking, read what to book in advance in Paris.
Private guides: the guide-lecturer card
Hiring a private guide lets you adapt the pace, the language and the theme. Two things to know:
- The professional guide-lecturer card (carte de guide-conférencier), issued by the regional prefect, is required for guided tours in national museums and historic monuments when they are sold as a commercial service (article L221-1 of the French Tourism Code). A guide who shows you around the Louvre or Versailles for payment must therefore hold one. No official badge comes with the card: ask to see it.
- In the street, guiding is unregulated: a free tour, a food walk or a neighbourhood tour can be led without any qualification. That says nothing about their quality, but a guide holding the card has completed recognised training.
Private guide rates are set per half-day or per service, on quotation, and generally include neither entry tickets nor transport.
Themed tours: street art, food, night-time
Themed tours are often the best way to see something other than the monuments.
- Street art: the 13th arrondissement, Belleville and the Butte-aux-Cailles are very well suited to a guided group tour, but also to exploring alone with an itinerary. Our guide to street art in Paris lists the streets and murals not to miss.
- Food: food tours (Montmartre, the Marais, Saint-Germain) last about 3 hours and take in a cheese shop, bakery, charcuterie and chocolatier, sometimes a glass of wine. Allow around €100 to €140 per person in a small group, more for a private tour. Check what is included: tastings or a proper meal, drinks, number of stops.
- Paris by night: several operators run walking or cycling tours at dusk, often combined with a cruise. If the boat is what mainly interests you, compare the companies first in our guide to Seine cruises.
By bike, 2CV or sidecar
By bike
A guided bike tour covers more ground than on foot, at a relaxed pace and mostly on cycle lanes. A verified example: Fat Tire Tours' Paris Day Bike Tour lasts about 3 hours for 10.5 km, from €45 per adult, in English, departing from 24 rue Edgar-Faure, 75015 Paris (metro Dupleix, line 6, or La Motte-Picquet–Grenelle, lines 6, 8 and 10). To ride on your own, with a Vélib' or a rental bike, read Paris by bike.
By 2CV or sidecar
2CV tours, such as those run by 4 roues sous 1 parapluie, which has operated in Paris since 2013, come with a driver who tells the story of the city; tours range from 45 minutes to 3 hours, and the price is calculated per car rather than per person. The sidecar works on the same principle, with one or two passengers per machine; on booking platforms, observed prices often exceed €100 per person for an hour. These options are expensive per kilometre, but they are popular for a special occasion. For a panoramic tour without a private driver, the double-decker bus remains cheaper: see our comparison of sightseeing buses.
Audio guides and free apps
If you prefer to explore at your own pace, an audio guide is often enough. In museums, rent the official audio guide at the entrance (€6 at the Louvre). Around the city, free platforms such as izi.TRAVEL offer geolocated audio walks to download before you set off, so you can listen offline. Quality depends on the author of each walk: read the reviews and listen to the beginning before committing. Bring headphones and a power bank.
Guided tours comparison table
| Type of tour | Duration | Observed price | Booking | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tip-based free tour | About 2 h | customary tip €10–15 per person | Online, free | First day, tight budget |
| Paris Greeters | 2 to 3 h | Free (donation to the association possible) | Several weeks ahead | Discovering a neighbourhood with a local, 6 people max |
| Louvre guided tour | Varies by activity | €12 (€9 reduced) + admission €22 or €32 | Official ticket office | First steps at the Louvre |
| "Discovering the Catacombs" tour | 1 h 30 | Admission + €7 (+ €5 reduced) | Compulsory, Thursday 1pm | Underground enthusiasts, 15 people max |
| Guided bike tour | About 3 h | from €45 | Online | Covering a lot of ground |
| Food tour | About 3 h | €100–140 | Online | Food lovers |
| Sidecar | 1 h | often over €100 per person | Online | Special occasion |
| Audio guide (museum or app) | At your own pace | €0 to €6 | On site or download | Independent visitors |
Prices observed in September 2026, subject to change depending on season and operator.
Pitfalls to avoid
- Fake guides: around the Louvre, Notre-Dame or the Sacré-Cœur, people offer an "official" tour or priority access for cash. No museum sells its tours in the street: buy from the official ticket office or from an identifiable operator. For a private guide inside a museum, ask to see the guide-lecturer card.
- Hidden costs: a low headline price may exclude the entry ticket, booking fees, drinks or the expected tip. Read the "included / not included" line before paying.
- Dubious "skip-the-line" tickets: at most major sites, all visitors go through the same security checks; what saves time is a timed ticket bought in advance. A reseller selling a "skip-the-line" ticket is often selling you that same ticket, at a higher price. Book on the venue's official website first.
- Websites imitating official ticket offices: some sites borrow a museum's name and display inflated prices. Check the website address before entering your card details.
Other situations worth knowing about are covered in our guide to scams to avoid in Paris.
Further reading
If you are visiting several museums, read our review of the Paris Museum Pass to see whether it pays off, and our list of free museums in Paris to round off a guided tour without spending more. Lovers of little-known places will find more walk ideas in unusual Paris.
