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Paris walking tours, free and self-guided

2 free walks through Paris that you take on your own, whenever you like. Each has a route map, its stops in walking order and a free audio guide at every stop that you play in your browser.

Self-guidedNo guide meets you: you follow the map and listen on your phone. Looking for a free walking tour with a live guide, the kind you pay for with a tip? The guided tours are further down this page.

See the guided tours

Is there a free walking tour in Paris?

Quick answer. Yes, of two kinds. Mappu has 2 free self-guided walks in Paris: you walk the route on your own and play a free audio guide at every stop, with no booking and no tip. The free walking tours that tour companies run in Paris have a live guide, leave at set times and usually ask for a tip at the end; you book those with the company.

Self-guided walks in Paris

Route map: Île de la Cité and the Latin Quarter, Paris4 numbered stops in walking order. Stop 1: Sainte-Chapelle; Stop 2: Notre-Dame; Stop 3: Latin Quarter; Stop 4: Panthéon.Stop 1: Sainte-Chapelle1Stop 2: Notre-Dame2Stop 3: Latin Quarter3Stop 4: Panthéon4
4 numbered stops in walking order.

Île de la Cité and the Latin Quarter, Paris

4 stops · about 2.0 km · about 25 min on foot · about 27 min of audio

Start at the Sainte-Chapelle, the royal chapel built like a reliquary of stone and glass, and cross the island to Notre-Dame, where a bronze plaque marks Point Zero of French roads. Then follow the Left Bank into the Latin Quarter, named for the Latin of its medieval students, and climb to the Panthéon on the hill of Sainte-Geneviève.

The stops and their free audio guides

  1. Sainte-Chapellefree audio guide, about 7 min
  2. Notre-Damefree audio guide, about 7 min
  3. Latin Quarterfree audio guide, about 7 min
  4. Panthéonfree audio guide, about 7 min
See the walk
Route map: Palais Garnier to the Louvre, Paris3 numbered stops in walking order. Stop 1: Palais Garnier; Stop 2: Palais-Royal; Stop 3: Louvre Museum.Stop 1: Palais Garnier1Stop 2: Palais-Royal2Stop 3: Louvre Museum3
3 numbered stops in walking order.

Palais Garnier to the Louvre, Paris

3 stops · about 1.7 km · about 25 min on foot · about 20 min of audio

Start at the Palais Garnier, the opera house Napoleon III ordered after escaping an assassination attempt in 1858. Walk down the Avenue de l’Opéra to the Palais-Royal, built for Cardinal Richelieu to live near the king, where Daniel Buren’s 260 striped columns fill the courtyard. Finish at the Louvre, the royal palace that opened to the public in 1793, with Ieoh Ming Pei’s glass pyramid in its Napoleon Courtyard. Entry to the Louvre is by timed ticket.

The stops and their free audio guides

  1. Palais Garnierfree audio guide, about 7 min
  2. Palais-Royalfree audio guide, about 7 min
  3. Louvre Museumfree audio guide, about 7 min
See the walk

Prefer a live guide?

Guided walking tours in Paris leave from a meeting point at set times with a local guide. Some are free and run on tips, others have a fixed price. Mappu does not run them: the partner below lists them, so you can compare and book.

Self-guided walk or guided free tour?

A Mappu walk is free and on your own time: start when you like, stop for a coffee, skip a stop, and listen to each place’s story in your browser. In the Mappu app, Walk Mode narrates each place as you walk: at the walk, your first two stories are free with a free Mappu account, and after that Walk Mode uses credits.

A guided tour gives you a person to ask and a group to walk with, at the tour’s time and pace. On a free tour that runs on tips, you pay what you think it was worth at the end.

More for your visit to Paris