Classic Paris on Foot: Notre-Dame to the Arc de Triomphe

Entry to Notre-Dame is free with or without a reservation, but the free timed slots on the cathedral’s own site only open two to three days ahead and smooth out the wait on busy days. Shoulders and knees need to be covered and men are asked to remove hats — visitors in beachwear are turned away at the door.

The Louvre runs on timed entry booked through its own ticket site, released a few months ahead; booking ahead is the only way to guarantee entry, and the Louvre does sometimes make it mandatory outright for a stated period. If there’s only time for the courtyard and the glass Pyramid rather than the galleries, that’s still worth doing — the courtyard is free to walk into and stays open past the galleries’ closing time, though it does lock up overnight.

The Arc sits in the middle of a twelve-lane traffic circle with no pedestrian crossing at street level. Underground passages run from both the Champs-Élysées and Avenue de la Grande Armée sides and surface right at the monument; the Charles de Gaulle–Étoile metro exit drops you at the tunnel mouth without crossing a road.