Notre-Dame de Paris Stays Free: 11 Million Visitors in Year One and a €5 Fee the Church Turned Down

Notre-Dame reopened on December 8 2024, five and a half years after the fire. In its first year it took in about 11 million visitors. Before 2019 the figure was roughly 8 to 9 million. People who'd watched it burn on television wanted to see it standing.

They still don't pay. Entry to the cathedral is free. In 2024 France's culture minister, Rachida Dati, suggested a €5 ticket for tourists, with the money going to France's other churches. The Diocese of Paris said no. A cathedral is a place of worship, and the church's position was that it stays open to anyone who walks in.

The photo dates from the restoration years, when the cranes were still up over the roof and hoardings ran along the square. Most of them are gone now. Not all.

Still a building site

Work continues on the east end. Scaffolding was still on the chevet in December 2025, where the flying buttresses are being rebuilt and restored. The sacristy and the forecourt are due by 2030. Beyond that, about a dozen more projects run to 2033, estimated at €150 million, with €130 million of it still to be raised. The west rose window is scheduled for 2027 to 2029, and six new windows by the painter Claire Tabouret are planned for the nave.

So the cathedral you visit in the next few years will be open, bright and busy, with parts of the outside under wraps.

How to visit

You can book a free time slot online or in the official app. It's optional, and the walk-up queue stays open, though at busy times the line runs across the square. The cathedral opens 7:45 to 19:00 on weekdays, until 22:00 on Thursdays, and 8:15 to 19:30 at weekends. Services take priority, so some areas close during Mass.

The treasury is the one paid part, at €12 or €6 reduced. It holds the reliquaries and liturgical objects that survived the fire.

Thursday evening is the best time to go. The queue thins after dinner, and the new limestone glows under the lights.