Terragio67, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Montmartre
A hill that was a village until Paris caught up with it, and still behaves like one two streets back from the crowd. The view is free and the best part is the walking.
The village Paris grew around
Montmartre sits on the highest natural point in Paris and was a separate village of windmills and vineyards until the nineteenth century, which is why the streets behave nothing like the boulevards below. They bend, climb and stop. The painters came for the cheap rent, the tourists came for the painters, and the result is a place with two versions: the packed square at the top where portraitists work, and the quiet lanes a hundred metres away where people are simply going home. Both are real; only one is worth queueing for.
Explore Montmartre on the map
City locations, drawn from our published destination data. Attractions, hotels and restaurants are not mapped yet.
What to walk to
The basilica is the landmark, but the hill is the attraction.
⛪ The landmark
- Sacré-Cœur, white and domed, visible from most of northern Paris
- The dome climb, which is a narrow spiral and the best view in the city on a clear day
- The steps below it, where the whole of Paris opens out and where everyone sits at sunset
🎨 The old village
- Place du Tertre, the painters' square — crowded, commercial, and part of the story
- The vineyard on rue des Saules, a survivor of the hill's farming past
- Rue de l'Abreuvoir and the lanes around it, which are what people mean when they say Montmartre
🪜 Getting up
- The funicular from Place Saint-Pierre, which takes a métro ticket
- The stairs beside it, which are steep and quicker than they look
- The gentler approach from Abbesses through the back streets, which is the nicer walk
Getting there
North of the centre, and the approach you choose changes the visit.
🚇 Métro
- Abbesses is the atmospheric arrival — a deep station with a spiral staircase and a lift
- Anvers puts you at the foot of the funicular and the busiest approach
- Blanche is the Pigalle side, and a longer but quieter climb
🚶 On foot
- Twenty-five minutes uphill from Gare du Nord
- The hill is genuinely steep; comfortable shoes matter more here than anywhere else in Paris
When to go
Montmartre is two different places before and after about eleven in the morning.
🕰️ Time of day
- Early morning is the version worth having — the lanes are empty and the light is on the basilica
- Sunset on the steps is the famous one and is shared with several hundred people
- Evenings are lively rather than quiet, and the back streets stay pleasant
📅 Time of year
- Spring and autumn are best; the hill is exposed and August is hot work
⏱️ How long
- Half a day covers the basilica, the square and the lanes without rushing
Worth knowing
The hill has a reputation for hassle. Most of it is avoidable.
⚠️ On the approach
- Friendship-bracelet sellers work the steps below the basilica and can be persistent; keep walking and do not offer a wrist
- The square at the top is where prices are highest for the least interesting food
📷 Photography
- The lanes photograph better than the viewpoint, which is usually hazy
- Inside the basilica photography is not permitted; the dome is the picture
🍷 Eating
- Walk two streets off Place du Tertre and both the quality and the price improve sharply
♿ Access
- The funicular avoids the steepest climb; the lanes themselves are cobbled and steep throughout
Nearby
What sits within reach of the hill.
Frequently asked
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