Montmartre Walking Tour — the One That Wanders Off
You climb up Montmartre - and catch yourself feeling something strange: you’ve been here before. You have finally found a place that you’ve seen in your dreams again and again, where you know every house, every alley, the twisted balcony railing, tiled roofs and old signs, a square with chestnut trees, the silhouette of a windmill around the corner and the white domes of Sacré-Cœur Basilica, a tiny café on the corner and a pastry shop with - you know for sure - the best tarte Tatin in Paris. You recognize the smells here - coffee, fresh baguette and oil paints - and the sounds - a musette waltz by Yann Tiersen floating over the hill, gypsy jazz and the hypnotic slightly hoarse voice of Zaz. Here the cancan roars with laughter, hikes skirts up, sets breath gasping, and the accordion rings out.
And the residents - you know everyone, after all. They walk through walls, cheat their way into becoming artists, sell paintings painted by donkeys, and in their free time glue broken hearts together and, without any embarrassment, say “I love you” to the whole world.
You remember the Montmartre of the Belle Époque - with café-chantants, the cabaret Le Chat Noir, attic workshops, and conversations through the tobacco smoke in midnight cafés. You were here during the student protests in the 1960s - with Serge Gainsbourg, Dalida, Jacques Brel. You walked through the Montmartre of our own century with Amélie Poulain and sang French chanson with street musicians.
Each of us has our own dream of Montmartre. Shaped by Amélie or Midnight in Paris, by songs by Charles Aznavour or Serge Gainsbourg, Henry Miller’s Tropic of Cancer or Zola’s Nana, paintings by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, or Amedeo Modigliani. And however different these dreams may be, we will find your Montmartre together.
And the residents - you know everyone, after all. They walk through walls, cheat their way into becoming artists, sell paintings painted by donkeys, and in their free time glue broken hearts together and, without any embarrassment, say “I love you” to the whole world.
You remember the Montmartre of the Belle Époque - with café-chantants, the cabaret Le Chat Noir, attic workshops, and conversations through the tobacco smoke in midnight cafés. You were here during the student protests in the 1960s - with Serge Gainsbourg, Dalida, Jacques Brel. You walked through the Montmartre of our own century with Amélie Poulain and sang French chanson with street musicians.
Each of us has our own dream of Montmartre. Shaped by Amélie or Midnight in Paris, by songs by Charles Aznavour or Serge Gainsbourg, Henry Miller’s Tropic of Cancer or Zola’s Nana, paintings by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, or Amedeo Modigliani. And however different these dreams may be, we will find your Montmartre together.
Date:
Time:
Duration:
Type of tour:
Languages:
Cost:
Time:
Duration:
Type of tour:
Languages:
Cost:
On a day convenient for you
At a time convenient for you
2 hours
Private
English
€260 for a group of 1-4 people,
At a time convenient for you
2 hours
Private
English
€260 for a group of 1-4 people,
€65 for each additional participant
What We’ll See: Iconic Places, Quiet Corners, and Montmartre Beyond the Postcard
Of course, we’ll see the Sacré-Cœur Basilica, and Place Pigalle with the cabaret known all over the world, and many villas where well-known artists and poets once lived - all the things that have long since become symbols of Montmartre. But not only that. We’ll turn down the side streets, peek into the most unexpected places, find surprising stories, try the most delicious pies, and look for unusual souvenirs — so that you see not the postcard Montmartre, not the tourist-packed district, but the Montmartre we know and love. And that we really want to share with you.
We’ll see:
We’ll see:
- The Basilica of Sacré-Cœur (Basilique du Sacré-Cœur), a church where prayer never stops
- The cabaret Au Lapin Agile, once essentially a bohemian club, a place of literary and artistic play
- The Montmartre vineyards (Clos Montmartre)
- The Radet Windmill (Moulin Radet), which later became a famous cabaret
- Théâtre Lepic, a theatre built as a set for a Claude Lelouch film
- Place du Tertre (place du Tertre), where there are more caricature artists than pigeons
- Place Pigalle (place Pigalle) and the legendary cabaret “Moulin Rouge” (Moulin Rouge)
- The charming Rue Cortot (rue Cortot), with villas, artists’ studios, and a picturesque courtyard where Pierre-Auguste Renoir worked
- The sculpture “The Man Who Walks Through Walls” (Le Passe-Muraille)
- The Witch’s Stone on the picturesque Rue Junot (rue Junot)
- An old water pump
- The Church of Saint Peter (Église Saint-Pierre de Montmartre), the oldest parish church in Paris
- Bateau-Lavoir (“the Laundry Boat”), a house of artists’ studios where Pablo Picasso and Kees van Dongen lived
- The Wall of Love (Le Mur des Je t’aime)
- The Church of Saint-Jean de Montmartre, a striking example of Art Nouveau with stained glass and unusual mosaic decoration
- Place Dalida (Place Dalida)
- A boulangerie-pâtisserie where they bake the best baguette in Paris
What You’ll Learn:
Stories, Odd Details, and Why Montmartre Became Montmartre
Stories, Odd Details, and Why Montmartre Became Montmartre
We’ll remember Montmartre’s legendary past. We’ll find out why Saint Denis needed to bathe his severed head in a fountain, and how this is connected with the birth of the Gothic style.
We’ll talk about Montmartre’s unique village character, which it somehow manages to keep despite progress and the crowds it draws. We’ll find out what kind of wine they make here, and what role local associations play in life in France.
And yes, we’ll step into Montmartre’s bohemian world and figure out why artists and writers took to that particular hill. Ah, the passions that ran high here! How they argued, revelled, fell in love, and became legends! We’ll talk about this too.
And Montmartre is the perfect place to talk about the inventions of Parisian pâtisserie, the baguette and the cult of bread in France. And to accompany theory with practice.
And we’ll show you how to avoid tourist traps so that after the tour you can feel confident in Montmartre, like a real Parisian.
We’ll talk about Montmartre’s unique village character, which it somehow manages to keep despite progress and the crowds it draws. We’ll find out what kind of wine they make here, and what role local associations play in life in France.
And yes, we’ll step into Montmartre’s bohemian world and figure out why artists and writers took to that particular hill. Ah, the passions that ran high here! How they argued, revelled, fell in love, and became legends! We’ll talk about this too.
And Montmartre is the perfect place to talk about the inventions of Parisian pâtisserie, the baguette and the cult of bread in France. And to accompany theory with practice.
And we’ll show you how to avoid tourist traps so that after the tour you can feel confident in Montmartre, like a real Parisian.
What We’ll Do: A Montmartre Walking Tour, Not Quite the Usual One
On all our tours, we don’t just talk. Together, we will:
And if you’ve made it all the way to the end, we have a little secret for you. This tour was created by our dear Anya, who has lived in Paris for most of her life and is hopelessly in love with it. And Anya is the biggest perfectionist on our team. 🙂 So do we even need to say that you’ll get the best tour possible?
- Listen to traditional French chanson;
- Find a hidden old cemetery;
- Count how many languages the phrase “I love you” is written in on the Wall of Love;
- Try a crispy baguette that used to be supplied to the presidential palace;
And if you’ve made it all the way to the end, we have a little secret for you. This tour was created by our dear Anya, who has lived in Paris for most of her life and is hopelessly in love with it. And Anya is the biggest perfectionist on our team. 🙂 So do we even need to say that you’ll get the best tour possible?
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in the Netherlands, Morocco,
Serbia, Hungary, and Belgium.
You can also book a Tailored Travel Itinerary.
Our Specials:
Tours in Amsterdam for US Travelers
Tours in Amsterdam for Travelers from India.
+31645728768
hi@snurk.travel
For Agencies
See you soon!
Photos by Tie Liu, Anastasia Afonina, Diana Tamarova, Sergey Rozanov, Olga Tolstova, Oleksander Vladimirov, Maria Kuzmicheva, Irina Miftakhova, Yulia Bogdanova, Mihael Zholubovskiy, Irina Novichkova, Anna Dyerjabina, Elias Ouaghrib Fosset.
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