Start the tour

Self-guided free tour

The Marais: Mansions, squares and the Pletzl

Free · no booking Loop route

Duration
2 h 5 min approx.
Distance
3.8 km on foot
Stops
10 stops

A loop through the neighbourhood the nobility filled with mansions in the seventeenth century and that Jewish immigrants later turned into the Pletzl. From the City Hall to Saint-Gervais, the Wall of the Righteous, Rue des Rosiers, the hidden shortcut through the Hôtel de Sully, Place des Vosges, the Carnavalet, the Hôtel de Soubise, the Centre Pompidou and the Tour Saint-Jacques. Ten stops, a little under four kilometres and about two hours, not counting time inside the museums.

Start and end Paris City Hall (Hôtel de Ville)

Get there

The route

The 1 marks where the tour starts and ends.

The 10 stops

At each one, a story of about two minutes.

  1. 1

    Paris City Hall (Hôtel de Ville) Start

    370 m · 5 min on foot

  2. 2

    Saint-Gervais Church

    230 m · 3 min on foot

  3. 3

    Wall of the Righteous & Shoah Memorial

    430 m · 6 min on foot

  4. 4

    Rue des Rosiers, the Pletzl

    530 m · 8 min on foot

  5. 5

    Hôtel de Sully

    190 m · 3 min on foot

  6. 6

    Place des Vosges

    260 m · 4 min on foot

  7. 7

    Musée Carnavalet

    550 m · 8 min on foot

  8. 8

    Hôtel de Soubise

    560 m · 8 min on foot

  9. 9

    Centre Pompidou

    360 m · 5 min on foot

  10. 10

    Tour Saint-Jacques

    290 m · 4 min back to the start

  11. Back at Paris City Hall (Hôtel de Ville)

    The tour ends where it started.

How it works

  1. 1. Get to the start

    Head to the starting point and tap “Start the tour”.

  2. 2. Listen

    At each stop, tap “I'm here” and listen to the story.

  3. 3. Follow the map

    Follow the map to the next stop. No rush.

Before you set off

Bring headphones and a charged phone: audio and map use up battery.

  • It is a loop: you finish where you started.
  • Stop whenever you like. Your progress is saved on this phone.
  • The route and the texts load when you start, so it keeps working with patchy coverage.
  • The walk stays outdoors. The time does not include going inside the buildings.
  • Available in Spanish and English.
Photo credits
  • 1. Paris City Hall (Hôtel de Ville): wagner51 · CC BY-SA 2.0 fr · Wikimedia Commons
  • 2. Saint-Gervais Church: Arthur Weidmann · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  • 3. Wall of the Righteous & Shoah Memorial: Hadonos · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  • 4. Rue des Rosiers, the Pletzl: GFreihalter · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  • 5. Hôtel de Sully: Original: jean-louis ZimmermannDeriva... · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  • 6. Place des Vosges: Des Racines et des Ailes · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  • 7. Musée Carnavalet: David Monniaux · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  • 8. Hôtel de Soubise: LPLT · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  • 9. Centre Pompidou: JLPC · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  • 10. Tour Saint-Jacques: Siren-Com · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons