Plan your visit

Montmartre Paris Visitor Information

What a day on the Butte actually costs, how to get up it, and how long to give it. Everything below is checked against the operators’ and the city’s own published figures.

What a visit to Montmartre costs — and what it does not

There is no Montmartre ticket. The hill is a public neighbourhood of the 18th arrondissement, so the lanes, the staircases, Place du Tertre and the view over the whole city are open to anyone at any hour, for nothing. The basilica on the summit is free to enter as well, every day from 6.30am to 10.30pm, in its own words: “the visit of the Basilica is free”. That surprises a lot of people, because a great deal of what is sold as Montmartre guided tours is really a guide rather than an entry, and it is worth knowing which is which before you pay for either.

Four things on the Butte do have a door price, and they are the only four. Here they are together, so you can see the whole bill at once.

Add those up and a full day of everything ticketed comes to about €42 a head. Most visitors pay far less than that, because the two museums are optional and the view that brings people here is free.

Free every day: the basilica, the view and the streets

The Sacré-Cœur has been open for continuous prayer since 1 August 1885 and has never closed for a day since, which is why its hours run from before breakfast to half past ten at night. You can walk in, sit down, look at the 480-square-metre mosaic of Christ in Majesty above the apse, and walk out again without paying anything.

The parvis: the terrace in front of the basilica is the single best free view in Paris and it never shuts.
The nave: free, 6.30am to 10.30pm, every day without exception.
The mosaic: 480 m², inaugurated in 1923, visible from the nave.
The organ: under restoration until May 2027; the choir organ plays at services.

The dome — €8, 280 steps and no lift

The one climb worth budgeting for is the dome. It costs €8 for anyone aged 16 or over and €5 for children up to 15, with reduced rates of €6 and €4 for groups of twenty or more. Entry runs from 10.30am with a last admission at 8.15pm, and the basilica closes it briefly at midday for the staff break.

The climb: 280 steps on a narrow spiral staircase, with no lift.
Not for: anyone with limited mobility, and anyone uneasy in tight spaces.
Closures: maintenance and weather both shut it, so check the basilica site the day before.
The reward: a 360-degree view of Paris from the highest point in the city.

The two museums worth a ticket

Musée de Montmartre, 12 rue Cortot

The house where Renoir, Suzanne Valadon and Maurice Utrillo all worked, now a museum with its own gardens. Full admission is €16, students aged 18 to 25 pay €10.50, 10 to 17s pay €9 and under-10s go free. If you only want the Renoir Gardens and the café, that is a €6 ticket on its own. Open every day, 10am to 7pm, with last entry at 6.15pm.

Dalí Paris, 11 rue Poulbot

More than 300 works, in the old quarry cellars a minute off Place du Tertre. Full admission is €16, reduced rates are €13 and €11, and under-8s go free. Open every day from 10am to 6pm. An audioguide is €3 on the door.

Getting up the hill: 222 steps or one funicular fare

From Square Louise-Michel there are 222 steps to the parvis. The funicular was built in 1891 precisely so that nobody has to take them, and it accepts one standard Métro-Train-RER ticket — €2.55 as of January 2026 — for one ride in one direction, with no transfers. Paper tickets have been withdrawn, so load the fare onto a Navigo Easy card or the transport app before you arrive, and check the current price, because fares are revised each January.

If stairs are the problem rather than the walk, come in at Abbesses on line 12 instead: it has a lift, and it puts you most of the way up the hill without the long climb from Anvers. The full comparison of the five entrances is on the getting around page.

How long to allow

Two hours: the basilica, Place du Tertre and the best of the lanes, at a pace that lets you stop. This is why almost every guided walk here is built to that length.
Half a day: the same, plus one museum or a long lunch on a terrace.
A full day: add Montmartre Cemetery, the vineyard streets around rue des Saules, and the walk down through Abbesses.

When the hill is quiet

Before about 10am and after about 7pm, all year. Place du Tertre fills with coach groups from mid-morning and stays full until late afternoon in summer; one of the walks listed here exists purely to be up there at dawn. Winter is genuinely quieter and the light off the white stone is better than its reputation — the trade is a sunset at 4.55pm in late December against 9.57pm in late June, which changes what you can fit into an afternoon. The month-by-month figures are on the weather page.

Do you need a guided tour at all?

Honestly, no — not to see Montmartre. You can walk every street on this hill for nothing and the basilica will let you in for nothing too. What a guide buys is an edited route, which on a hill of 300-odd lanes is worth more than it sounds, plus the difference between looking at a doorway and knowing that Picasso painted Les Demoiselles d’Avignon behind it. A food tour buys something more concrete again: it replaces a meal, at named bakeries and cheese counters you would otherwise walk past.

If you would rather do it alone, take the funicular up, walk down through Abbesses, and give yourself two hours. If you would rather be shown, Montmartre Paris Tours lists every guided walk, food tour and private morning on the hill with what each fare actually covers.

Two of those four tickets are museums, and the Musée de Montmartre is the one with the gardens attached — worth knowing before you choose between them.

Sources

• Basilique du Sacré-Cœur de Montmartre — hours, free entry, dome price and steps. Checked 2026-09-08.
• Musée de Montmartre — admission and opening hours. Checked 2026-09-08.
• Dalí Paris — admission and opening hours. Checked 2026-09-08.
• Ville de Paris — the height of the Butte, the 222 steps, the funicular and the cemetery hours. Checked 2026-09-08.

Prices and hours can change; verify anything time-critical with the operator before you travel.