Paris Latin Quarter Guided Walking Tour - Semi-Private 12ppl Max

Meet your private guide on Ile de la Cité to begin your Latin Quarter walking tour at Notre-Dame Cathedral. Then walk across the Seine and onto the Left Bank, into the Parisian neighborhood that both Hemingway and Fitzgerald, among other writers, once called home. From ancient Roman ruins to the backdrops for Woody Allen’s film Midnight in Paris, this tour takes you through the centuries that have shaped this historical and cultural district. Learn about its intellectual roots at the Sorbonne, or discuss the famous thinkers buried under the Panthéon’s majestic dome. Pal around with today’s literati as you browse the stacks at Shakespeare and Company bookstore, and then discover Luxembourg Garden (Jardin du Luxembourg), the most beautiful park for finding a bench and reading a few chapters. There’s no shortage of fascinating stories that your guide shares with you as you stroll along the cobbled streets of the Latin Quarter, each more charming than the last.

Once at the meeting point, you will start your tour by exploring ile de la cite, the oldest settlement in Paris. Once known as Lutetia, this former Roman city was the predecessor of present-day Paris, from which the city grew outwards.

From here, you will see the infamous Notre-Dame Cathedral – the most famous of the Gothic cathedrals of the Middle Ages, distinguished for its size, antiquity and architectural interest.

You will then pass by the Saint-Michel fountain, a monumental fountain commissioned by Haussmann, under Napoleon III. It depicts the archangel Michael vanquishing the Devil, evoking thoughts of the battle between Good and Evil.

Next we will head towards Shakespeare and Company, a bookstore unlike any other. Just minutes from Notre Dame, it is arguably one of the most famous bookshops in the world where literary types from the Beatnik Generation would find a home through the 1950s and 60s.

Following on, you will see the Melkite Greek Catholic parish church, Saint Julien le Pauvre, one of the city’s oldest religious buildings.

You will also see the Roman Catholic church of Saint Séverin, one of the oldest churches that remains standing on the Left Bank and which continues to be used as a place of worship.

After this, we will head towards the Musée de Cluny, also known as the National Museum of the Middle Ages. This museum is partially constructed on the the remnants of the third century Gallo-Roman baths and houses famous collections from the 1st to the 15th centuries.

Next we will head towards the infamous Sorbonne University, a college that became the epicentre of knowledge. The history of the Sorbonne is closely linked to that of the creation of the French university.

We will then head towards the Pantheon, a building originally built as a church dedicated to St Genevieve, but now functions as a secular mausoleum, containing the remains of notable French citizens such as Voltaire and Rousseau.

We will then go to the beautiful Luxembourg gardens, situated on the border between Saint-Germain-des-Prés and the Latin Quarter. The gardens, inspired by the Boboli Gardens in Florence were created in 1612 upon the initiative of Queen Marie de Medici and cover 25 hectares of land.

If we have time, we will see the church of Saint-Éienne du Mont, which contains the shrine of St Geneviève, as well as the tomb of Jean Racine.

We will also pass by the Wall of Philip August, the oldest city wall in Paris. The wall was built during the struggles between Philipp II of France and the Anglo-Norman House of Plantagenet, as the French King ordered a stone wall to be built in order to protect the French capital before leaving for the Third Crusade.