If you’ve ever wondered what the Moulin Rouge looks like behind the scenes, or if you want to pass the reception area at Paris City Hall for a glimpse into the corridors of power and decision-making, be sure to reserve space on your agenda. for the European Heritage Days (Journées Européennes du Patrimoine).
For two days a year in Paris and the rest of France, thousands of monuments, government buildings, museums and private sites of interest open their doors to give the public a free reign in areas that are generally not accessible. Also, the collections you usually have to pay for high ticket prices to visit suddenly cost nothing to enjoy. If you are on a tight budget and in town for the month of September, this is certainly an event to mark on your calendar.
What better way to “see behind the curtain” and gain a deeper understanding of how the city works? This is definitely one of the best free annual events in Paris – one that visitors and locals can enjoy regardless of how much or little they know about the city and its history.
Exhibitions, concerts, performances and other festive events often accompany visits. While the lines can be long and patience is always required for the Journées du Patrimoine in Paris, early visitors and connoisseurs of the city will find this free event in Paris a memorable change of pace.
European Heritage Day events in Paris: 2018 special events and sites
In 2016, les Journées Européennes du Patrimoine takes place from Saturday, September 15 to Sunday, September 16. Sites open this year include well-known treasures such as the Palais Matignon, the Musée d’Orsay, the Arc de Triomphe and the Louis Vuitton Foundation, one of the most coveted new contemporary art museums in Paris.
For a full list of sites in and around Paris open for the occasion this year, visit the official website.
For more detailed and in-person information about the event and the locations in the city, you can also visit the dedicated information center at the French Ministry of Culture and Communication during the two days of the event, from 9:30 am to 5: 00 pm:
Ministry of culture and communication
Dirección: 182, rue Saint-Honoré, 1st arrondissement
Metro: Tuileries or Concorde
The best tips to enjoy this free event
- We recommend walking around the city and stumbling upon interesting sites and events by chance . This is the way Parisians usually do it and it is always an interesting day. Try to book 30-45 minutes per site (not including time spent in line, which can sometimes be quite long).
- Don’t try to run around town in a frenzy, fitting in as many sites as you can manage. It is better (in our humble opinion) to focus on no more than three or four monuments, museums and / or buildings in one day. You’ll get more out of your experience and avoid burning out too quickly. If you really want to get the most out of the event, visit a few sites over the two days, rather than squeezing them into one day.
- To beat the crowds, try to start your visits as early in the day as possible – long lines often begin to form from morning onwards, and the free sites open for the occasion tend to get congested especially in the late afternoon. visitors are trying to get one last chance for free admission.
- You may or may not need a metro pass to make the most of your day , but if you plan to visit sites in various corners of the city, it may be worth investing in at least a day pass. See more information here about traveling on the Paris metro and choosing the right type of tickets and passes.
