Begin your tour in front of the world's most famous cabaret, the Moulin Rouge, whose red windmill has spun above Pigalle since 1889. Founded during Montmartre's bohemian heyday, this legendary venue helped birth the can-can and turned it into a global sensation, drawing artists like Toulouse-Lautrec, who immortalized its dancers in some of his most iconic posters. Your guide will share the stories behind the cabaret's rise to fame, from its scandalous reputation in fin-de-siècle Paris to its enduring role in French pop culture, including its starring turn in the 2001 film that shares its name. Even if you don't catch a show, standing beneath the windmill is a quintessential Paris moment, and a perfect introduction to the neighborhood's rebellious, artistic spirit. This stop sets the tone for the rest of your walk through Montmartre's storied streets, where art, history, and legend collide at every turn.
A short walk brings us to the Café des Deux Moulins, the charming corner café made famous around the world by the beloved 2001 film Amélie. Your guide explains how this everyday Parisian café — its name a nod to two nearby windmills — became a place of pilgrimage after Amélie Poulain served drinks behind its counter on screen. Little changed since, it offers a glimpse of the ordinary Montmartre that exists alongside the tourist trail: neighbourhood bistros, zinc bars and the quiet rhythms of local life. Here your guide reflects on modern Montmartre's cultural pull — how a neighbourhood shaped by painters a century ago continues to inspire filmmakers, writers and dreamers, and why its romantic image still draws visitors from every corner of the globe.
We pause before the building on Rue Lepic where Vincent van Gogh once lived with his brother Theo, an art dealer, during his formative years in Paris. Your guide brings this crucial chapter to life. Arriving in 1886, Van Gogh spent two transformative years in the city, and it was here — surrounded by the Impressionists and the vivid light of Montmartre — that his palette exploded into the bright, bold colours we know today. The grey tones of his Dutch period gave way to the dazzling yellows and blues that would define his genius. Standing beneath their old windows, your guide tells the story of the devoted, difficult bond between the two brothers, and how these Montmartre years set Vincent on the path toward the masterpieces of his final, luminous life.
We arrive at the Bateau-Lavoir, the ramshackle warren of studios that became the unlikely birthplace of modern art. Your guide describes the extraordinary community that gathered here in the early 1900s. In these cramped, chaotic rooms — nicknamed the "laundry boat" for their resemblance to the washing barges on the Seine — a young Pablo Picasso painted Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, the revolutionary work that shattered tradition and opened the door to Cubism. Modigliani, Juan Gris and a host of poets and painters worked alongside him. Here your guide explains how a leaking, freezing tenement with barely any running water became the crucible of twentieth-century art, where hungry young geniuses dreamed up movements that would change the way the world sees forever.
We walk on to Montmartre's surviving windmills, including the celebrated Moulin de la Galette, reminders of a time when this hill was open countryside rather than a corner of Paris. Your guide explains that Montmartre was once dotted with dozens of windmills, grinding grain and pressing grapes high above the city. As Paris expanded, the mills fell silent, and one was reborn as a popular open-air dance hall — the scene of Renoir's sunlit masterpiece Bal du Moulin de la Galette, capturing Parisians dancing beneath the trees. Standing among these rustic survivors, your guide traces the hill's remarkable transformation: from farmland and vineyards to a bohemian village that lured artists with its cheap rents, country air and irresistible, village-like charm.
We come to Le Lapin Agile, the tiny, ivy-clad cabaret on the quieter northern slope of the hill — one of the oldest and most storied nightspots in Paris. Your guide tells its colourful history. Named for a witty painted sign of a nimble rabbit leaping from a cooking pot, this humble tavern became a gathering place for the struggling artists, poets and musicians of Montmartre's golden age. Picasso, Modigliani and Utrillo all drank and argued here, paying their tabs, so the legend goes, in paintings rather than coins. Little changed in over a century, Le Lapin Agile still echoes with the songs and poetry of that bohemian era. Your guide shares the tales of the singers and dreamers who made it famous, and the raucous, creative nights that fuelled some of the greatest art the world has known.
We turn onto Rue de l'Abreuvoir, one of the most picturesque streets in all of Paris and a favourite of photographers and painters alike. Your guide leads you along its gentle curve, past low houses draped in wisteria and cobblestones untouched by time. On the corner stands the pink façade of La Maison Rose, the café immortalised by the painter Utrillo and one of the most photographed spots on the hill. Its name means "the watering trough" — once a path where animals were led to drink — and the lane still feels like a village street from another century. At its far end your guide pauses at the Buste de Dalida, a bronze memorial to the beloved Egyptian-born singer who made Montmartre her home for decades. Marked by triumph and heartbreak alike, her likeness — polished bright by the touch of countless admirers — watches over one of the loveliest corners of the neighbourhood.
A little further along the slope, the streets open onto a surprising sight: the Clos Montmartre, the last working vineyard in Paris, its neat rows of vines tumbling down the hillside on Rue des Saules. Your guide explains how vines once covered these slopes, back when Montmartre was a rural village of windmills and farmland beyond the city walls. Almost all vanished as Paris swallowed the hill, but this small plot was replanted in 1933 to save the land from developers, and it has been tended ever since — producing a few thousand bottles each year, celebrated with a lively harvest festival every autumn. Standing at the railings above the vines, your guide paints a picture of the old agricultural Montmartre that once was, a stubborn pocket of village life clinging on beneath the domes of Sacré-Cœur — now rising just ahead as we climb the final steps to the summit.
Our walk ends at its highest point, before the gleaming white domes of the Sacré-Cœur Basilica, crowning the summit of Montmartre and visible across all of Paris. Your guide tells its story: built in gleaming travertine stone from 1875 in the wake of France's defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, the basilica was conceived as an act of penance and hope. Its Romano-Byzantine architecture, soaring dome and shimmering interior mosaic make it one of the most striking churches in France — a relative newcomer that has become an enduring symbol of the city. From the steps outside spreads one of the finest panoramas in Paris, the whole city laid out below. Here your guide concludes the tour, with recommendations for nearby cafés, viewpoints and corners to explore at your own pace — a memorable final flourish high above the rooftops.
Fab 2 hour tour to see such a beautiful side of Paris would thoroughly recommend to anyone just do it Our tour guide Harry was so lovely too and so passionate we just loved the tour.
An excellent tour from Chris - he has a brilliant way of illuminating the history and context so that you go away with a deep and clear understanding of the places visited and the people who made that history happen. Highly recommended.
We had a wonderful time on the Montmartre tour with Welly! He was an amazing guide, very friendly, knowledgeable, and passionate about the history and charm of the neighborhood. Highly recommend to anyone!
I honestly cannot recommend this Montmartre tour enough! It was so much more than just a walking tour — it was a beautiful journey through the history, art, and soul of Paris. Harry is an absolutely incredible guide! His passion, warmth, humour, and storytelling made every moment special. You could genuinely feel how much he loves what he does. He brought Montmartre to life in a way that made us feel connected to the neighbourhood and its fascinating stories. There were moments when I laughed, moments when I was deeply moved, and moments when I simply stopped to appreciate how magical Paris really is. I’ve been on many walking tours, but this one truly touched my heart. If you’re visiting Paris, please don’t miss this experience, and if you’re lucky enough to have Harry as your guide, you’re in for something really special! Thank you, Harry, for making us fall in love with Montmartre! ❤️
Welly was a very good guide, knew all details of Montmartre and all the hidden gems. Definitely worth the tour.
The tour guide demonstrated strong expertise, and the experience felt both engaging and enjoyable. Pricing proved inconsistent, as the same-day rate dropped noticeably compared to my advance payment. Including a guided tour of the basilica visit might have made the experience more wholesome.
Excellent tour. Well paced, really informative. Loved the photos and stories along with seeing an unexpected wine makers parade.
Such an amazing tour of Montmartre with Ezra! It’s definitely one of those neighborhoods you have to see when you’re in Paris. Ezra was a fantastic storyteller and made the history of the area really interesting and fun. The walk itself is beautiful, and Sacré-Cœur at the end is absolutely breathtaking. Really enjoyed the whole experience and would definitely recommend it!
Interesting history , fun facts about Paris and Monmatre . Tour guide Welly speaks good English and very knowledgeable . The only pity is he didn’t say much about Dalida .
Chris was exceptional as our guide.
Brilliant tour, Chris was really engaging and knowledgable. Walk was just the right length of time and just what we were looking for
A wonderful tour. Ines shared so much interesting history about this area. So much to see. We will definitely return to spend more time here
I did the Montmartre walking tour in Paris with Keara and it was amazing! She knows so much about the history, art, and hidden spots of the neighborhood. Keara was friendly, easy to talk to, and made the tour fun and interesting. I loved hearing the stories about the artists and seeing parts of Montmartre I never would have found on my own. Highly recommend this tour if you want a personal and memorable experience!
Wendy was a great tour guide highlighting Montemartre district. We were having all kinda of challenges but was able to join! Thank you Wendy for sharing the beauty and history of Montemartre district. Wear your walking shoes as the streets were not smooth.
Educational and fun. The tour guide was wonderful he was witty and funny. Alot of walking and hilly but very manageable. We loved it.
Lucy, our guide was amazing 👏. She found the right spots for the right stories . She gave us good suggestions to do after the tour. Great tour in one of the interesting districts in Paris.
Would 100% recommend the tour. Our guide, Fernando was super nice and kept the walk engaging and fun. Having been to Montmartre before, definitely appreciated knowing stories about all the artists who lived there and called it home.
I've started my time in Paris by doing this free tour of Montmartre. Who does not want to know about Moulin Rouge... But it was much more than this. The tour guide was Harry he was a great guide. Took us trough little roads and showed us some Montmartre curiosities that we would not have known any other way. It was now just a sighseeing tour, with Harry's history knowledge and insight this tour was elevated, and Paris is no longer the Eiffel Tower and the Moulin Rouge. Thank you!
We did two tours with Harry: Montmartre and Paris. Harry is very personable and solicitous. He engages well with his audience, and takes the time to find out a little bit about each member of his tour. Moreover, Harry readily remembers those who had participated in a previous walk, which attests to his attention to detail. Harry is extremely knowledgeable, but does not give the run of the mill, clichéd speeches. Rather, he promotes critical thought and analysis about historical events. He also brings a spot of humour to the walking tours. I had done both tours before, and was just accompanying friends, but I was not bored at all due to Harry’s skilful way of presenting the information. I definitely recommend.
Excellent tour with Lucie - she is a very knowledgeable, interesting and engaging guide. Highly recommend!
We did a tour with Lucy. She was really knowledgeable and very passionate about the area. I’d recommend this tour again!
Had an amazing tour with Lucy! She was so bubbly and kind and so passionate about the area. She had so much knowledge and interesting stories! 🤍
The guide was boring. She waffled on a lot about how and why she started in this job as tour guide and how wonderful the Montmartre area was. This was after we had started 10 minutes late, and then, after 40 minutes, we had literally only advanced about a block or 2 further from the start; we were shown where the movie Amelie was filmed, and told all about how wonderful the movie was. At this point, we decided to abscond and slip away quietly. I hadn't learnt anything new and captivating at that stage and was so looking forward to the experience.
Our tour guide Fernando gave wonderful insights into the history and background of Montmartre, which made our visit to the quarter so much richer. Without his information, we would have missed many things about this beautiful district of Paris. He timed the tour well and was very friendly, and his way of explaining the stories was excellent. Especially the recommendations and tips and tricks for Paris were helpful and interesting.
We did 2 walking tours with Sandeman's while in Paris (both with Andrea, who is a fantastic guide and source of information). We absolutely loved the 5pm Montmartre tour, after which we climbed up the Montmartre Basilica for an incredible view over Paris. (don't miss this!) Andrea was full of interesting stories and history and we learned a lot. We also liked the general walking tour of Paris, but if you are only able to do one, do Montmartre!
The tour is amazing! As a female solo traveller, a new unfamiliar place will always be daunting. Initially went with a Paris tour just so I can “get the feels” of the place and then explore on my own. Booked Sandeman’s and got a wonderful guide, Daniel, who is as passionate to tourguiding as he is as passionate to history. He knows everything - history of Paris, the relevance of all the sites you will see in the tour, current affairs, local flairs and secrets, and all around chatting - he is wonderful. How can I manage to roam around on my own without knowing what I am looking at? So booked again with a Montmartre tour, with Daniel again. As expected, it was a blast. You get a local’s pov of the district, a “secret” alleyway to the Sacre Coeur away from the crowds, history of the place and people who lived there. After this tour, I wanna live in Montmartre! Thank you Daniel and thank you Sandemans, definitely booking again.
We loved all the stories Daniel told us. He had incredible details about people that lived there, showed very curious places and made us breathless with laughter with his cabaret stories. Also, we learned what is a cephalophore. Great stuff. We did many walking tours in Paris with different companies, and this one was surely a highlight of our trip.
Me and my girlfriend took the Sunday evening tour with Dawie and it was great! Super fun and informative and got us to see places in Montmartre we would probably miss if we were just touring the place on our own. Additionally, great tips. We followed the suggested “dinner menu” and it was awesome, and looking for invaders the rest of our trip made for a super fun game! Y
Great walking tour through Paris - a lot of intresting details about the impressive city. i would recomend everyone to start your Paris City trip with this tour.
Harry's personality, enthusiasm, and knowledge for Montmartre is so engaging and truly made my guided tour on a very chilly evening wonderfully memorable!
Excellent time with good laughs along the way with Dawie, very informative and fun. Would highly recommend
This was a great tour. The guide took us through a number of side streets in Montmartre, pointing out one of the main streets for good food, mentioning a few of her favorites, another street of nice items for shoppers. She was knowledgeable about the history, items of interest. One of my favorite parts of using the Paris pass. This tour and the Marais tour were excellent ! We were glad to signed up for it.
I joined the group in front of the Moulin Rouge and from there we walked to different places in Montmarte, like Picasso' s Atelier, the road where Van Gogh lived, the house of Dalila and to another "moulin" blue this time. The guide was super nice and talked good English. Maybe the visit was a bit fast and we couldn't take enough pictures. However it was good. It would be nice to have something written about the places visited.
Fabulous wee tour, our guide Albert was very knowledgeable and kept the tour moving at a good pace. Would recommend this tour, we were staying in Montmarte and this enhanced our enjoyment and improved our knowledge of the locale
Tom was very informative, knowlegable and friendly. We booked very late after Guru let us down. The booking was confirmed and we were met within the hour!
Tour guide, Alberto I think, was amazing! Knowledgeable, funny, great story teller, informative, charming! A very packed 2 hours ! An excellent deal!
Thom was the bomb! He was engaging and gave an awesome tour for a variety of ages. Great walking tour of Montmartre - would highly recommend for any travelers looking to see that area and with some history and context. Don’t forget tip cash, and make time to spend strolling the cafes and shops at the top of the hill.
Our guide Dawie was awesome! Funny, great stories, a lot of knowledge of history and local info. Would highly recommend this tour.
Our tour of Montmartre featured numerous stops in the area that were fun to see as well as the magnificient Sacre Couer at the top of the walk. Our guide, Daiwa, was very informative, and added many entertaining anecdotes regarding many of the sites.
Alberto was a fantastic guide. Rich and deep knowledge which he shared in a very engaging manner. Great tour!!!!
Dawie is a great knowledgeable guide and funny. We were tired but his notable commentary of hidden stories of Montmartre kept us active all along. Wish we have such a resourceful guy for other tours that we had!
Our tour guide was Alberto and he was fantastic. He really helped bring alive the history of Montmatre not just walking around and pointing at buildings. The stories he told were interesting. We found Alberto to be knowledgeable and personable. Highly recommend the tour and the tour guide.
This tour is for both history and art lovers. This district supplied food and wine for Parisians in ancient times. It was a stronghold for both Christians and Revolutionists. In later years, it was a favorite place for Impressionist artists who lived in the area and frequented the cafes.
Dawie was fun, informative and I love his courtesy/respect to the locals as we walked thru the neighborhood. He delivered great information in a fun way to keep us engaged. You will get a lot more out of the trip to Montmartre if you take his tour, I learned a lot and have a great time
I had a really awesome walking tour experience with Dawie. You can tell he puts 110% into his job as a tour guide. He has very interesting stories about the city and the locations we visit, and is super animated and keeps you engaged the entire time. Hands down one of the best walking tours we've ever been on, all thanks to Dawie!
Javi was excellent! He really enjoys being a tour guide and keeps us all entertained throughout the tour.
I may have read the experience wrong on the page but purchased a ticket thinking this would be a walking city tour of Paris sights. Upon arrival, two of us (not together) purchased tickets but was a Spanish speaking tour and they did not have accommodations for English on that day, the gentleman was very nice. I walked with the tour for a short period of time but did not understand Spanish and the tour began on a street area that smelled so profusely of urine, it was difficult to stand and listen, the rest of the time that I was with the tour was just nothing interesting so I spent more money on transportation to get here just to leave the tour and walk the sites of Paris for free and was stunning! I would love my money back.
Excellent guide who made the whole tour experience memorable. His snippets and information was awesome. We did not know what to expect but we’re pleasantly surprised with the content and management of the tour!! Keep it up!!
Interesting walk from Moulin Rouge uphill to Sacre Coere. Guide pointed out where various artists including Van Gogh and Picasso lived and worked.
Excellent tour! Our guide was knowledgeable and interesting. This tour does have a lot of walking up steep hills. Beautiful district I never would have seen!
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