Your guide will lead you through the epic courtyard of the Invalides, discussing its 17th century roots as a veteran’s hospital under King Louis XIV. You’ll visit the cathedral that Louis had built for his former troops, who found respite here after returning from battle. After discussing the Sun King’s contributions to France’s military history, you’ll learn all about the nation’s most elite leader, Napoleon Bonaparte. A brilliant general and audacious emperor, he is synonymous with France’s gold days of military conquest. Ultimately pushing too far, Napoleon died in exile, though his remains are interred underneath the magnificent gold dome. Come face to face with his tomb, as well as the tombs of those closest to him, while basking in the ornate homage to this leader. Spend some time in the museum to learn all about this man, beyond his famous stature, through artifacts, recreations, and military maps that walk you through his many wins and defeats.
Your guide will lead you through the epic courtyard of the Invalides, discussing its 17th century roots as a veteran’s hospital under King Louis XIV. You’ll visit the cathedral that Louis had built for his former troops, who found respite here after returning from battle. After discussing the Sun King’s contributions to France’s military history, you’ll learn all about the nation’s most elite leader, Napoleon Bonaparte. A brilliant general and audacious emperor, he is synonymous with France’s gold days of military conquest. Ultimately pushing too far, Napoleon died in exile, though his remains are interred underneath the magnificent gold dome. Come face to face with his tomb, as well as the tombs of those closest to him, while basking in the ornate homage to this leader. Spend some time in the museum to learn all about this man, beyond his famous stature, through artifacts, recreations, and military maps that walk you through his many wins and defeats.
Alvin was an incredible guide! He was very knowledgeable and he really made our visit unique and provided really interesting and important historical context. He also made sure we saw some unique highlights like Napoleon’s horse which are hard to find on your own
Sergio was our guide, and he was fantastic. His depth of knowledge was excellent and he was very professional and made the tour very enjoyable. We would highly recommend the tour. It was fun, lots of information, Sergio answered all our questions and made the tour great!
Florian did a wonderful job explaining anything we asked about. That guy knows his stuff! We learned so much from the tour. Communication and meeting place was done well. We recommend this tour for les Invalides.
Our guide Francesca was amazing and very knowledgeable. She answered all our questions and really brought Napoleon to life again
Tancrede was an excellent guide - very knowledgeable & informative. Our small group tour ended up just being two of us & he did a good job tailoring the tour to our interests and pace.
Napoleon and Louis XIV were important figures in history for me to understand so I spent considerable time to find the right tour company that would be able give me insight and perspective. Francesca with Babylon Tours exceeded all expectations. Francesca was knowledgeable and brought to life two monumental figures in history. I would highly recommend both Francesca and the excellent team at Babylon Tours
She was very informative and knowledgeable about all the areas that we went to. We enjoyed the tour very much.
We had such a great tour with Florent! He is a super nice guy with a wealth of historical knowledge. Thanks for an educational morning!
Cecile was amazing! A true historian. Not only did we have the perfect group, but we had the perfect tour guide as well. She took her time with us throughout the grounds and taught us so many things! Including fun facts not usually found in text books. My only gripe with this tour is that it is simply not advertised enough! Please market this more—and perhaps extend it to the other museums as well!
Sergio was BRILLIANT! He was exceptionally knowledgeable on everything Napoleon/Paris and France. Passionate about his subject and the ability to paint a vivid picture of times gone by was fabulous. Generous with his time and well worth the visit with him. Bravo! Two thumbs up Sergio:) Lynne and David, Australia
Florent is an incredibly knowledgeable guide. His welcoming personality is matched by his passion for French history. Highlight of the trip.
Absolutely fantastic, very informative tour. The museum is very big, I advise you to stay in the museum by yourself to explore
Sergio was fantastic! Very professional yet personable, incredible amount of detailed information. He conveyed the "story" behind so many facts. Guides, teachers like him take a person out of the history books back to the time in discussion. Sergio gave us a 5 star France history lesson. Thank you!
The museum was fascinating. You could spend days there. Anatole, our guide was extremely knowledgeable, entertaining and engaging! Best yet!!
We had Daniel as our tour guide of the Les Invalides. The knowledge he shared with us was absolutely amazing. Our 3 kids of 9,11 and 14 had full attention on him and his tour has never been boring for them.
We completely enjoyed our tour with Sergio, his knowledge is vast and he told us fascinating stories of the history of Napoleon. I would highly recommend taking this tour, you will not be disappointed. Thank you Sergio!
We had a very good time! Francesca is an amazing tour guide. It is very good to have a small tour in these kind of historical sites. Highly recommended!
Daniel A was awesome. Super knowledgeable and a great tour guide. Appreciated the communication with reminders via text and email with clear directions on where to meet the guide and what to expect.
We had a group of 5 (4 adults and 1 child, 8 y.o.). Dunya was our guide and she was absolutely phenomenal. She was incredibly knowledgeable, was able to answer all of our questions, and even provided recommendations about places outside of the tour. Bonus, Dunya interacted well with our kiddo and made sure we were all comfortable (it was pretty hot). We went into this as a place we just wanted to see and it ended up being a highlight during our two week trip. The only thing I will say is if there is a line outside the gate, go ahead and get in it, it's a security check and there is no skipping that.
Hugo was fantastic! Very knowledgeable, engaging, casual, and professional. We would definitely take another tour with Hugo!
Our guide was Anatole. My husband and I enjoyed his knowledge of the museum and history. We highly recommend this tour and Anatole.
Florent was an amazing guide. Full of knowledge and explained it in great detail I highly recommend Florent. Don’t miss this tour
Florent was a great guide! We had a very informative tour and he answered all of our questions. The history of Invalides is very interesting. Would recommend this tour and Florent as a guide!
Malaïka was our guide on the semi private tour of Hotel des Invalides. She was very knowledgeable and friendly. We really enjoyed this tour and highly recommend her as a guide!
We had an amazing experience! Our guide was wonderful. She was extremely knowledgeable, kind, considerate, and fun. We learned a lot and had an excellent experience.
My husband and I booked the trip due to our particular interest in history. Our guide Florian was extremely informative and thorough. You can tell that he’s very passionate about what he does and has a deep knowledge on the subject as he was able to answer all our questions with great detail. Getting the excursion and learning about the Musee des invalides and Musee d’army was an absolute game-changer and time well-spent! Thank you :)
Excellent tour, we were amazed by the information and the glorious history of France. Our guide Florian provided an amazing tour which we highly recommend
Great tour. Forent was fantastic and could answer any questions. There is a lot of history in Invalides Dome. Beautiful architecture and museum
Florent gave us an excellent tour of Invalides and of the history of Napoleon. He was super knowledgeable and personable. My boyfriend loves military history and was thriving! It was the perfect length and I’d highly recommend!
Florent was a great tour guide! He was knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the subject matter. He gave us time to take photos and was sure to show us all the highlights. If we book again we will request Florent!
My wife and I ended up being the only people that booked the max 8 people so it ended up being a private tour. Our guide was Florian and he did a great job. Lots of information and cool stories. The weather was questionable, so the morning of the tour Florian changed the meeting place to a cafe accross the street so no one was waiting out in the rain. Communication through the text was great and easy to follow. We would highly recommend this tour. Thank you Florian for your time and knowledge.
Michele did an outstanding job. Very knowledgeable and personable! His English was excellent. Helps out that he has a degree in history and is a self professed history nerd.
Malaïka did a great job as our tour guide. The tour through the museum was very interesting, and her explanations were clear and engaging.
Our guide was great. She was extremely knowledgeable and eager to answer any questions we had. She was very passionate about the history of France and Invalides.
Very knowledgeable and interesting. Was very patient and was able to ask many questions. Would recommend him to friends and family and take another one of his tours.
We strongly recommend seeing this site. Our tour guide was outstanding. The guide made the tour a very educational and enjoyable experience.
As a professional historian I was really looking forward to our tour of Les Invalides and it didn't disappoint. Michele was a truly excellent guide. He went very in depth and we were able to discuss all sorts of historical issues about Louis XIV and Napoleon. He spent as much time as we needed and the interplay was truly fantastic. He is a marvelous guide who made an experience we were really looking forward to really something special. Highly recommended.
Anatole was waiting for us at the meeting spot and we were the first group through the gates to enjoy Les Invalides. His knowledge of Les Invalides’ history, Napoleon, and the museums was very valuable and made our trip enjoyable. He pointed out the important pieces and educated us along the way. Afterwards, we visited the WWI and II museums on our own before walking to Rue Cler for lunch. Great tour and experience.
Amazing ! Flaurent was terrific so interesting whether you know history or not . Best display of the ar artifacts ever .
It was a really thoughtful tour. The guide Mathieu was very good and provided context for Napoleon’s Tomb and L’hôpital des Invalides. A very good tour that explained why Napoleon is entombed here as well as other generals and military leaders. We purchased a semi-private tour but ended up enjoying a private tour because others had cancelled. Our tour was in English and we enjoyed the experience.
Had a great tour with Anatole, which ended up being a private tour since some other tour members had to drop out. Highly recommend!
Roman was incredibly knowledge and made the tour interesting for our teenage boys. He made sure to hit the parts of the museum that we would find interesting. We had a wonderful time.
Roman was passionate about what he was teaching us and very knowledgeable. He made the trip interesting for our family with two teenage boys.
Michele was a fantastic guide with alot of enthusiasm. 5/5 will return. It was a good experience. In total it was a group of 6.
I booked this tour as the highlight of my Paris trip with my son, a history buff. Eduardo exceeded all of my/our hopes and expectations! He was incredibly knowledgeable throughout the tour, expanded further on topics based on our interests, and tied together how events and places throughout history and the world were interconnected. He was generous with his time, his knowledge, and also patient. Eduardo has set a high bar for our future travel experiences! Thank you so much for furthering my son’s interest in history and culture. Highest recommendation!
Oliver was a fantastic guide. Very knowledgeable and ensured we saw what we wanted. Really interesting tour. Highly recommend.
Excellent tour guide, very knowledgeable and thorough. Molded the tour around our wants and needs. Highly recommend Oliver as a tour guide.
Our tour guide was Oliver, who was interesting, witty and very knowledgeable about the history of Les Invalides and the life of Napoleon. Outstanding Oliver, thank you.
Fabulous tour! My son is a history and Napolean buff, and our lovely tour guide, Oliver, was able to answer his questions and allow us to venture (intellectually) into some of the wonderfully quirky corners of Napoleonic and military history. Splendid time at Turenne and Vauban's tombs, debating relevance to modern current events. Semi private means being able to go at your own speed, lingering on what you're interested in, skipping over the things you're not, all the while with a fun and interesting guide. Highly recommended.
Galyna was our tour guide and she helped us understand the history behind the building of the hospital starting with King Louis XIV. She took us to the highlights and showed us where to go after she had completed her 2 hour tour. My highlight was Napoleons tomb which I last saw in August 1962 as a young boy.
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