European Heritage Days: the doors that open only once a year
On the third weekend of September, a few hundred Paris addresses that are normally closed open to visitors. Here is how to prepare without queuing.
The idea is simple: two days in mid-September, and places that are usually off-limits welcome the public for free. Private mansions in the Marais, craftsmen’s workshops, theatre backstages, ministry reception rooms. The hard part is not getting in — it is choosing.
The official programme comes out in late August. Registration for the most popular venues — the Élysée, Matignon, the Banque de France — fills up within hours. Our advice: give up on those three from the start and aim for the private mansions of the 3rd and 4th arrondissements, ten minutes’ walk from our addresses, where you can still walk in without booking on Sunday morning.
Plan three places a day at most, all in the same area. Queues grow from eleven o’clock and tiredness comes sooner than you think. A lunch booked the day before saves the day: restaurants in the centre are fully booked at noon that weekend.
A question about this during your stay? We answer before you arrive.
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