Paris Walking Tour - The French Revolution

Badge of ExcellenceParis, France

2 hours
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

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Overview

Follow in the footsteps of revolutionaries and royals on this walking tour that traces the history of the French Revolution in Paris. From the storming of the Bastille to the bloody Reign of Terror, learn about the Revolutions’ causes and consequences as you visit key sites around the city where history was made.

French Revolution walk through Paris
Experience a different side to Paris on an informative guided walk
See the buildings and sites where historic events took place
Place de la Concorde where King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette were guillotined
See the Conciergerie Palace

What's Included

Local guide

Gratuities
Hotel pickup and drop off

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

Restaurant Divellec
18 Rue Fabert, 75007 Paris, France
Your tour meets outside Restaurant Divellec at 18 Rue Fabert, 75007 Paris, France. The closet public transportation is the Invalides métro station (lines 8 and 13 or RER C); about a 3-5 minute walk to Restaurant Divellec. Look for your guide wearing a Fat Tire Tours t-shirt.

Start time

03:00 PM

End point

Odéon
75006 Paris, France

What To Expect

In the late 18th century, Paris was the stage where most of the bloody events of the French Revolution played out, forever altering the course of European history. Layered beneath the bustle and romance of modern-day Paris, traces of the tumultuous events can still be found.

Your revolutionary walking tour begins near Les Invalides, where you meet your historian guide in the afternoon. Learn how 30,000 weapons were stolen here by protesters and used to overtake the Bastille. Visit the Place de la Bastille, site of the former prison, and listen as your guide recounts the dramatic storming that officially ignited the revolution in 1789.

See where the Tuileries Palace once stood and hear how revolutionaries used its once-royal chambers as headquarters for a fledgling new government. Pass by the imposing Conciergerie, a former prison where Marie Antoinette was held captive after the fall of the monarchy, and stroll through the Place de la Concorde, where she and husband King Louis XVI were both beheaded. Imagine the gruesome scene here as your guide recounts the many lives lost to the guillotine during the bloody years of the Reign of Terror.

When your tour concludes near Notre Dame, depart with a newfound appreciation of the bravery, tyranny and chaos of the Revolution and how it shaped the Paris you see today.

Hôtel des Invalides

8 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Assemblee Nationale

8 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Pont de la Concorde

8 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Place de la Concorde

8 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Conciergerie

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Operates in all weather conditions, please dress appropriately
Wheelchair accessible
Stroller accessible
Service animals allowed

Near public transportation
Surfaces are wheelchair accessible
Most travelers can participate
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 16 travelers

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.

Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund.
This experience requires a minimum number of travelers. If it’s canceled because the minimum isn’t met, you’ll be offered a different date/experience or a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Reviews

4.5

243 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

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Showing 1-10 of 243 reviews

Highly recommend!

Teresa_M, Apr 2024

Really enjoyed the tour. Aaron, our guide, was fantastic. Incredibly knowledgeable of a complicated subject and in no way boring. Just a great tour.

Excellent Tour

Brad_B, Sep 2023

The guide was very informative and brought the French Revolution alive right in front of us! Our 16yr old daughter also loved it.

Living a few Revolutions

Laurelle_G, Sep 2023

Our guide was so informed and so well able to transmit historical information to the group of people from other nations and unknown prior knowledge of the subject but all with a thirst for the knowledge our tour leader could provide on the ground in the actual locations these historical activities took place ( except Versailes) . So he brought history to life in places we never would have individually found. A really enlightening Tour by the Welshman. Thank you..

Insightful tour

Claire_R, Sep 2023

Aaron is full of knowledge but brings everything to life with stories and insight! He describes individual events and relates them to sweeping historical shifts and outcomes in

Good

Sharon_P, Aug 2023

Aaron our guide covered a lot of ground in a very hot long walk. But glad we did and knowledge of the French Revolution was amazing. He was a interactive guide and had many interesting stories . Well done Aaron 👏👏

Thanks Aaron!

Leanna_B, Aug 2023

Aaron from Fat Tire Tours was a great tour guide! Very knowledgeable and funny, and he made the tour such a pleasant and memorable experience!

A superb tour which brought the french revolution to life!

Vanessa_C, Jul 2023

Nick gave a superb tour - we loved it and would do another tour because of the quality of his. He brought the French Revolution to life.

I enjoyed hearing about...

Kathryn_D, Jul 2023

I enjoyed hearing about Marie Antoinette - I thought there were parallels with Meghan Merkle there! I would have liked a timeline, while also appreciating that the revolution was so chaotic and went on for so long with an ever-changing cast, that it's hard to make the timeline understandable and interesting. I think the guide was probably sensible to just concentrate on a few key characters.

Wondering tour with Aaron

Mica_W, Jul 2023

Aaron was a wonderful tour guide. He brought amazing energy that brought the history of the French Revolution to life. He also shared details not captured by many of the history books we read. Highly recommend!!

Great history of the revolution

Amy_E, Jun 2023

Excellent walking tour! Our tour guide Nick has so much information to share and kept our teenagers entertained! Highly recommend!

Great history tour

Betsy_A, Jun 2023

Our guide, Dani, was great. She answered a ton of questions and shared lots of information. I appreciate her connecting the history to current day issues.

Highly recommend!

Teresa_M, Jun 2023

Superbly interesting tour. Our guide was fantastic. I forgot her name but she is originally from Greece. She was very knowledgeable and fun. We learned so much.

Fun tour with Nick

Jeff_K, Jun 2023

Nick (our guide with Fat Tire) was amazing. He told great stories and stayed engaged the whole time. Highly recommend.

Great tour.

Jandro_A, Jun 2023

Excellent experience. The guide person, Mado, was professional, kind and friendly. Her explanations and stories were very interesting. The weather was also nice and helped to add a very good experience.

Fun historical tour

Radhika_M, Jun 2023

We enjoyed learning about the revolutionary and how it started and the fate of the royalty. Our guide, Mado, was knowledgeable and made the tour a lot of fun adding other interesting details along the way. Highly recommend this tour for people interested in doing some other hitting the typical tourist spots in Paris.

Best way to visit D'Orsay for the first time.

Jandro_A, Jun 2023

Guide, Belén was excellent in professionalism, knowledge, and kindness. It was a very enjoyable experience.

French Revolution brought to life!!

Noel_J, May 2023

Aaron, from Dublin(!), was an absolutely fantastic guide on 5/22/23!! Passionate & crazy-knowledgeable about the history, he was wonderfully dramatic & colorful in sharing the complex details of the French Revolution. He could answer every question we had as a group. He considerately looked after us all (including a couple w a baby), introduced each of us to each other & got us talking about our respective countries of origin. It was a long tour, as befit the topic, but it flew by! Cannot imagine learning about the French Revolution more effectively than from this tour guide!! Thx Aaron! Noël & Lizzie J.

re-veal-utionary

Louise_F, Oct 2022

Learnt lots about the revolution. Loved the different stops along the way. Tour not in chronological order which may confuse some.

Engaging afternoon

Desiree_Z, Jun 2022

Knowledgeable and engaging- thank you! Great walk, fascinating details I honestly didn’t know, which is why we booked this :)

Big history in a small doable walk

Deborah_L, Jun 2022

Great small group ( 10 people) with no flag carrying leader who was very knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the history. Easy walking and significant sights included for 2 1/2 he walk!

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