City Free Tour

This free tour of the old city, passing Notre Dame and ending at the Louvre, is the perfect way to get oriented on your first day. It’s not difficult walking but you’ll be on your feet for more than 2 hours. Our guide was very knowledgeable.

I highly recommend booking a small group or private tour with Chris, the owner of City Free Tours, if you want to learn about the history and neighborhoods of Paris from the perspective of a life-long Parisian. In mid-March, my wife, 20 year-old son, 12 year-old daughter and I booked a small group tour of the Montmartre neighborhood with Chris. We enjoyed spending time with Chris so much that the following day we booked a private, half day Historic Paris tour with Chris. There are many reasons I recommend you book a tour with Chris.
• Easy to book, information packed tours - Communicating with Chris with when booking our tours was quick and easy. We texted back and forth with Chris using the free app, WhatsApp. We found Chris’ tours to be fun and educational. He provided information and insights that you simply cannot gain from a guidebook or on your own. In the two hour Montmartre tour, Chris guides the group all around the neighborhood, outside of Sacre Coeur, and ends at the artists’ square, Place du Tertre. On the half day Historic Paris tour, we met Chris at the Obelisk statute at Concord Square, walked through the Tuileries Garden, stopped outside the Louvre, warmed up in the Shakespeare & Company bookstore, went inside Notre Dame, across the Pont Neuf bridge, walked around the hip Marias district and the Jewish Quarter, finishing in the charming, historic Place des Vosges.
• Tours led by a friendly and helpful local – One of the biggest advantages of touring with Chris is that you gain the information and insights from someone that has lived his life in Paris and, for the Montmartre tour, the actual neighborhood he lives in. We liked Chris’ style – he is polite, patient, and professional, yet doesn’t take himself too seriously, and is fun to hang out with. Chris was very knowledgeable and clearly well educated in history and the arts. The information Chris shares is original and non-scripted, and he’s flexible according to your particular interests. During our private tour, when we could no longer take the March cold and wind, he let us warm up by taking us inside the famous bookstore, Shakespeare & Company and, later, indulged our wish to sample crepes. Chris isn’t shy about sharing his opinions and clearly cares about and is proud of his city. Chris will tell you which pastry shop, in his opinion, sells the best macaroons (Pierre Hermè) and where to find some of the best falafels (L’as Du Fallafel). He scolded gypsies that were trying to scam or pickpocket tourists in front of the Louvre. When asked, Chris also will recommend some of his favorite local restaurants (Le Progres for a lunch spot close to Sacre Coeur, and dinner at St. Regis on Ile St. Louis) and helped us plan our itinerary to be sure we saw other parts of Paris not included in the two tours we took with Chris.
• Affordable, small group tours – Chris is one of the pioneers of the free walk tours. At the end of the “free” tour, you pay your guide the amount you feel is a fair price. On City Free Tour’s website, you can get an idea of the range charged for the fee based tours. The Montmartre tour was very affordable and worthwhile, and can be as small as the few tourists that show up, and no more than 20 persons (we had around 12 people in our tour). We booked a half day private Historic Paris tour the next day because we weren’t free when the small group tour was offered (Saturday and Sunday at 10:30 a.m.). Chris gave us a discount on our private, half day tour because we had also booked the Montmartre tour. The private tour was more expensive than you would pay for the same group tour. But, it was still relatively inexpensive and, for me, the extra cost was worth being able to ask any questions when I wanted and to take the tour at our own pace. That being said, I believe we would have learned as much in the small group tour if it would have fit our schedule.
Tips:
• Paris in mid-March can be very cold! I planned ahead and packed warm clothes, but was still unprepared for how bone-chilling the cold and wind could be. So, be sure to pack a hat, gloves, scarf and several layers (including down).
• Download the free app, WhatsApp to your smart phone – we used this free app when we had access to Wi-Fi and wanted to contact and communicate with Chris (and other tour guides during our vacation) without being charged for the text messages.
• If you do not have an international data plan, turn off Cellular Data and/or Data Roaming to avoid data roaming charges. For iOS 6 and below go to iPhone Settings > General > Cellular > Data Roaming.

We started off doing the tours with Chris on the Montmartre tour. This tour was a bit of a walk, but overall not that strenuous and Chris would give you the option of some additional side walking prior to setting off in that direction in case you didn't want the extra leg work. Each thing though was totally worth it and the tour provided a great trip that we would not have otherwise made and showed us more than we would have caught alone. After Montmartre we had schedule a quick 1.5 hr trip of the Louvre with Chris. Chris being a art history student and having briefly studied at the Louvre (there is an art school there) showed us all the major items we wanted to see. This was perfect since I love art and my girlfriend is not a huge art fan, but she new enough of the pieces to appreciate the tour. Overall Chris was great and the tours were fun and informative.

Based on previous reviews, we thought this tour was a MUST DO. On the morning of Oct.24,2009 we arrived at the Blanche Metro station at 10:45AM for the tour. There was a slight mist in the air. It had rained earlier that morning and the weather was clearing. We mingled with other potential tour members for 45 minutes, all to no avail. The tour guide,Chris was a NO SHOW. At approximately 11.30AM the small group of 12 people gave up and left the meeting place.

I have booked private tour of Paris with Chris when my family came to visit. I heard so many good things about this tours so I decided to book a whole day trip with him. Chris took us around all city, showing us most important monuments of the city as well as many secret locations known only by locals. He is witty, eloquent, knowledgeable and our day passed in a blink of a eye. I would highly recommend to anyone booking a tour with Chris and having amazing time!
See you soon Chris and Thank you!

I'm a seeker in all things, of value for money, the follow goes completely unchallenged. I've been to Paris several times and each time I learn more than i had expected, thanks to this tour company. Paris is a walking city, a city best navigated on foot. I should know a thing or two about waking a city, coming from New York City it's self.
Tamara gives her tourers the perfect balance of Information, historical and contemporary advice reaches your ears as if you've just spoken to a friend. Leaving pleasant pauses when she expect questions, Tamara is more like a friend showing you her city than a tour guide looking for popular reviews on such a trip planning site.
I've done several tours, seen most of Paris, India, Bali, China, Germany, Spain and other less glamorous locals. When I visit Paris I don't waste valuable time looking up reviews, I only look up the latest Walking Free Tour, value for money: it won't be beat.

Lastly, I never write reviews. Not for lake of time but principle. free Walking Tour deserves to have helpful reviewers, as do the people searching the internet for a tour. Don't waste your time, you likely have just a few days to see Paris, grab a coffee and go.

My mother and I prebooked this free walking tour after reading reviews on tripadvisor. The walking did not disappoint. Chris the guide was very knowledgeable and professional. He moved the group along and showed us many sights that we would not have seen walking on our own.

Highly recommended and tip at the end of the tour based on how pleased you were with the tour guide and tour generally.

I learned of Chris when I was researching things to do in Paris. His tour came up as #8 for attractions in Paris on Tripadvisor. I emailed him and received an immediate response back. My wife, 22 year old daughter and I arranged two private three hour tours. This was our first time in Paris. All I can say is he made our trip! We had such a wonderful time with him and learned so much about Paris. I highly recommend both tours. Chris is very easy going, very knowledgeable, and has a fun sense of humor. He's a terrific story teller and really knows the ins and outs of Paris and the various districts within it. He was also very helpful with getting us tickets to the Louvre and Musee D'Orsay. This saved us from waiting in the terribly long lines. Aside from his tours, he has great suggestions regarding seeing other landmarks and things to do. He's a wealth of knowledge and we can't wait to go back and see him again.

I recently went to Paris and did the free 3-hour tour of Paris with Billy as my guide. The tour was fantastic; it was so informative, lots to see, and Billy was incredibly knowledgeable and made the tour so much fun because of his enthusiasm. The tour was so great I decided to do the tour of Versailles with Billy again and once again was not disappointed. Such a great experience.

I should also mention how Billy really did go above and beyond. Not only did he give a stellar tour, but he gives great travel advice, insider tips to save time and money, and even took the time to mark our maps with directions to places and names of recommended restaurants.

Met our very informative tour guide, Derek close to Blanche metro station close to the Moulin Rouge. Excellent tour which was not rushed, and at a steady reasonable pace. Visited many of the iconic areas within Montmartre, which I am sure we would not have had the information as provided by Derek. We would certainly recommend doing one of these tours. Well done and thank you so much. Make sure you wear comfortable shoes