Free audio walk in Paris
Highlights of the 4th Arrondissement
- 73 min
- 4 km
- 11 stops
- Free
Starts at 2b Place De La Bastille
About this walk
This extended walk takes you across the 4th arrondissement, a district rich in history and character. Visit the house of Victor Hugo, admire the impressive Hôtel de Ville, and explore the vibrant streets that connect past and present Paris. The route begins at Place de la Bastille, the lively square that has long been a symbol of the city. We end up at the Notre Dame!
The stops
Walk them in order; each story plays when you reach its pin.
- 1Stop 1
Place de la Bastille
The square you're standing on was once home to the most feared fortress in France, and the story of what happened here is not quite what you'd expect.
- 2Stop 2
Temple du Marais
This quiet church on Rue Saint-Antoine hides a story of cursed kings, doomed knights, and a royal family locked behind walls two metres thick.
Read the story - 3Stop 3
Maison de Victor Hugo
Victor Hugo’s restored home, where Les Misérables took shape.
Read the story - 4Stop 4
Place des Vosges
Paris’s first planned square (1612), framed by red-brick pavilions.
Read the story - 5Stop 5
Le Village Saint-Paul
Tucked behind a church in the heart of Paris, a secret village has been hiding in plain sight for over six hundred years.
Read the story - 6Stop 6
Church of Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis
This church once had royal hearts hanging above its altar, and a painter stole them to mix into his paint.
Read the story - 7Stop 7
Shoah Memorial
This is a place that will silence you, but also make sure you never forget.
Read the story - 8Stop 8
Hôtel de Ville
The building in front of you is watching you back — through 338 pairs of stone eyes.
Read the story - 9Stop 9
Saint-Jacques Tower
This lonely Gothic tower has survived revolution, a bullet factory, and a vegetable merchant who used a medieval gravestone to store spinach.
Read the story - 10Stop 10
The Conciergerie
If you were brought here during the Revolution, there was a very good chance you wouldn't be leaving on your own two feet.
Read the story - 11Stop 11
The Notre-Dame
Before this cathedral was a church, it was a pagan temple — and the stones beneath your feet have been soaked in two thousand years of secrets.
Read the story
Ready when you are
Walk Highlights of the 4th Arrondissement with ROODS.
11 stops through Paris, about 73 minutes. Open ROODS in your browser, walk to the first pin and the story plays.
- Stories on a map, with narrated audio
- Walk at your own pace, stop where you like
- Runs in your browser. An app is optional.
