- Duration
- 4.5 hours
- Location
- Paris
Sites Visited
- Chartres Cathedral (interior and exterior)
- Note that this tour does not include touring Chartres town
Included
- Train tickets to and from Paris
- Tickets to Chartres Cathedral
Itinerary Details
Home to the Sancta Camisa, a tunic believed to have been worn by the Virgin Mary at the birth of Christ (which miraculously survived the 1194 fire), the Cathedral has long been a destination for pilgrims. Arriving at the cathedral as pilgrims ourselves, we will begin by examining the exterior. Each of the three heavily decorated entrances (west, north, and south) are comprised of three doorways, showing the stylistic transition from Early to High Gothic architecture. Once inside the cathedral, we will marvel at intricate original thirteenth-century stained glass.
While our half-day tour ends with a guided visit of the cathedral, we encourage you to have lunch or spend the rest of the afternoon visiting the charming town of Chartres and all of its attractions on your own.
FAQ
Where do we meet? Where does it end?
You'll meet in Paris, at the Montparnasse train station. The tour duration includes the train ride to Chartres with your guide. The tour will end in Chartres. You can then get lunch and explore the town on your own, or return to Paris with your guide.
Does this excursion include a visit to the town of Chartres?
No, our half-day tour is a guided visit of the cathedral only; however, we encourage you to have lunch or spend the rest of the afternoon visiting the charming town and all of its attractions on your own. Lunch is not included.
We usually take the train back to Paris at 1:34 pm arriving in Paris at 2:30/3 pm. Depending on the day of your tour we have some other tours which start later in the afternoon and may be able to fit your schedule. Please contact us for assistance!
Absolutely. We buy round-trip train tickets for this tour, but the return time is flexible and therefore allows you to return on a later train than that of your guide.
Yes. We can adapt the route of our private tours based on the ages, needs, and interests of travelers in your party. In this particular tour, the terrain is easy. The walk is slightly uphill from the station to the cathedral, and then totally flat. There are no cobblestones. There are, however, certain parts of the cathedral which can be a bit more challenging. Please contact us to know more.

Anna received her PhD in 2006 from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University. A specialist in medieval art, she has published and presented numerous conference papers on illuminated manuscripts. She is preparing a book proposal based on her dissertation about representations of miraculous images of the Virgin Mary. She currently teaches at the American University of Paris. She is also a France Director of the International Medieval Society in Paris.

Since visiting her first art exhibition at 5 years old Nicole has been passionate about the world of art and architecture. Research for her dissertation brought Nicole to France in 2006. Her doctoral dissertation explores the idea of architecture as an expression of political power, specifically during the Gothic period of twelfth-century, France. Yet her interests extend beyond the medieval period to include the modernism. Holding a PhD and Masters degrees from the Columbia University and a BA from Barnard College, Nicole has worked as a university professor, writer, curator and consultant. Receiving a fine arts training in her youth, equally informs Nicole’s approach to art and architectural history. Raised in a family of collectors and classic car aficionados Nicole is an avid classic car enthusiast, together with her husband an art collector.

Pablo is a historian specialized in the interaction between arts, culture and politics in early modern Europe. In 2008 he received a PhD in European history from the Universidad Complutense, Madrid, and has been a postdoctoral research fellow at the European University Institute, The Italian Academy at Columbia University and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Pablo is also the author of three books on court culture and royal identity. He lived in Naples, Washington, London, Florence and New York before arriving in Paris as a researcher at the Institute national d’histoire de l’art (INHA). He is currently writing a book on the display of antiquities discovered in Herculaneum and Pompeii in the 18th century.
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