Montmartre route: artist streets, Sacré-Cœur and Abbesses

Start below the hill, finish in Abbesses

Choose Montmartre for a day of artist streets, a hilltop church and views across Paris. It is a useful contrast to the Marais history afternoon: the Marais route connects a square, mansion and city-history museum, while Montmartre combines a climb with places associated with the district’s artists. Give each district its own outing instead of crossing between them for a sequence of photographs.

Begin around Marché Saint-Pierre and Halle Saint-Pierre. The fabric shops give the lower part of the hill a working shopping character; Halle Saint-Pierre is the brick former market building at 2 rue Ronsard, now used for art brut and art singulier exhibitions, with a bookshop and café. This is the art choice for someone interested in a changing exhibition rather than a famous-name collection.

Move toward Square Louise Michel for the view up to Sacré-Cœur. Choose the ascent here. The funicular is the alternative to climbing the hillside steps; it does not remove the separate staircase inside the basilica’s dome. Keep those two decisions apart when planning for a group with different stamina or mobility needs.

The church, the terrace and the dome are three choices

The terrace supplies the city view without adding the dome ascent. Inside Sacré-Cœur, look toward the large choir mosaic and the chapels rather than treating the church as a corridor to another viewpoint. Basilica admission is free, and this is an active sanctuary, so a quiet interior visit has a different character from the busy terrace outside.

The dome visit is separate. It involves a narrow 280-step staircase with no lift and a financial contribution. The entrance is outside after the security check, down on the left side, not through a staircase chosen at random inside the church. Choose it for the closer roof architecture and elevated panorama; omit it when the terrace already supplies the view the group wanted. Weather and maintenance can close this particular visit even when the basilica is open.

Continue through the artists’ quarter

From the basilica, continue to Place du Tertre. The working portrait and landscape artists make the square an opportunity to see the district’s present-day art trade, rather than simply look for a café table. Then choose one indoor subject. Dalí Paris on rue Poulbot focuses on Salvador Dalí’s sculptures, paintings and other works. Musée de Montmartre on rue Cortot tells the history of the district and its artists, with the Renoir gardens looking toward the vineyard. Choose the latter for the story of Montmartre itself; choose Dalí for that artist’s work.

For an outdoor continuation, follow the rue des Saules and rue Saint-Vincent area to see the Clos Montmartre vineyard from the surrounding streets, with the Lapin Agile and Maison Rose façades as named points in the same district. A street-side view of the vineyard is a different visit from entering it or attending a harvest event. Likewise, the Saint-Vincent wild garden has restricted guided openings, so it is not an everyday drop-in garden to place in the middle of this route.

Descend toward a different piece of the neighbourhood

Finish toward Place des Abbesses instead of retracing the ascent. This gives the outing a clear end in a different part of the neighbourhood, leaving a meal or metro departure as the next decision. For a shorter version, keep Sacré-Cœur, Place du Tertre and the descent. If you want more time in a museum, choose Dalí Paris or Musée de Montmartre and shorten the extra street stops.

For another day, the Marais walk connects a formal square, mansion and church, with Carnavalet for Paris history. It offers a different setting from Montmartre’s hill and artist streets.