Amiens Cathedral

Amiens Cathedral tickets: which one to buy

Amiens Cathedral is free to enter and stands in the centre of Amiens, an hour north of Paris by train, and it is one of the great Gothic cathedrals of Europe and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Paid options include guided visits of the towers, which give views over the city and the roof structure, and access to the treasury. The most memorable experience is the evening light show, held in summer and at Christmas, when the west facade is illuminated with colours recreating the original medieval paint;

it is free and draws large crowds. Walking tours of Amiens combine the cathedral with the Saint-Leu quarter of canals and old houses, the floating gardens known as the hortillonnages, visited by boat, and Jules Verne's house. Amiens is also a base for visiting the First World War battlefields of the Somme. The tourist office opposite the cathedral sells tickets for the towers and tours of the city.

Visiting Amiens Cathedral: what to see

The cathedral was built mostly between 1220 and 1270 under the architect Robert de Luzarches, remarkably quickly for a church of this size, which gives it an unusual consistency of style. It is the largest Gothic cathedral in France by interior volume, with a nave rising more than forty metres. The west facade is covered with sculpture, including the famous Beau Dieu, a figure of Christ on the central portal, and rows of prophets and saints. Inside, the nave floor holds an octagonal labyrinth laid in black and white stone.

The choir stalls, carved in oak in the early sixteenth century, contain more than four thousand figures illustrating stories from the Bible and daily life. The cathedral also keeps a relic said to be part of the skull of Saint John the Baptist, brought from Constantinople after the Fourth Crusade, which made Amiens a place of pilgrimage. The south transept portal is known as the Vierge Doree after the gilded statue of the smiling Virgin that once stood there; the original is now inside. Around the choir, painted sculptured screens tell the stories of Saint Firmin and John the Baptist.

Amiens Cathedral opening hours and the best time to go

The cathedral is open daily, with shorter hours in winter, and visits pause during services. The light show on the facade takes place on summer evenings from June to September and during the Christmas season, after dark. The Christmas market in Amiens is one of the largest in northern France. Mornings are quiet inside the cathedral, and the light through the windows is beautiful.

The hortillonnages boat tours run from spring to autumn. Amiens is easily reached as a day trip from Paris or Lille by train. Allow about an hour for the cathedral, more for a tower visit, and stay for the evening light show if you visit in the right season. The hortillonnages, a network of floating gardens on the Somme, are a ten-minute walk away and visited on small flat-bottomed boats.