Sacre-Coeur Basilica

Sacre-Coeur Basilica tickets: which one to buy

The basilica is free to enter and there is rarely a queue of more than a few minutes, so nothing needs booking. The dome is the one ticket, bought at a small door on the left side of the building, cash or card, and it buys 300 steps up a tight spiral to the highest accessible point in Paris after the Eiffel Tower. The crypt has its own small charge and is skippable. What is sold commercially is the walking tour of Montmartre, which usually ends at the basilica and costs a moderate fee for two hours;

these are worth it because the village behind the hill, with its vineyard, the Bateau-Lavoir and the last windmills, is hard to read without a guide. Early-access tours that claim privileged entry to the basilica are selling the early hour rather than any special access. Avoid the funicular queue at peak times: it takes one Metro ticket and saves 222 steps, but the stairs beside it are quicker when the line is long.

Visiting Sacre-Coeur Basilica: what to see

The basilica was proposed in 1870 after France's defeat at Sedan, built by public subscription from 1875 and finished in 1914, which makes it younger than the Eiffel Tower and the newest major church in Paris. Its position over the site of the Commune's uprising made it political from the start and still does. Paul Abadie's design is neo-Byzantine, and the stone is travertine from Chateau-Landon that bleaches white in rain, which is why the building never looks dirty.

Inside, the apse holds one of the largest mosaics in the world, 475 square metres of Christ in Glory with arms outstretched. Perpetual adoration of the Eucharist has continued here without interruption since 1885, so someone is praying in the church at every hour of every day, which the crowds of visitors are asked to respect with silence. The dome climb ends on a narrow external gallery with a 360-degree view over the city, and the bell in the tower, the Savoyarde, weighs 19 tonnes.

Sacre-Coeur Basilica opening hours and the best time to go

The basilica opens early, around six thirty, and stays open until late evening, longer than almost any other church in Paris, and that early hour is the best of the day: the steps are empty and the light comes up over the city from the terrace. Crowds build from mid-morning and are heavy all afternoon, particularly in summer and at sunset, when the lawns below fill with people. The dome keeps shorter hours and closes in bad weather.

Mass and adoration continue throughout, and visitors may stay quietly at the back. Photography is forbidden inside and stewards enforce it. Dress modestly. The steps and the terrace attract organised pickpocketing and the string-bracelet trick, so keep bags closed and decline anyone who tries to tie something on your wrist. Allow half an hour inside, an hour with the dome, and leave time to walk down the back of the hill rather than returning the way you came.