Paris lights up, and you are in the saddle at exactly the right moment.

Two and a half hours as night falls, from gilded monuments to quiet riverbanks, all the way to the Eiffel Tower's sparkle. At night we talk less and look more.

Ask for a date for Paris by Night See prices

Paris by Night sets off late in the day, at a time tied to nightfall: it changes with every date and is confirmed in writing, so that we reach the final stop for a sparkle of the Eiffel Tower. You cross the city while it changes face: the Hôtel de Ville lit like a theatre, the Notre-Dame forecourt gone quiet again, the Île Saint-Louis little changed since the seventeenth century, then the quays as the traffic drops away. Two and a half hours, five participants at most around your guide, and deliberately short commentary, because night is something you look at more than something you narrate.

The whole ride is timed around one thing: the Eiffel Tower's sparkle, five minutes at the start of every hour once the illumination is on. We count backwards from that moment to reach the final stop ten minutes early, either at Trocadéro or on the Pont de Bir-Hakeim, the two-level bridge film crews love so much. The illumination, the sparkle times and the switch-off time are decided by the tower's operator and by the City of Paris: they can be changed or suspended, we check them every season, and we cannot guarantee them. In between, the Louvre pyramid makes its peace with the palace it offended in the middle of the 1980s, and that is the longest photo stop of the route.

Every bike is checked before departure, front and rear lights included. The route favours quiet streets and lit lanes, and the guide pays extra attention at junctions; you need to be able to ride a bike and to be comfortable in Paris traffic, because the route uses streets open to traffic, at night. If rain is forecast we would rather reschedule or refund than ride wet at night, on the terms set out in our terms and conditions. Indicative price, all taxes included: €75 per person on a shared tour, €95 on a private tour, also per person; we confirm the final price, the departure time and the meeting point in writing before any payment. Beyond five participants we may be able to run a second group at the same time, subject to our availability, at the same price per person; we confirm that to you in writing.

On this ride

Paris lights up, and you are in the saddle at exactly the right moment.

The illuminated Hôtel de Ville

Paris has been governed from this spot since 1357, when Étienne Marcel moved the city government into the Maison aux Piliers. The building burnt during the Commune, on 24 May 1871, taking with it the municipal archives and much of the city's civil records, and it was rebuilt between 1874 and 1882 by the architects Ballu and Deperthes: the façades echo the Renaissance style of the lost building, the interior is entirely new. It was here that, on 25 August 1944, de Gaulle gave his Liberation speech. We stay on the square; we do not go inside.

Notre-Dame forecourt

Close to two centuries of building work from 1163, a fire on 15 April 2019, a reopening in December 2024. At night the mass of stone seems to float, and you can see the effect the thirteenth-century builders were after. The surroundings remain a building site until 2028: depending on how the work stands, the stop is made from the forecourt, from the quay or from the neighbouring bridge. We do not go inside the cathedral and no entry is included in the price.

Île Saint-Louis

The island came out of a property venture launched in 1614 under Louis XIII and entrusted to the contractor Christophe Marie, who filled in the channel between two islets, ringed the whole thing with a quay and ran a street down the middle; the church itself was only consecrated in 1726. The island has changed little since the seventeenth century, and this is where the break falls, the moment the group actually talks to each other. The cafés and ice-cream shops of the island are a few steps away if you fancy it, at your own expense and subject to their own hours and closing days; nothing to eat or drink is included in the price.

The Left Bank quays

A long stretch with almost no commentary, riding beside the water while the bridges and the barges light up one by one. Paris organised its street lighting under Louis XIV, by an ordinance of 2 September 1667, when the lieutenant general of police La Reynie had candle lanterns hung at junctions and in the middle of the streets: that is one of the explanations put forward for the nickname City of Light, which others trace to the Enlightenment or to the electric illuminations of the world's fairs.

The Louvre pyramid after dark

Ieoh Ming Pei was appointed architect of the Grand Louvre in 1983, the row broke out when the project was presented in 1984, work began in 1985 and the pyramid was inaugurated on 29 March 1989. In March 1988 the newspaper Libération ran a headline about the treasure of Tontonkhamun, and the nickname stuck to Mitterrand. At night the glass disappears and only the light remains, and nobody can picture the Louvre without its pyramid any more: in Paris, you often start by hating what you will end up adoring.

Concorde and the Pont Alexandre III

By day we would tell you about the guillotine and the three thousand years of the Luxor obelisk, raised on 25 October 1836; by night we simply look at the gold of the lamps and of the bridge's four monumental pylons. The Pont Alexandre III, opened on 14 April 1900, the very day the World's Fair began, crosses the Seine in a single arch spanning one hundred and seven metres, with no pier in the river at all. Work to redesign the Place de la Concorde runs until 2029, so depending on the site this stop may be moved or made on foot.

Finale at Trocadéro or the Pont de Bir-Hakeim, then the ride back

Ten minutes early, then on the hour, twenty thousand six-watt lamps sparkle for five minutes: an effect created for the turn of the year 2000, removed on 14 July 2001, then made permanent on 21 June 2003. The illumination and its timings depend on the tower's operator and on the City of Paris, and we cannot guarantee them. Get your phones out, and then at some point put them down: some things are worth watching for real. We then ride back together to the departure point in the 7th, where you hand back the bike.

Practical details
Duration
About 2 h 30 including stops and the break, for around 16 kilometres, the ride back to the departure point included
Level
Flat route with no physical difficulty, but this is a night ride in traffic: you need to be able to ride a bike and to be comfortable in Paris traffic, as the route uses streets open to traffic. Front and rear lights checked on every bike before departure. Open to adults and to teenagers able to ride independently, minors remaining the responsibility of an adult present on the tour; helmet provided, and compulsory for under-12s under French road rules (article R. 431-1-3)
Meeting point
Paris 7th arrondissement, at a time tied to nightfall which changes with every date; departure time, meeting point and the ride back to the departure point to hand over the bike all confirmed in writing before any payment
Group
Maximum 5 participants per guide; beyond 5 we may be able to run a second group at the same time, subject to our availability and at the same price per person, which we confirm to you in writing
Languages
French or English, tell us which in your request

Booking is a request, not a firm reservation: we confirm feasibility, date, meeting point and the final price in writing before any payment. Prices are indicative, per person, all taxes included, and cover the use of a pedal-assist bike and a helmet. No entrance fees and no indoor visits are included: the stories are told from the street, the forecourt or the bridge.

Frequently asked questions about this ride

What time does the tour start?

We set off at a time tied to nightfall, which varies a great deal with the season: the exact time depends on the date and is confirmed in writing, along with the meeting point. We set it so as to be at the final stop for a sparkle of the Eiffel Tower, and we allow for the ride back to the departure point.

Are we sure to see the Eiffel Tower sparkle?

The route is built around it: we count backwards from the top of the hour and reach the final stop ten minutes early. The sparkle lasts five minutes at the start of every hour once the illumination is on. But the illumination, its timings, how many sparkles there are in an evening and the switch-off time are decided by the tower's operator and by the City of Paris: they can be changed or suspended, we check them every season, and we cannot guarantee them.

What if it rains?

At night, rain is unforgiving. Rather than ride wet cobbles in the dark, we let you know as early as possible and offer you either a new date or a refund, on the terms set out in our terms and conditions.

Where does the tour end and where do I hand the bike back?

The final stop is at Trocadéro or on the Pont de Bir-Hakeim, depending on conditions that evening, then the group rides back together to the departure point in the 7th arrondissement, where you hand back the bike and the helmet. That return leg is included in the two and a half hours and in the sixteen kilometres quoted. The expected finishing time is given with your written confirmation.

Is the booking confirmed straight away?

No, it is a request. You tell us a date and a number of participants, and we come back within 24 to 48 hours with a slot, a meeting point and the exact price. Nothing is paid before that written confirmation. Because the tour is supplied on an agreed date, there is no right of withdrawal once it is booked (article L. 221-28, 12° of the French Consumer Code); postponement and cancellation terms are set out in our terms and conditions.

Other rides
Three hours on an e-bike to see the Paris you came for. The Eiffel Tower, the Invalides, Concorde, the Louvre and Notre-Dame in a single outing of about three hours, almost entirely flat, including the ride back to the departure point. Five people at most around your guide, an electric bike provided, and a story at every stop. Five revolutions in eighty years, from the Bastille to the Communards' Wall 1789, 1792, 1830, 1848, 1871: a little over eighty years of barricades, trials and firing squads, from the Place de la Bastille to the Communards' Wall in Père-Lachaise. About three and a half hours on an electric bike in a small group, including some thirty minutes on foot inside the cemetery, with a guide who tells you what the cobbles no longer say. The writers' Left Bank, from the Île Saint-Louis to Saint-Germain-des-Prés Seven stops between the Île Saint-Louis and the streets of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, where people sculpted, wrote, drank a great deal of coffee and put the world to rights out loud. About three hours on an electric bike in a small group, with a break halfway round; anything you order there is at your own expense.

Request a booking

Booking is a request, not a firm reservation: we confirm feasibility, date, meeting point and the final price in writing before any payment. Prices are indicative, per person, all taxes included, and cover the use of a pedal-assist bike and a helmet. No entrance fees and no indoor visits are included: the stories are told from the street, the forecourt or the bridge.

Request a booking