Stroll in the Ile-de-la-Cité of Paris, 800 year history

As our walks are extensively documented, we have chosen to “hide” some of this information “behind the map”, so as not to overload your screen. All the information you need for your walk, however, is contained “on” or by clicking the map. It may not seem possible, but that’s the reality. See below.

Each walk can be taken in one direction (Itinerary 1) or in the opposite direction (Itinerary 2). For example, you can go from the Arc de Triomphe to Concord Square, or in the opposite direction, from Concord to the Arc de Triomphe. Each Itinerary 1 or 2 takes your choice into account, automatically inverting all available information into the order in which you will be walking.

Points of interest numbered 1, 2, etc., in the order in which they appear on route 1 or 2 of your chosen walk. You can scroll through their photos on your screen by dragging them (with your mouse or finger, or by clicking on the arrows to the right or left). Clicking on the photo opens the detailed article (from our database) for the point of interest.

In the street, Relaxation Breaks are positioned between Points of Interest. They are likewise positioned in the photo strip, between the points of interest and in the order in which they are encountered during the walk. Clicking on them opens the corresponding article.

Map – Markers

This is the position of Points of Interest and Relaxation Breaks, differentiated by the shape of the logo.

Some markers may be a blue circle marked with a number (2, 3, 4, etc.). Simply click on the circle or zoom in on the map. This point will be divided into 2, 3, etc. Points of interest or relaxation breaks. This is due to the density of points on the map being too close together and therefore “superimposed” if the zoom is too low.

You’ll get the name and address of the Point of Interest or Relaxation Break in a window, plus the start of a short description of the point. Click on the window to open the full database article.

Click on the 3rd button at top right (Click to show your location). Only to be used in Paris or surrounding area.

Button at top right of map. Allows you to easily read street names and follow the route of your walk.

You can choose to walk in one direction (Clic on Itinerary 1) or the opposite direction (Itinerary 2). Or even from any Point of Interest: simply move to the address of the Point of Interest you choose as your starting point.

You can also indicate your location in Paris on the map at any time by clicking on one of the buttons at the top right of the map (the bottom “Click to show your location” button). You can then easily reach the address of the starting point “Point of interest 1” of the walk, indicated under the chosen itinerary (Itinerary 1 or “return” itinerary 2).

Note that your cell phone should have its function “location” activated if not automatic.

You can also use your “Click to show your location” button to easily track your progress during your walk. Use the zoom button at the top right of the map to make it easier to read the street names.

Note that your cell phone should have its function “location” activated if not automatic.

If you activate the “Click to show your location” on the map of the walk and you are away from Paris, you will get the map corresponding to the location were you are at the moment – not the map of Paris

Clicking on each marker

You get the name of the Point of Interest, and a window with its address and the beginning of its “short description”. Clicking on the window again, you get the complete Point of Interest data sheet.

If some markers indicate a number (2, 3 , etc.) ?

Click on the marker, zoom will be automatically activated and Points of Interest that were hidden (because they were too close each other on the map) will appear.

Relaxation breaks are indicated by the symbol Pause (2 vertical red bars).

Points of interest and Relaxation breaks are indicated in the banner above the map. This banner can be moved from left to right to show the points on your itinerary, in the order in which you will see them on your walk. By clicking on the window for each point on your route, you’ll get all the information you need (just like clicking on the markers on the map)

Visiting Paris means visiting world-famous monuments, museums, churches and cathedrals. These visits generally last between 1h30 and 3 hours. We believe that after spending so much time in a confined environment, in the midst of often large crowds, most visitors long for a walk to free themselves and relax. That’s why we’ve chosen to offer short, useful and not “random” walks around the city, right after a visit to a museum or monument.

As a result, most of our city tours begin (or end) at or near monuments or museums.
Finally, the end of the walk is “somewhere” near a key point of interest and/or near the start of another of our walks.

The itineraries of our walks are then mapped out so as to pass by “secondary” Points of Interest (compared to the “great Monuments” and Museums) often overlooked in guidebooks and by “human” guides. They are, however, historically just as interesting as what you’ll see in the official places. Their number is such that they are often located within 100 m of each other! We have weel over 200 of them in our database. There are more than 2,000 in the whole of touristic Paris. So there’s still a lot of work to be done.

As a result, most of our city tours begin (or end) at or near monuments or museums.
Finally, the end of the walk is “somewhere” near a key point of interest and/or near the start of another of our walks.

In Paris, there are dozens of museums, monuments, churches and other unique addresses that are the envy of the world. According to the experts, there are more than 2,000, but only less than 100 with a truly international reputation. These are the “points of interest” we call “main”. The others can (wrongly) be described as “secondary points of interest”.

We have chosen to list them in our own documented database. All these points of interest are grouped and organized by type. You can consult them in the “All you can see” category on our home page.

Along each walking itinerary, anything of interest (historical, anecdotal, practical, etc.) to a tourist is mentioned, documented and reported using a card stored in our database.

We have one sheet for each Point of Interest. It contains everything that might be useful for a curious tourist. It could be a historical fact, anecdote or practical information. It can be the opening hours of museums, monuments or shops, the address of course, with a telephone number if available, GPS coordinates to help locate it, and possibly prices. A short description for those in a hurry, and a detailed description with links to other documents where necessary.

Yes, and it’s free. All you have to do is enter “Tout ce que vous pouvez voir” on the www.visitingparisbyyourself.fr home page (for the site in French) or “All you can see” on the www.visitingparisbyyourself.com home page (for the site in English).

You’ll find a fact sheet on each “Point of Interest”, with historical, anecdotal and practical information. We haven’t yet reached 2,000 listings, just over 200 in English and as many in French for non-French-speaking tourists.

The number is growing as we create new articles, walks and stays in Paris.
This database feeds the other sections of our site: “Preparing your stay”, organizing “1 to 10-day stays”, “Where to stay” and, of course, “Walks”, “Shopping”, “Relaxation breaks” and “Cruises”.

The original idea was to regularly section off the walk itineraries with addresses of cafés, restaurants, etc. where you could relax and unwind. And of course to locate them on the itinerary so as to “program” on the strolls and according to the probable time the stopping points for a, a coffee at 10 a.m., lunch at 12 or 1 p.m., a sweet at 4 p.m., etc. But we then added a “quality/price” criterion to give even more useful information, especially as Paris is a tourist city and therefore susceptible to tourist abuse. In this way, we are fighting for fair prices and a positive image of Paris.

First of all, we list almost all the merchants operating in a neighborhood or within 50 to 100 m on either side of a walk route. For each of them, we check their presence and presentation on the Internet, if they exist, as well as their comments. Around 50% do not pass this stage of our investigations.

We only keep (with a few rare exceptions) merchants who have been rated with (verified) comments by their customers. Ratings are usually displayed on a scale of 1 to 5. We eliminate all ratings below 4 (with a few exceptions, to indicate where not to go). The merchants on our lists therefore have scores between 4.0 and 5.0.

It’s easy. All you have to do is stop at a Point of Interest or Relaxation Pause and note its postal address or GPS coordinates, which are clearly indicated in the documents provided. Then, of course, return to the same point (or the next one) when you resume your walk. So you’re in control of your time and your schedule.

Each walk has been designed with an order of appearance for each point of interest or relaxation break on the itinerary to be followed. But with a simple click (Itinerary 1 or Itinerary 2, just above the map) our software allows you to reverse the order of the visit. For example, starting the walk at the last Point of Interest and “moving up” through the itinerary to the Point of Interest that was 1st in the default configuration. No information or documentation will be “lost”.

Of course, it all depends on how brave you are and how tired you are. It’s all the easier, and without wasting time, as each new walk generally begins where (or close to) the previous walk ended. What’s more, our walks are “reversible”: our software allows you to invert (1 click) the order of the points to be seen on the walk, making it possible to “arrange” the sequence of walks with even greater flexibility.

The number of VPBY walks available on our site is steadily increasing. We started with 5 walks. We’ve now passed the 10 mark. We think that twenty or so walks would provide a sufficient network for the tourist part of Paris. Click on “List of VPBY walks on our site” (URL) for the latest update.