A Montmartre Evening Walk

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Montmartre is two different places depending on when you go. By day it is a crush of tour groups and portrait sellers around one square. In the evening, once the coaches leave, it softens back into the village on a hill that drew the painters in the first place: quiet lanes, golden light on the stone, and one of the best free views in Paris. This is a guide to a Montmartre evening walk, from the steps of Sacre-Coeur through the back streets to the hidden corners most visitors miss. For the rest of the city, see our Paris travel guide.

A short history of Montmartre

Montmartre was a village on a hill long before it was part of Paris. Its name means the mount of the martyrs, after Saint Denis, who was beheaded here in the third century and, as the legend goes, picked up his own head and walked. For centuries it was countryside dotted with windmills and gypsum quarries, until the growing city swallowed it in 1860. In 1871 it became the spark of the Paris Commune, the short-lived workers’ uprising that began on this hill. Then, from the 1880s, cheap rents and cheaper wine drew the artists and the cabarets, and Montmartre became the bohemian heart of Paris for a generation before the scene drifted south to Montparnasse. What you walk through today is the village all of that left behind.

Why evening is the best time in Montmartre

Montmartre earns its reputation at the wrong time of day for most visitors. The middle of the day belongs to the crowds around Place du Tertre and the queue up to the basilica. Come in the late afternoon and early evening instead. The light turns golden on the white stone of Sacre-Coeur, the terraces fill with locals rather than tour groups, and the steep lanes behind the hill empty out. Sunset from the steps is the moment everyone remembers, and it is one of the most romantic hours in the city, which is why it turns up in our Paris honeymoon guide too.

Start at Sacre-Coeur and the view

Begin at the top. Sacre-Coeur sits at the highest point in Paris, and the terrace in front of it gives you the whole city laid out below, best of all as the sun drops and the lights come on. You can climb the stairs through the gardens or take the funicular up if your legs have had enough. Sit on the steps for a while once you are up, because that is half the point of coming here.

Sacre-Coeur is younger than it looks. It was built as a national act of penance after France’s defeat in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 and the upheaval of the Commune that followed, with construction running from 1875 until 1914 and the basilica consecrated in 1919. Its startling whiteness is not constant cleaning but chemistry: the travertine stone reacts with rainwater and secretes a white mineral, so it bleaches itself over time. The dome, which you can climb for a small fee, is the second-highest viewpoint in the city after the Eiffel Tower.

Step inside before you move on. The basilica is free to enter, and the vast golden mosaic of Christ above the altar is one of the largest of its kind in the world, worth the few minutes even after the view outside.

The back streets behind the basilica

Most people never get past the square. Walk behind and around the basilica instead, into the lanes of the old village: Rue de l’Abreuvoir with its pink house, La Maison Rose, the ivy-covered corners, and the quiet stretches where Montmartre still feels like the place the painters knew. This is the part of the walk to take slowly, with no particular destination in mind.

Montmartre and the artists

For a few decades around 1900, almost every name in modern art passed through this hill. Picasso worked in the Bateau-Lavoir, a ramshackle studio building where he painted Les Demoiselles d’Avignon. Van Gogh lived with his brother Theo on Rue Lepic. Renoir, Toulouse-Lautrec, Modigliani, Degas and Utrillo all painted the streets, the dancers and the windmills. You can still feel it in two quieter museums: the Musee de Montmartre, set in the oldest house on the hill with Renoir’s old garden, and the Espace Dali, devoted to Salvador Dali’s sculptures and prints. Film fans will also recognise the Cafe des Deux Moulins on Rue Lepic, the cafe from Amelie.

Place du Tertre and the artists, honestly

Place du Tertre is the old artists’ square, still packed with easels and portrait painters. It is charming for ten minutes and a tourist trap for the rest, with pushy sketch sellers and overpriced cafes. Walk through it for the atmosphere, but do not feel obliged to sit down or commission a caricature. The real charm of Montmartre is in the streets around the square, not the square itself.

The hidden corners worth finding

Montmartre rewards a bit of wandering. A few spots to aim for: the Clos Montmartre, a small working vineyard tucked into the hillside and a genuine surprise in the middle of the city. The two surviving windmills, the Moulin de la Galette and the Moulin Radet, left from when the hill was covered in them. The Wall of Love, Le Mur des Je t’aime, where I love you is written in hundreds of languages. And the Lapin Agile, the old cabaret that Picasso and his circle drank in, still going on a quiet corner.

A few more worth hunting down. On Rue de l’Abreuvoir, one of the prettiest streets in Paris, you pass La Maison Rose, the little pink cafe once painted by Utrillo. In a small square nearby stands Le Passe-Muraille, a bronze of a man stepping straight out of a stone wall, based on a Marcel Ayme story. And on the northern slope the Montmartre cemetery, the quiet resting place of Degas, Nijinsky and others, is worth a wander in its own right.

The cabarets, from the Chat Noir to the Moulin Rouge

Montmartre more or less invented the modern cabaret. In the 1880s Le Chat Noir, down the hill, drew writers and artists to its shadow-puppet shows and sharp songs, and Au Lapin Agile, still open on a corner near the vineyard, was where Picasso and his circle drank and argued. At the foot of the hill, the Moulin Rouge opened in 1889 and made the can-can famous, and it still runs its late show today. If you want to turn the evening into a full night out, this is the corner of Paris built for it.

Cafe terraces and where to eat

When you have walked enough, the evening is for a terrace. The cafes on and around the hill are made for a slow glass of wine as the light goes, and the streets below Abbesses have the better, less touristy dinner options. For what to order across the city, see our guide to what to eat in Paris. A table with a view back over the rooftops is the right way to end the walk. If you want one dish to order up here, we would point you at moules frites, the pot of mussels and fries that is exactly the right comfort food after the climb.

When to go: seasons and the grape harvest

Montmartre is good year round, but the timing can add something. Spring and autumn bring the softest light and the most comfortable walking. In early October the hill throws its Fete des Vendanges, a grape harvest festival around the little Clos Montmartre vineyard, with music, food stalls and crowds of locals. Summer evenings are long and lively but busy, and winter is quiet and atmospheric, with the view just as good under a cold clear sky. Whenever you come, aim for the hour before sunset.

A suggested evening route

To string it together: take the Metro to Abbesses or Anvers in the late afternoon, climb or ride up to Sacre-Coeur for the view and sunset, then loop down through the back streets behind the basilica. Pass the vineyard and the windmills, cut across to the Wall of Love near Abbesses, and finish on a terrace below the hill for dinner. That is a two to three hour evening at an easy pace, and most of it costs nothing.

Getting there and practical tips

Montmartre sits in the 18th arrondissement in the north of the city. The nearest Metro stops are Abbesses and Anvers, with the funicular running from near Anvers up to the basilica. The hill is genuinely steep, so wear comfortable shoes and expect stairs. As in any busy tourist area, keep an eye on your belongings in the crowds, and note that Pigalle at the foot of the hill is a lively nightlife district rather than a quiet one. The walk itself is free, which is part of why it is one of the best evenings in Paris. The funicular takes a standard Metro ticket, so it costs no more than a short ride, and a little tourist road train also loops the main sights if you would rather not tackle the hills on foot at all.

One Montmartre warning worth knowing before you go. On the steps up to Sacre-Coeur, men will try to tie a friendship bracelet, a loop of string, around your wrist or finger, then demand money once it is on, and they can turn aggressive if you refuse. Keep your hands in your pockets, do not let anyone take your wrist, and walk straight past. The same crews run a rigged cup-and-ball betting game at the foot of the steps. Neither is dangerous as long as you simply do not engage. For the full list, see our guide to common Paris scams.

What to book ahead

Montmartre is mostly a free, walk-as-you-please evening, so there is little to reserve. The one booking worth making nearby is the Moulin Rouge at the foot of the hill, if you want to turn the evening into a cabaret night. You can book Moulin Rouge show tickets on Klook. See our full Moulin Rouge review for what the show is like.

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