Celebrating European Heritage Days (JEP) in Paris, France

On the third weekend (Saturday to Sunday) of September every year, cities across Europe celebrate European Heritage Days. In French, this event is called the Journées européennes du patrimoine (JEP). This initiative was launched jointly by the Council of Europe and the European Commission to foster appreciation for and preservation of European architectural heritage.

During these days, you can access countless monuments for free. These include museums, castles, and government buildings. Some highly exclusive venues are only open to the public only on these two days out of the entire year, so it really is one of the best moments to discover the best kept secrets of your city.

While this occasion is observed in cities across Europe, this article will focus on how you can make the most of the experience in Paris, France.

The key dates

As stated earlier, JEP takes place on the third weekend of September every year. Here are the specific dates:

• 20-21 September 2025
• 19-20 September 2026
• 18-19 September 2027
• 16-17 September 2028

What to expect

Most participating institutions will open their doors at 9am and close at 5pm or 6pm. Some places require reservation of a free ticket in advance, while others do not. Regardless, everything is free of charge so you won’t pay a dime. You can browse the program using this interactive map.

Attractions that don’t require reservations often have very long lines in the afternoon so it is recommended that you go in the first hour of opening to save time.

How to prioritize which activities to do

JEP lasts for only two days but there are hundreds of activities in Paris (and thousands across France) to choose from. With optionality that is so overwhelming, how exactly should you choose which activities to prioritize?

The boring answer is that it depends on what your interests are. The interesting answer is the strategy that I’m about to share with you. It worked well for me in the 2024 edition, and it’s one that I plan on using in subsequent years as well.

Step 1: Browse through exceptional openings

Some monuments are open to the public only these 2 days out of 365. Since normally you can’t even pay your way into them, these are the activities that should be considered first. For the 2024 edition, this comprehensive list by sortiraparis.com shows such exclusive activities in Paris. Most born and bred Parisians haven’t even seen the inside of these places!

My shortlist of worthwhile attractions in this category:

*Policy from the 2024 edition. There is little reason to believe that these policies will change in subsequent editions of JEP.

Step 2: Supplement with other free visits

Unless your weekend is fully occupied with visits from step 1, you might want to supplement it with a couple of other museums too. Use this official map to filter by your interests.

Some popular and beautiful participating attractions include:

• The Louvre
• Musée de l’Orangerie
• Musée d’Orsay
• La Bourse de Commerce
• La Saint-Chapelle

Remember that these, too, may or may not require reservation, so check on their respective websites.

When to reserve tickets

Once you’ve come up with a list of things that you want to do, the next step is to obtain tickets for the ones that require reservation. It is very important to prepare for this step in early September, as that is when many ticketed attractions release their tickets. Most, if not all, tickets will be claimed within the first few days of release, especially for popular attractions.

Each institution sets its own ticket release date so you should check their respective websites in early September to see if they’ve announced a release date. Once you know the release date, set a reminder on your phone to come back to the website on that day.

If you’re reading this just a few days before JEP, I’m sorry to say that chances are, very few if any tickets remain.

What if there are no more tickets to be reserved?

Even if the ticketed attractions are full, there are still plenty of great activities that you can choose from that don’t require a reservation! Use this official map to filter for them. Remember, though, that non-ticketed ones can have a very long wait time, so it is best to go early in the morning.