Sainte-Chapelle: how the timed entry and the security line work, and whether to add the Conciergerie
Why the line at the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris is slow even with a ticket, how the timed entry really works, how to read the windows once inside, and whether the combined ticket with the Conciergerie is worth it.
In 1239 King Louis IX of France bought the Crown of Thorns. Its owner, the emperor Baldwin II of Constantinople, was short of money and had pledged it to Venetian merchants, so the king paid off the debt: 135,000 livres, a large share of what the crown of France earned in a year. When the relic arrived, Louis carried it into Paris barefoot.
Then he built a box for it. The chapel in the courtyard of his palace went up in about seven years and was consecrated on 26 April 1248. It cost some 40,000 livres, less than a third of what it was made to hold. The relic left during the Revolution and is now kept at Notre-Dame. The box remains, and so does the palace around it, which became the law courts of Paris. That is why visiting a chapel here starts like boarding a flight.
Why the line is slow
The Sainte-Chapelle stands inside the Palais de Justice, a working courthouse. Every visitor enters from the boulevard du Palais through a security post with scanners, a few people at a time. On the pavement there are usually two lines, one for people with a ticket and one for people without, and both end at that same post.
So "skip the line" here means the shorter of two lines. Nobody skips the check. Pocket knives, scissors and other sharp objects are not let through, and there is no cloakroom for them or for a suitcase. Come with a small bag.
How the timed entry works
- The ticket is for a slot. You choose a time when you book. The popular hours sell out in season, and the monument is small, so few people are let in at once.
- The slot is when you join the line, not when you enter. On a quiet morning you are inside in ten minutes. On a busy afternoon the check can add half an hour or more.
- Do not come very early. Ten to fifteen minutes before the time on the ticket is right.
- Free admission still needs a slot. Visitors under 18 and residents of the European Union under 26 enter free, and book a time like everyone else.
The first slot of the day has the shortest wait. For the glass, though, weather matters more than the hour: on a grey day the windows are dim, on a bright one they burn. Morning sun lights the apse, and late afternoon lights the rose window at the other end.
Inside: half an hour, two chapels
The lower chapel
You enter at ground level, into a low hall that served the people of the palace household. Its vault is painted blue and gold. Most visitors cross it quickly, and they are right to: the reason for the building is upstairs, at the top of a narrow spiral staircase.
The vault of the lower chapel. The paint is a restoration of the nineteenth century. Photo: Guilhem Vellut, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.
The upper chapel
The king's chapel, level with his apartments, has almost no walls. Fifteen windows, each about fifteen metres high, stand between thin piers of stone, and hold 1,113 scenes. Around two thirds of the glass is the original of the thirteenth century.
The windows are a book with an order. Begin on the left as you come in, with Genesis, and move along the north side and round the apse, reading each window from the bottom upwards. The Passion is in the centre of the apse, above the platform where the relics were shown. The last window on the south side, beside the door, tells the story you read above: the Crown of Thorns arriving in Paris, with the king carrying it.
The rose window on the west wall is later, of the end of the fifteenth century, and shows the Apocalypse.
The rose window of the west wall, two centuries younger than the rest of the glass. Photo: Gerda Arendt, via Wikimedia Commons, CC0.
Should you add the Conciergerie?
Two minutes along the same boulevard is the other surviving part of the medieval palace. A combined ticket covers both, and there is rarely a wait at the second door.
What it holds: the Hall of the Men-at-Arms, built under King Philip the Fair in the first years of the fourteenth century, 64 metres long, among the largest medieval halls left in Europe. Beyond it are the rooms of the prison this became. In 1793 and 1794 the Revolutionary Tribunal sat upstairs, and those it condemned waited here. Marie-Antoinette was held in a cell from 2 August to 16 October 1793. The cell itself was turned into a memorial chapel in 1815.
The Hall of the Men-at-Arms in the Conciergerie, built in the first years of the fourteenth century. Photo: Chatsam, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Add it if the Revolution interests you and you have an hour. The rooms are large and mostly bare, and their story is told on panels and a tablet guide. If your time is short, skip it and look at the towers from the quay instead, which is free.
The Conciergerie from across the Seine. The towers can be seen without a ticket. Photo: Dietmar Rabich, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
With a combined ticket you still book a time for the Sainte-Chapelle. Do the chapel first, at your slot, and the Conciergerie afterwards.
Reading the partner's listings
- The Sainte-Chapelle ticket with an audio tour is entry for a time slot plus commentary in the partner's app on your own phone. Bring earphones.
- The Conciergerie and Sainte-Chapelle ticket with an audio tour is the combined entry, with a narrated route through both.
- The audio tour marked "without a ticket" is the commentary alone. You book your entry separately.
The tickets come in two categories, for residents of the European Economic Area and for other visitors. Pick the one that applies and carry an identity document.
These are the Sainte-Chapelle tickets and audio tours our partner sells, with today's prices:
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on WeGoTrip
Architecture La Conciergerie & La Sainte-Chapelle Ticket & In-App Audio Tour
Book on WeGoTripfrom523 kr
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on WeGoTrip
Attraction Tickets Paris: La Sainte-Chapelle Ticket & Gothic Architecture Audio Tour
Book on WeGoTripfrom523 kr
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on WeGoTrip
Cultural Tours Paris: La Sainte-Chapelle Audio Tour (Without a Ticket)
Book on WeGoTripfrom89 kr
Sold and delivered by WeGoTrip. You book on their site at their price; Viaqui may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.
Hours change through the year, and the courthouse can alter access at short notice: see our page for the Sainte-Chapelle.
From here
You are in the middle of the island where Paris began. Notre-Dame, reopened in December 2024 after the fire, is five minutes to the east. In the other direction, Place Dauphine is a quiet triangle of old houses behind the courthouse, and it leads to the Pont Neuf, finished in 1607 and the oldest bridge still standing in the city. See the rest of the Palais de la Cité, what else there is in Paris, or open the trip planner for France.
Cover photo: Gerda Arendt, via Wikimedia Commons, CC0.
Frequently asked questions
Does a Sainte-Chapelle ticket skip the security line?
No. A ticket puts you in the line for ticket holders, which is shorter than the line for people without one, but everybody passes the same security check at the entrance of the courthouse.
How long is the wait at Sainte-Chapelle with a timed ticket?
About ten minutes in the first slot of a quiet morning, and half an hour or more on a busy afternoon. The time on the ticket is when you join the line, not when you walk in.
How long does a visit to Sainte-Chapelle take?
Thirty to forty-five minutes for the two chapels. Add about an hour if you also visit the Conciergerie with a combined ticket.
Is the Conciergerie worth visiting?
Yes if the French Revolution interests you: it has a great medieval hall and the prison rooms where Marie-Antoinette was held in 1793. The rooms are mostly bare, so skip it if your time is short.
What time of day is best for Sainte-Chapelle?
The first slot of the morning has the shortest wait. For the glass, a sunny day matters more than the hour: morning light is on the apse, late afternoon light on the rose window.
