Paris: Napoleon's Heritage Guided Walking Tour｜France

Discover the impact of Napoleon on Paris with a guided walking tour. Explore the city's streets and learn about the Emperor's vision for the city, which he transformed with new roads, bridges, hospitals, and fountains.

Meet your guide at the Palais Brongniart and set off on a 2-hour walking tour. Learn about the reign of Napoleon I, which was brief but impactful. In just a few years, the Emperor left a lasting mark on France, particularly on Paris.

Hear about Napoleon's vision for Paris as a new Rome, a European cultural and intellectual center worthy of his grandeur. Discover how he developed new roads, bridges, hospitals, and fountains, and how many streets still bear the names of his victories: Iéna, Wagram, or Friedland.

Learn about Napoleon's modernization of Paris. Hear about his most significant projects, such as the street numbering reform, which he made mandatory in 1805. Discover how the odd-even numbering system, starting closest to the Seine, would later be adopted across Europe.

Hear about the construction of the Saint-Martin, Ourcq, and Saint-Denis canals to supply the city with water, complemented by fountains to improve the daily lives of Parisians. Learn how traffic circulation in the city also benefited from the construction of numerous bridges, such as the Pont des Arts, the city's first metal bridge.

Discover how Napoleon sought to glorify Paris with monuments inspired by ancient Rome, like temples, triumphal arches, and columns. Learn how the fall of the Empire interrupted some of his projects, but how the Restoration and the July Monarchy completed several of them before Napoleon III continued this work with Prefect Haussmann, bringing everything full circle.

While walking, discover also the History of Napoleon, from its victorious fight at the Saint-Roch Church to fight back a royalist coup to the Arc of Triumph, built to celebrate the victories of the french armies.