The Frari Church in Venice

One of the great artistic secrets of Venice is the Frari church, formerly known as Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari. It really is hidden and we wouldn't have known about it at all if it didn't have a dedicated track in the Rick Steves app. We likely would have walked right past it if we hadn't known to look for it. As a church it isn't unimpressive looking, but there are so many churches in Venice, and Europe generally, that it can be hard to know which ones you should go into. They are probably all worth seeing, but as with all things in travel there just isn't enough time.

How to Get There:

Like most things in Venice outside of St. Mark's Square and the Rialto Bridge, the Frari Church is not easy to find. I honestly don't know if we would have found it if our friend Holly hadn't had a working phone with data and GPS. Your best shot if you don't have a phone with data may be to use the Lonely Planet guide. Remember that your phone's GPS will still work to show you where you are as long as you have downloaded the map before hand. 

Because of the congested nature of the Venetian alleys you will not see the Frari Church until you are actually in the Campo dei Frari where it stands. It dominates the square as it is a large redbrick gothic basilica. But having already passed a number of churches you may be unsure if you are in the right place. You will see a sign with the word Frari on it, and then you will know you have arrived. 

Before you head out to visit the Frari Church make sure that you are appropriately attired to visit a religious site, this means being modestly covered, removing your hat, putting away your selfie stick, etc. 

When you arrive you will enter through the front door and there will be a small booth to your right where you can purchase your tickets which are just €3 per person. There are some steps just to the left of this booth where you can leave your bag if you would like, although I don't think it was required. 

What You Will See:

Unless you know an awful lot about 16th century Venetian art and the Franciscan order I would definitely recommend using the Rick Steves' audio guide here. I don't pretend to know anything about art of any century so I really liked having something to listen to in the Frari. I am sure I would have enjoyed seeing the religious paintings without the guide, but I certainly wouldn't have understood their significance in context.

One of the really special things about the Frari Church is the chance to see full alter pieces in their intended settings. The church has a number of chapels and each one has an alter piece of its own.

You also get the chance to see the church's reliquary which I was excited about since both Notre Dame and Saint Mark's charge you to see their reliquaries.

In addition to the art, there is a ton of it for a single church, and the relics, you will also see several tombs that are quite impressive. The visit to the church won't take you much longer than total length of Rick's audio guide, depending on how long you want to look at the artwork.

It is worth noting that you are allowed to take pictures in here, which is rare for a church. I did not realize this until we were leaving, which is why we have so few and such low quality images for this post as I just snapped a few on my phone on the way out.

Sum Up:

I really enjoyed visiting the Frari Church and highly recommend it. Not only is it very cool to see, but it is also very cool temperature wise inside. Considering that when we were in Venice it was blistering hot and oppressively humid, this was a great blessing. It is not very expensive to visit, so it is certainly wort the cost of getting in. As a lesser known site in Venice it doesn't get very crowded which in contrast to St. Mark's Basilica gives you the time and attention to enjoy yourself. 

A 3 Day Travel Guide to Paris

We spent a solid 3 days in Paris and felt like we saw everything we wanted to see. I'm sure if we stayed longer, we would have found some amazing hidden gems. But in 3 days we were able to hit lots of major landmarks.

After our experience, we found that there were a few things we could have done better. So while this travel guide is not exactly how we saw everything, we did see everything in this guide and want to share from our experiences.

Before we start, here are a few suggestions of things to do before you start your trip.

• Hotel: Make sure to get a hotel near a metro stop. We suggest going through Hotels.com. When you are looking at hotels, make sure to check the comments from previous guests. They are usually good about saying if the hotel is close to a metro stop or not. We stayed at this hotel and it was SO CLOSE to a metro stop, but it was also a teeny, tiny room which we were not expecting. 
• Paris Museum Pass: You can't go to Paris and not get a museum pass. It saves you so much money! And it lets you into so many different sites around Paris. Some of the sites even let you skip the waiting line if you have the Museum Pass. We bought our passes just at the airport near baggage claim, but you can also buy them online and have them mailed to you before you go or you can pick them up in Paris when you get there. 
• Metro Passes: Check out our post here to get all of the details on what and how to get the passes. 
• Apps: Make sure to download these four apps before you get to Paris. 

Day 1:

Because you're in Paris, probably the first thing you will want to see is the Eiffel Tower. This is one of the attractions in Paris that opens at 9:00 am during peak season (mid-June through early September). You can check out our post here for specific details. Plan on spending 2-3 hours at this site, especially if you are planning on walking up the stairs! 

**For another cool Eiffel Tower experience, try going 30-60 minutes before sunset so you can watch the sun setting and see the tower lit up. While we did not do this on our trip, this was something I saw recommended after we were already home**

While at the Eiffel Tower, you may want to stop and eat at one of their restaurants or cafes. We found that the cafe had delicious food and wasn't too terribly priced. 

After viewing the Eiffel Tower, make sure to take some time back on the ground to take some pictures of the whole tower. When we were there, the grassy area in front of the tower was closed. So we just went across the Seine and were still able to get amazing pictures. 

From the Eiffel Tower, we suggest heading to the Arc de Triomphe. Check out our post here to find out details about the tricky way to go to get to the Arc. While at the Arc, we definitely suggest climbing up to the top if you can! After the Eiffel Tower, it might be a lot for people in poor health or for young children. Our legs definitely hurt after our first day but the stairs were worth it!

For an easy end to the day, we suggest going to Napoleon's Tomb and the Army Museum. While we didn't actually go inside the museum (because it was closed when we got there), from what we hear it is a good place to visit. Check out our post here about Napoleon's Tomb.

At this point we suggest finding a place to grab dinner. Our favorite places were little crepe stands and shops.

After dinner we headed back to our hotel to unwind and relax for the evening because we were so tired from touring all day! If you're up for it, head back to the Eiffel Tower to see it at night all lit up. The Arc de Triomphe at night is also an amazing sight.

Day 2:

The second day we suggest going to the old city center. By getting off at the Cite metro stop, you are within walking distance of 3 amazing sights in Paris. 

First, head over to Sainte Chapelle. This was my favorite place we saw in all of Paris. Plan on spending at least an hour there. Ben wanted to stay longer and I now wish that we would have. 

After Sainte Chapelle, go over to Notre Dame and wait in line to climb the towers. Check out Ben's post here about the towers. This was my second favorite thing we did in Paris. 

After the towers, grab some lunch at a crepe stand across the street from Notre Dame and start to listen to the Rick Steves Audio Europe App. Go to the track called Historic Paris. As you eat your crepes and start listening to Rick, you can stand in line to enter the cathedral. Even if the line looks long, it moves pretty fast. Check out Ben's post here about seeing the inside of Notre Dame. 

When you come out of the church, if you have time and want to cool down a bit, head on over to the Archeological Crypts at the opposite end of the plaza. 

After the Crypts, continue listening to Rick and take the Historic Paris walking tour. Sadly we did not have time to do this tour and I really wish that we had.  

If you aren't into seeing the Crypts, or you don't want to do the walking tour, you could go to the Louvre and Orsay Museums. But, we wouldn't suggest them, except maybe going to the outside of the Louvre Museum in order to see the glass pyramids. Check out my post about the Louvre here and why you probably don't need to see it.

Day 3:

This last day, we suggest spending in Versailles. It is such a beautiful place and you can literally spend all day there. Make sure to take into account transit time getter there. Since it is outside of the main city center area of Paris, it does take a little bit of extra time getting there but it is so worth it. See my detailed post about Versailles here. 

And there you have it! 3 days in Paris! We loved our time in Paris and are so grateful that we got to experience one of the most popular cities in the world. It is so popular for a good reason. There are so many things to see and do, but don't over schedule yourself. Take your time and really enjoy the place you are in. Look for the beauty and the details and take lots of pictures! But also spend time in the moment. I think we had a good balance of enjoying our time in the moment and enjoying our time through camera lenses. Plan and prepare, but don't freak out when plans don't go your way. 

We hope you have enjoyed this travel guide! Make sure to Pin if for later!

The Towers of Notre Dame

While I did write a couple weeks ago about the Notre Dame Cathedral, I did not go into detail about the tower tour that is available there. This is because there is an extra cost and considerable extra effort involved in this tour so they really are separate activities. In fact we did them on different days. The tower tour is amazing though, so if your wallets and your legs are up to it I highly encourage you to go.

How to Get There:

Of course the directions for getting to the Notre Dame Towers tour start out exactly the same as getting to Notre Dame for any other visit. You can read my directions here. 

Once you are at the façade of the cathedral go to the left side of the church. Running along the wall you should see a line leading away from a door on the corner of the leftmost tower. If you are either very early or very lucky this line will not be long, but most likely it will be pretty lengthy, but go ahead and get in the end of the line, it will be worth it in the end. 

The line moves in jumps because they only let in a certain number of people at a time. You won't need to buy tickets until you get up the first set of stairs in the tower, so don't worry about that until you get there. If you have a Museum Pass you can use that to get in, but it won't let you skip waiting in line. While you are in the line there will be plenty of crepe stands across the street, so if you feel hungry have someone hold your place in line and get some of my favorite French cuisine. 

What You Will See:

Once you get inside the tower you will ascend the first set of stairs to a chamber where you can buy tickets and there is a small gift shop. You wait in this room until another group comes down from the top then you will be taken up. The walk up is very long and strenuous depending on how good of shape you are in. There were a couple of elderly ladies with us who had a hard time and kept stopping so people could go around them. This is a somewhat scary experience as the stairs are in a tight spiral so there really isn't much room to put you feet on the inner side. My advice is that even if you are slow just keep going up until you reach a landing where you can actually stand aside. 

When you finally come out of the stairs you will exit onto a parapet where you will immediately be able to see some of Notre Dame's iconic gargoyles. You will have seen many of the smaller gargoyles on the side of the build ing while you waited in line, but the ones at the top of the stairs are the real deal, the ones you've seen in pictures. The first set you may have seen from the plaza below, but here you will be right next to them. 

As you walk down you will see that you can continue straight or go to the left. Make sure you go to the left as this is the only way to get into the bell tower and see some of the inner area gargoyles that cannot be seen from anywhere else. Once you take the left turn there will be a small door on the right that you can enter to get to the bells. This will require walking up some extra stairs, but you wouldn't want to go to Notre Dame and not see the bells, right? 

Once you have seen the bells and the inner gargoyles you'll continue on from where you turned. This will lead you to another stairway. At this point you will have a choice whether to continue up to the panorama view from the top of the tower, or to go back down and exit. I highly suggest you continue on to the top. 

From the top you will be able to see splendid views of Paris on all sides. Each group only gets 5 minutes up here though so make sure you have your camera ready and try not to block other guest's way. I could have used maybe a two minutes longer up there, but I remember waiting in that line at the bottom, so down we went when our time was up. 

Then it is down, down, down, all the way to the bottom where you will exit back onto the plaza. Be careful going down, as this will be harder on your legs then going up and you do the whole distance in one go. 

Sum Up:

The Towers of Notre Dame were one of favorite things in Paris. Meagan was hesitant about waiting in the long line, but afterward she said it was more than worth it. It costs 10 euro per person if you don't have the Museum Pass, but I think even that would be worth it to be able to be in the towers. For me it was a more enjoyable experience than the cathedral itself.

Visiting the Notre Dame Cathedral

Notre Dame is the most famous cathedral in Paris. It majestically sits at the very center of the city, its nobel façade standing as one of the great symbols of Paris. It is a must see an almost everyone's list when coming to Paris, and for good reason.

How to Get There:

Before you try to get to Notre Dame make sure you are prepared to go; if you've been to a European church before you probably know what this means. Come modestly clothed, that means don't wear shorts, sleeveless shirts, or other revealing attire. You don't want to stand in the often very long line to get inside and then not be allowed in. Don't wear a hat inside and don't use your selfie stick inside either. These restrictions are because Notre Dame is still an active church and people come here to worship, so please be respectful. 

Once you are appropriately attired to go the best way to get there via the Paris Metro (see our guide to the metro) is to ride to the Cité stop (Cité is the is island on which the Notre Dame stands). When you exit this stop it can be a little confusing because you don't see the cathedral, this is due to how closely the buildings are packed here. Notre Dame is actually just about a block away. We were going the wrong direction until we saw a sign in a flower shop that said Notre Dame and an arrow pointing the opposite direction. 

The thing to know is when you exit the Cité metro station go left to walk across the plaza you exit on to. When you reach the street go right. You will soon see Notre Dame on your left. If you see Sainte Chapelle, you are going the wrong way. 

If you want to go into the Cathedral get in the line that snakes its way across the plaza in front of the façade. The line for the tower tour is on the left side of the building when facing the façade. Just make sure that you get in the correct line for what you want to do. 

What You Will See:

Going into Notre Dame is free. So it's a good thing for everyone to do when visiting Paris. The line was pretty long when we were there but it actually moved very fast. There is a security check at the door so make sure to have your bag open when you approach the entrance.

Once inside you will be in a small gift shop area where you can also rent an audio guide if you desire. We recommend just listening to Rick Steves on the Audio Europe app. The tracks for Notre Dame exterior and interior are in the Paris walking tour guide. You can listen to the exterior at any time, you might be tempted to do it while you stand in line, but that wouldn't allow you to get as close to the façade as you really need to in order to see some of the details. 

You can also choose to just wander the church on your own. It is quite large with the central area being taken up by seating for the main Masses held each day. Please remember to be respectful when in this area and follow the instructions on the posted signs.

All the way up the central area of cathedral you will see the beautiful stain glass windows. Around the sides you will find many smaller chapels and confession booths. There is a lot to see, so you can take your time walking around in here.

Outside the Cathedral there is also a lot to see. The facade is covered in statues and if you go to the right you come to a very nice park/garden that will take you around the back of the Cathedral. There is also an optional tour of the churches treasury that you can go on for a cost. The towers can also be seen for an addition cost. (Stay tuned for our spot on the towers!)

Sum Up:

The Notre Dame Cathedral is an awesome place to see. Even if you are not religious it holds significant historical value for Paris both as a church and the island of Cité on which it stands. We definitely recommend you visit it, especially since it doesn't cost anything. There are also free public restrooms just off to the side of the plaza in front of the the Cathedral, we didn't use them so we can't vouch for how nice they are, but they are there if you need them. We also found some amazing mango gelato at a street cart by the bridge to the right of the facade.