Paris Da Vinci Code Audio Walking Tour
Follow The Da Vinci Code from the Ritz past the Tuileries, the Palais-Royal and both Louvre pyramids, over the river to the church of Saint-Sulpice.
- 7 stops and 18 minutes of stories, told as you reach each place
- The intro and stop 1 are free in the app: try before you buy
- Download before you go; the audio plays without signal (the street map needs a connection)
- Walking with friends? Pick 1 to 10 seats; everyone hears each stop on their own phone, at the same moment
30 seconds of the real narration
Plays in the free Walk With Me app on iPhone and Android.
Where the story happens
Each stop, the moment of the story it belongs to, and what is there today.
| Stop | In the story | Today |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Ritz Paris, Place Vendome | Chapter 1: Langdon is woken after midnight; in the epilogue he wakes here again. | The Ritz Paris at 15 Place Vendôme, opened in 1898; admire it from the square. |
| 2. Tuileries Garden | Chapter 3: the police Citroën drives through the garden to the pyramid. | A garden closed to cars, begun in 1564 and run by the Louvre since 2005. |
| 3. Palais-Royal Garden | The last pages: Langdon follows bronze discs through a royal arcade. | Jan Dibbets' Arago discs in the colonnades and on Place Colette; some are missing. |
| 4. Inverted Pyramid | The ending: Langdon kneels between the two pyramids. | I. M. Pei's 1993 skylight in the Carrousel du Louvre concourse. |
| 5. Louvre Pyramid | The first night: Fache meets Langdon, and Sophie's escape trick inside the Grand Gallery. | The museum's entrance, inaugurated in 1989; going inside is optional and ticketed. |
| 6. Institut de France | No scene of its own: Silas is at work across the river while Langdon hides. | The Institut de France, with Arago discs along the Quai de Conti. |
| 7. Saint-Sulpice | Silas breaks a floor tile at the obelisk, and Sister Sandrine pays for what she saw. | A working church; the brass line is free to see in opening hours. The film's interior was a set. |
About this tour
The Da Vinci Code is a race through Paris, and on foot you see how close it all is: the hotel, the garden, the museum and the church are all within an hour's walk. Walking it also lets you do what the book never does: stop, look down at a real bronze marker, look up at a real pyramid, and read a real sign. The city turns out to be stranger, and better, than the fiction. If you'd like company along the way, open the Walk With Me live map to find other people out walking Paris right now.
The route
3.9 km in walking order from Ritz Paris, Place Vendome to Saint-Sulpice. Stop 1 is free in the app.
- 1Ritz Paris, Place VendomeThe Place Vendôme hotel where a call after midnight starts the novel, and the reason this walk reaches its last pages early.Free in the app
- 2Tuileries GardenThe formal garden where the novel's police car races toward the Louvre, and the problem one scholar spotted with that drive.
- 3Palais-Royal GardenAn arcaded garden on Langdon's last walk, bronze discs in the ground to hunt for, and a little cannon once fired by the sun.
- 4Inverted PyramidA glass pyramid hanging point down in a shopping concourse, the novel's final scene, and what really lies beneath the small stone tip.
- 5Louvre PyramidPei's pyramid in the Cour Napoléon, the first night inside the museum, a bar of soap, and a number worth checking.€22 to go in, optional
- 6Institut de FranceThe domed Institut beyond the Pont des Arts, meridian markers along the quay, and the novel's killer, tied to a real Catholic group.
- 7Saint-SulpiceA church with a brass line running to a marble obelisk, Silas's search for the keystone, and the parish's written reply.
What costs extra
1 stop has a ticket to go inside. The story plays outside, so going in is your choice.
| Stop | Inside | Ticket from |
|---|---|---|
| 5. Louvre Pyramid | Optional | €22 |
Questions
How long does it really take?
56 min of walking plus 18 minutes of stories, so plan for about 1 h 14 with stops.
Do I need a Louvre ticket?
No. The pyramid courtyard and the inverted pyramid in the Carrousel du Louvre concourse are outside the paid museum. A ticket only matters if you want to see the Grand Gallery inside.
Can I see the brass line in Saint-Sulpice?
Yes, free, inside the church during opening hours. It is a working church, so keep your voice down and skip the flash during services.
Will I find all the bronze discs?
Probably not. Some Arago discs on the route have gone missing over the years, so look down carefully at the Palais-Royal, in the Louvre courtyard and on the Quai de Conti.
Cheaper in a bundle
Before you walk Paris
Photos: Kirandeep Singh Walia / Pexels.