palais royal : secrets and history
Reveries of the Palais- Royal: A journey through
Royal Residences
What if you could discover the royal heart of Paris in just a few steps? From the Pont Neuf, the oldest bridge in the city, completed in 1607 to the Tuileries Garden and the Louvre, this walking tour takes you through four centuries of history, political intrigues… and a few haunting legends.
Your walk begins on the Pont Neuf, the first stone bridge without houses, once filled with charlatans, book peddlers, and street vendors. This is where Paris’s first sidewalks were installed, along with the famous Samaritaine water pump that supplied the Louvre and the Tuileries.
You will then pass by the church of Saint-Germain-l’Auxerrois, the former parish of the kings of France, before heading up Rue de Rivoli and its Napoleonic arcades toward the Palais-Royal.
At the Palais-Royal, built in 1629 for Cardinal Richelieu, you’ll step into an open-air theater: palace, galleries, gardens, theater… Here lived Richelieu, Anne of Austria, the young Louis XIV, and the Dukes of Orléans. The site survived the Fronde, revolutions, looting, and fires, before becoming home to today’s Council of State and Constitutional Council.
The walk continues through Place Colette, the Comédie-Française—the oldest theater troupe in France—and then the Museum of Decorative Arts, before opening onto the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, a three-quarter replica of Rome’s Arch of Constantine, ordered by Napoleon to celebrate Austerlitz.
Finally, you’ll cross the Tuileries Garden, the oldest public garden in Paris, marked by the ghosts of Catherine de’ Medici and the eerie legend of Jean the Flayer… until the grand finale: the Louvre Museum, whose history spans from medieval fortress to world-renowned art temple.
During this visit you will:
• explore on foot the emblematic sites of French monarchy, at your own pace;
• discover surprising anecdotes (a crocodile under the Pont Neuf, ominous prophecies for queens and Napoleon, secrets of statues and arcades);
• enjoy the best photo spots between Pont Neuf, Palais-Royal, Tuileries, and Louvre;
• experience an immersive, lively, emotional visit—far from the usual “checklist” tours.
More than just a visit, it’s an experience: immersive, vibrant, smooth, and entirely at your rhythm, whenever you want.
Download the Audio Guide Paris app for free and unlock this full walk from Pont Neuf to the Palais-Royal and the Tuileries all the way to the Louvre—a royal, mysterious, and strikingly photogenic Paris just waiting to be revealed.