Paris Olympic sites to open for tourist tours

Sites used during the Paris 2024 Olympics are set to be open to visitors for guided tours, including in the previously-off-limits Olympic Athletes’ Village.

The guided tours will be run by tourism agency Plaine Commune, in a bid to continue the excitement and high visitor numbers seen during the Olympics and Paralympics events.

Guided tours will begin from the end of October, with new tours to continue being added into 2025.

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It comes after hotels in Saint-Denis saw a spike in the number of overnight stays during the Games, and a 199% increase in visitor numbers, in comparison to the previous year. Tourist numbers rose 150%, and visits to local monuments, such as the Basilica of Saint-Denis soared by 70%.

Mayor of Saint-Denis and chairman of Plaine Commune, Mathieu Hanotin, has said he wants to develop the centre of Pleyel, and make it into a “hospitality district”, including an improved hotel and leisure offer. 

“The aim is to have 2,000 to 3,000 additional hotel rooms by 2030,” he said to Actu.fr.

He described the current period, in which the city is still riding the successful Olympic wave, as “a turning point”.

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“We want to use this positive spotlight," he said, of the guided tours and other plans. “‘We will have plenty of capacity and have already booked many tourist groups, particularly from the UK.”

Tours are set to include visits to the athletes' village, the Olympic aquatic centre, and the Espace Delaune in Saint-Ouen, which was used for training.

There will also be a tour of the ‘Parcours des Victoires’ along the Canal Saint-Denis, with its six works of new street art created for the Games.