This tour uncovers the long tradition of uprising and political transformation in France’s capital. Examining the major rebellions of the last two centuries we explore the dramatic events of the ‘Three Glorious Days’ of 1830, the 1848 revolts and the 1871 Paris Commune, the student and worker revolts of 1968, and the many moments of dissent that have shaped the modern city. Standing in the shadow of barricade-lined streets, former factories, and iconic universities, visitors learn how ordinary Parisians challenged authority and reimagined society. Our expert historian will use eyewitness accounts, historical context, and a fascinating sense of place to reveal how each era of revolt left its mark on Parisian identity. Far from a simple chronology this tour highlights the enduring spirit of resistance that continues to influence activism and public life. It’s an illuminating journey through a city where rebellion has challenged authority and sparked new possibilities.

This tour is a natural follow-on to our French Revolution tour although can easily be enjoyed in its own right.

The French Revolution of 1789 violently abolished the old order and established a constitutional monarchy coupled with the elimination of many noble privileges. A strong radical undercurrent pervaded French society and this succeeded in challenging any threat to the rights gained at such cost in the Revolution. King Charles X’s attempts to restore absolute monarchy and overturn the freedoms gained since 1789 prompted the 1830 July Revolution in Paris toppling him in the ‘Three Glorious Days’. Only eighteen years later, the February Revolution of 1848 again filled the streets with dissent, dislodging King Louis-Phillipe, the ‘Bourgeois Monarch’, and proclaiming the Second Republic (1848-52). And in 1871 the short-lived Paris Commune, forged in the trauma of war and siege, offered a radical experiment in self government before being brutally suppressed in the ‘Bloody Week’.

Day 1: Arrival and Three Glorious Days: 1830 – take Eurostar from London St Pancras to Paris Gare du Nord. Check in to hotel. We spend the remainder of the day enjoying a walking tour of sites connected with the 1830 revolution including the Palais-Royal, home of the Orléans Dynasty, the Hôtel de Ville, the insurgents’ stronghold, Le Marais, where much fierce fighting took place, and the Hôtel de Sens where an embedded cannon ball says much about the ferocity of the Three Glorious Days. Introductory talk and welcome drinks. Hotel in Paris – 3 nights. (D)

Day 2 - The June Days: 1848 – our day starts at the Place de la Bastille, a symbolic gathering point and major barricade site of the June revolution where the king’s throne was burned. We move to the Palais Bourbon, site of intense political conflict throughout 1848, the Place de la Concorde, something of a ‘ground zero’ for revolutions in the city, and the Tuileries Gardens, key to the eventual abdication of Louis-Philippe. We also view the Panthéon another site of intense fighting which was briefly renamed ‘Temple of Humanity’. Our morning finishes in the Faubourg Saint‑Antoine whose barricaded streets were major battlegrounds in the revolution. Our afternoon is spent at the Musée Carnavalet where we gain a brilliant insight into the political, social and cultural background to the revolution. (B, D)

Day 3 – The Paris Commune: 1871 – our tour of the 1871 insurrection starts at the heights of Montmartre, the starting point for the events, where the government attempted but failed to seize large numbers of publicly owned cannons. Moving through the streets where so much of the fighting took place we arrive at the Église Notre-Dame des Otages where in May 1871 the Communards executed 49 hostages in retaliation for the government advance on the city. At Belleville, at the time the city’s most staunch working class and revolutionary neighbourhood, we learn about the ‘Bloody Week’ which brought an end to the 72-day revolt and where the last shots were fired. Our day ends at Père‑Lachaise Cemetery where we ponder the tragic loss of life at the wall where Communard prisoners were executed. (B, D)

Day 4 – The Revolution that Never War: 1968 – we start our final day at the superb Musée d'Orsay where we examine the social and cultural background to Paris’s many revolutions and radical movements. We then move on the Latin Quarter and Sorbonne area where we walk the same streets that in May 1968 were rocked by the most convulsive civil unrest in the history of Paris, if not Europe. The student-led revolts of 1968 caused widespread damage, injury and outrage and we view the main sites of protest, confrontation and barricades including Gay-Lussac Street/Boulevard St Michel and the Place de l'Odéon. We also plan to stop at the Au Petit Suisse Brasserie, a popular spot for students, academics and locals and hotbed of political debate, as it was in the 1960s. Return to hotel before taking the evening Eurostar departure from Paris Gare du Nord to London St Pancras (or you may want to extend your stay in Paris). (B)