podtour
Painters' Montmartre: from Rue Cortot to the Moulin Rouge
You start in Rue Cortot, at the seventeenth-century house where Renoir rented a studio and where Suzanne Valadon and Maurice Utrillo later settled.
Montmartre, the Hill of the Martyrs: from the Bateau-Lavoir to the Summit: audio walk in Paris
You start outside the Bateau-Lavoir, where Picasso bought two heads stolen from the Louvre, and climb to the summit following the eighteenth of March 1871, when the women of the neighbourhood stopped an army, and the story of the hill that gave its name to the martyrs: the vow of Ignatius of Loyola, the basilica that argues about why it exists, the statue of a young man executed for not taking off his hat, the nuns and the telegraph, the smallest cemetery in Paris and the saint who, according to legend, walked with his head.
What this walk is about
You start in the place Émile-Goudeau, outside Picasso's Bateau-Lavoir, and hear how two small Iberian heads stolen from the Louvre ended up leading the police to his friend Apollinaire, and Picasso himself to an interrogation. You drop down briefly to the place des Abbesses, where Mayor Clemenceau's town hall once stood and where a wall now says I love you in more than 250 languages. In the Martyrium chapel, seven students, one of them a Basque, make the vow that will give rise to the Jesuits. You climb the way the troops climbed in the early hours of 18 March 1871 and hear how the local women surrounded the machine guns and nobody obeyed the order to fire. At the Sacré-Cœur, three versions of why it was built; beside it, the statue of the Chevalier de La Barre and the street that changed its name twice. Saint-Pierre, its nuns and its telegraph, the Calvaire cemetery that opens one day a year, the place du Tertre that was meant to disappear and, at the end, the street that keeps the memory of Saint Denis's procession.
- Start
- The painters' boat and the stolen heads
- Finish
- The head that arrived late
- Who it is for
- A good starting point for your first visit. A walk for anyone curious about history and politics. For anyone interested in Ignatius of Loyola and the Jesuits.
- Languages
- Spanish and British English
- Underfoot
- The walk has slopes or changes in level. The route notes mention stairs or steps on the walk or its approaches.
The route, stop by stop
An outline of the walk. The full stories are in the app.
Loading the map…
Open a marker to see its page. Use two fingers to move the map on mobile.
- 1
The painters' boat and the stolen heads
- 2
An I Love You wall by the vanished town hall
- 3
Seven students and a vow
- 4
The dawn of the cannons
- 5
The women and the three orders
- 6
The church with a disputed beginning
- 7
The statue that moved
- 8
The women of the hill and the telegraph
- 9
The cemetery that opens one day a year
- 10
One house, one wall, two acts of revenge
- 11
The square that almost disappeared
- 12
The head that arrived late
Walking directions are based on mapped pedestrian routes. Check local access and signs; the route is not an accessibility guarantee. Times are approximate.
Paris, before you go
Paris works best a neighbourhood at a time. Combine a walk, a pause and another look: the distances on the map can be deceptive.
More walks nearby
The Palais-Royal and the Place des Victoires
You start in the Place des Victoires, the square a marshal paid for out of his own pocket to the greater glory of Louis XIV, with lanterns lit all night, and which the Revolution left with a near-naked general hidden behind scaffolding.
From Vendôme to the Opera
You start in the Place Vendôme with a bronze horse so big that, people said, twenty men could fit in its belly.
Good to know
What is Podtour?
An app for self-guided audio walks. Choose a city and a route, then listen to the stories behind its streets. You decide when to start and when to stop.
When can I download the app?
Podtour is coming to iOS and Android. There is no confirmed launch date yet. Join the waitlist and we will let you know when it is ready.
Does Podtour include attraction tickets?
No. Street walks and monument audio tours do not include admission tickets, transport or a guide accompanying you.
Can I listen without an internet connection?
Download the audio in the app before heading out, then listen offline. Loading the online base map and calculating a new route from your location require a connection.
What languages are included?
Every route includes Spanish and British English. The English version is adapted for English-speaking travellers, rather than translated word for word.
How do I get a whole city for free?
Join the waitlist, choose a city and confirm your email address. When the app launches, we will email you with access details. No card is required. You can also try one free route in every city.
Can I buy for myself or for a group?
Yes. Your own access is included and you can choose 0–5 guests: up to 6 people including you. Each guest saves up to €0.50 on a walk, €1 on a pack or €2 on a whole city compared with buying separately. The counter shows the total before you confirm one payment.
How do I share, and when must guests accept?
After paying, share your purchase’s invitation link. Each guest opens it in Podtour and accepts their place on their own iPhone or Android phone. They must redeem it within 30 days of purchase. Unclaimed places then expire and cannot be recovered or renewed. Access accepted in time is kept. Opening the link does not use a place; one account takes just one place, and no more people can join once all places are taken.
Can I add guests after buying?
No. Choose all your guests before confirming the first purchase. Afterwards you can share the places you paid for, but you cannot increase their number or restart the 30-day deadline.
Your first city,
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on Podtour.
Join the waitlist and get one whole city free when Podtour launches. You choose where.
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One city per person. All its Podtour routes in Spanish and English. Available at launch. Offer details.