Imagine a Cathedral twice the size of the Cathedral Notre-Dame in Paris! This Cathedral is indeed no less than the world's largest Cathedral for its interior volume and only the Cathedrals of Chartres, Reims, and Beauvais come close to it. But size is not everything (so I've been told and so I like to think) and what is really unique here are the quality and the quantity of the sculptures which made architect Viollet-le-Duc refer to it as "the Parthenon of Gothic Architecture". I personally rank this cathedral third after the cathedrals of Chartres and Bourges because those two also have a lot of interesting sculptures (particularly Chartres) but they also have what Amiens lacks of: stained glass (even though Amiens has a little). I would nevertheless put it on the list of must-see-Gothic churches as the pictures on this page will explain better than words.

From mid-June until mid-September, they have a free show in the evening with projections on the façade of the Cathedral which is really unique and which we could see after dinner on the way back to Paris. Just to let you know.

Amiens became sadly famous during the two world wars as it was near the center of "things" and, as a result, 60% of the town was destroyed. But its 40% remaining are quite nice, among which its enormous cathedral which "miraculously" survived, which is still in an amazingly good condition, and which is the main reason that I want to bring you there (and also because it's on the way to Lens or Roubaix and easy to combine with Chantilly, Ecouen, Compiegne or Pierrefonds).

And while in Amiens, we can have lunch or dinner (if we stay for the night-show) near the canals which have given that part of the city the nickname "little Venice of the North"...

I've put Amiens in the "half-day tours" but that's only because I suggest that you combine it with another destination to make it a full-day tour because it's 80 miles north of Paris. I guess we could plan" just the cathedral" in a 5-hour-round-trip (and stay a couple hours on location) but I don't recommend it.

Another thing which could interest you in Amiens is the House of Jules Verne where the famous writer spent 18 years and where he wrote about 30 novels. Interesting house of the 19th century with a lot of memorabilia. I would nevertheless only go there if you know who he is and you want to know more about him. Otherwise I wouldn't bother.

Jules Verne by Nadar around 1878