Heritage Days 2026: behind the scenes of transport in Île-de-France 

The European Heritage Days return for their 43rd edition on September 19 and 20, 2026. This year, the theme is "Photography Heritage" and "Heritage in Peril: Revive, Resist, Reimagine". An opportunity to rediscover tourist sites, or to visit places exceptionally open to the public. We offer you a selection of places, usually inaccessible, to discover the behind-the-scenes of your daily commute.

Here are 5 events to discover public transport in the Paris region differently:

Gare de Lyon: visit the Clock Tower

Climb the 370 steps of this iconic tower at Gare de Lyon. It will reveal its secrets to you through numerous displayed documents retracing its history… Registration required.

📍To get there: station Gare de Lyon, via

Visit the Operations Control Center at Paris Montparnasse station

Go behind the scenes of Montparnasse station and meet the professions that keep it running. Registration required.

📍To get there: station Montparnasse - Bienvenue, via ou Gare Montparnasse, via

Austerlitz station is also opening its Operations Control Center to the public for this weekend!

📍To get there: station Gare d'Austerlitz, via

Visit the "Cathedrals of Rail" in Saint-Denis

The Cathedrals of Rail are one of Saint-Denis's iconic landmarks. They originally formed a site dedicated to the maintenance and repair of trains. Come discover their history, as well as the site's rehabilitation projects, at the heart of this year's European Heritage Days theme.

📍To get there: 2, chemin des petits cailloux, Saint-Denis : a 14-minute walk from station Front Populaire on line . Also accessible via 153 (Stop: Montjoie) or 302 (Stop: Eglise de la Plaine).

Visit the Nanterre La Folie railway maintenance site

Set off to discover the "rolling stock," learn more about the innovations behind your trains, and admire the historic hall, designed in 1912. Registration required.

📍To get there: station Nanterre-La-Folie via

Miniature rail networks beneath Gare de l'Est

800 m of tracks, spread across 3 miniature train networks, installed from 1946 to 1955, belonging to ADAC - French Association of Friends of the Railways. Registration required.

📍To get there : station Gare de l'Est, via

At the Maison de la RATP

Many activities and visits are planned at the Maison de la RATP to dive behind the scenes of the public transport network:

• Test your skills on our driving simulators;
• Travel back in time on a vintage bus ride;
• Discover the exclusive exhibition "The Traveler's Eye";
• For younger travelers and their families: come meet Serge the Rabbit, guest of honor at this event, earn your Public Transport License, enjoy a family workshop (board games and drawings on metro tiles);
• Immortalize your visit in style in a photobooth installed in a 1930s bus.

On the RATP newtwork

By reservation, explore behind the scenes of RATP through tours and visits to places usually closed to the public. You will be able to discover  :

• the train maintenance workshop for line , as well as the line's nerve center,
• the signage workshop of equipment maintenance,
• the metro washing machine for line
• the Malakoff and Croix-Nivert bus centers,
• the infrastructure training centers - catenary domain, and the metro driver training center (where you can test its simulator),
• the network and its history through tours led by expert lecturer-guides.

These places will also be exceptionally open for the occasion:

• the media library of the Maison de la RATP,
• the photo library of the Maison de la RATP,
• the RATP archives in Saint-Germain-en-Laye.

To prepare well for your visits during the European Heritage Days weekend:

1. Browse the program

To identify the events that might interest you, and register for the events where this is required.

2. Check real-time traffic updates

The Bonjour RATP app is ideal for checking real-time traffic information, or doing a route search just before leaving. The journey planner takes disruptions into account and suggests the best routes accordingly!

3. Buy your tickets in advance

By purchasing your tickets in advance directly in the Bonjour RATP app (Tickets section), you can pass through the gates without waiting and save valuable time: Metro-Train-RER Ticket, Bus-Tram Ticket, Navigo Day Pass