In Paris, there are a lot of monuments that ha ve witnessed the extraordinary historical past of the town, and plenty of constructions testify of this long-gone previous. Some are well-known and others aren’t; in many alternative districts, some are huge and others are humble, however they’re all a part of Paris’s and France’s historical past. We’ve got chosen one of the best landmarks to go to within the Metropolis of Lights.
Should-see Locations in Paris
1) Arc de Triomphe
Avenue Charles de Gaulle – eighth District
It is without doubt one of the most well-known monuments in Paris. Constructed on the Place de l’Etoile, at one finish of the Champs-Elysée, the Arc de Triomphe is one the largest arches on the planet.
It was inbuilt 1806 to rejoice Napoleon Bonaparte’s victory in Austerlitz and was impressed by the Roman triumphal arch. Nonetheless, it was designed on a a lot larger scale than its mannequin: it’s 50 meters excessive, 45 meters lengthy, and 22 meters broad. It stands as one of the crucial well-known monuments in Paris.
Beneath the vault is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Underneath a continuing watch, an Everlasting Flame is turned on every night time at 6:30 p.m. Should you select to go to this superb monument, you possibly can climb to the summit, from which you have got a panoramic view of Paris, be it day or be it night time. Inside, a museum explaining the Arc de Triomphe’s historical past will full your go to.
Charge:
Full price: 13€
Diminished price*: 9€
Free for EU residents below 26, disabled folks and their attendants and the unemployed
*For tourism professionals, younger folks (18-25 y-o) from non-UE nation and overseas academics
Entry: Metro strains 1, 2, and 6, RER A in Charles-de-Gaulle-Etoile Station
E book a go to of the Arc de Triomphe (skip the road tickets)
Purchase the Paris PASS – Museums, Sights and Transport inside Paris
- Limitless use of the Parisian public transport community (metro zones 1-3, RER, bus, tram)
- Admission to greater than 60 museums and points of interest
- Skip-the-line entry for quite a few actions
2) Eiffel Tower
Champ de Mars, 5, avenue Anatole France – seventh district
After all, the Eiffel Tower is THE monument you need to see whenever you go to Paris. It has turn into the image of Paris. Initially constructed for Paris’ 1889’s World’s Honest, it turned the icon of the town.
Looming over the town from its 312-meter peak, the Eiffel Tower is seen from afar. After visiting the Tower itself, you possibly can spend a while to admire the Champ de Mars and its backyard at its toes.
The Eiffel Tower, fairly clearly, attracts many guests every day, and packs of swarming vacationers are in a rush to admire it and must queue up earlier than getting in.
Thankfully, you should purchase your tickets and lower the road as a substitute of queuing up for hours.
While you go to the Eiffel Tower, you possibly can climb up in two other ways: the bravest can use the steps, and the others the elevator (which can also be the one strategy to the third ground).
On the primary ground, you will see retailers; the Jules Verne is a wonderful high-class restaurant on the second ground; lastly, the third ground gives the most effective views of Paris, and anyplace you look you will notice the great thing about the French capital.
Charges:
Raise entrance ticket (legitimate to 2nd ground): full price 17,10€, 12-24 years 8,60€, lowered price* 4,30€
Raise entrance ticket to high: full price 26,80€, 12-24 years 13,40€, lowered price* 6,70€
Stairs entrance ticket (legitimate to 2nd ground): full price 10,70€, 12-24 years 5,40€, lowered price* 2,70€
*For these between 4 and 11, the disabled and their helpers and the job seekers
Free for youths beneath 4 y-o
Entry: Metro line 9 (Trocadéro station) and line 6 (Bir-Hakeim station)
E book a go to to the Eiffel Tower (skip the road ticket with a information)
3) Basilica of the Sacré-Coeur
35, rue du Chevalier de la Barre – 18th district
Atop the hill of Montmartre, the Basilica of the Sacré-Coeur is considered one of Paris’ emblematic monuments.
This constructing has one of the crucial astonishing views of Paris.
Nested upon its 130-meter excessive hill, the basilica, inbuilt a Romano-Byzantine fashion, is an architectural masterpiece.
It’s composed of 4 minor domes and a central dome culminating at 83 meters.
Probably the most spectacular a part of this monument is its large bell, one the largest on the planet.
The Sacré-Coeur was inbuilt 1873 after a choice of the French Nationwide Meeting to construct a spot to commemorate the victims of the 1871 battle opposing France and Prussia.
Aside from the view, the constructing holds a lot attraction as nicely, and whenever you enter you may be struck by the great thing about the 480m² mosaic on the ground. You too can go to the crypt.
Lastly, if climbing the steps of Montmartre was not sufficient, you possibly can select to go even greater to the dome of the Basilica and admire one of the best view of Paris from its summit.
Charges:
The doorway to the Basilica is free
Dome & Crypt ticket: 8€; from 4 to 16 y-o: 5€
Dome: 6€; from 4 to 16 y-o: 4€
Crypt: 3€; from 4 to 16 y-o: 2€
Free for these beneath 4y-o
Entry: Line 2, Anvers station; line 12, Abbesses station
For additional details about the Basilica of the Sacré-Coeur, click on right here.
4) Military Museum – Les Invalides
129, rue de Grenelle – seventh district
It was first created below Louis XIV to shelter the disabled troopers of his military, however Les Invalides as we all know it at present was born in 1905.
It turned the Military Museum and reveals over 500,000 objects over 8,000m².
This gigantic assortment makes this museum crucial place of army historical past in France in addition to one of many biggest on the planet.
Throughout your go to, you possibly can admire the everlasting collections of the museum, uncovered in chronological order from Antiquity to World Conflict II.
Additionally, you will discover the Dome des Invalides (a church) and, inside, the guts of the Marquis of Vauban.
However what you got here for should be the well-known tomb of Napoleon Bonaparte the First, resting right here beside his son Napoleon II, King of Rome.
Charges:
Full price: 14€
Diminished price*: 11€
*For veterans, reservists, giant households; for everybody after 5pm
Free for EU residents below 26 y-o
Entry: Metro strains 8 and 12, Invalides station; RER C, Invalides station
For additional details about Les Invalides and the Military Museum, click on right here
E book your tickets to the Invalides
5) Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral
6, place du Parvis Notre Dame – 4th district
Situated within the historic heart of Paris, on the top of the Ile de la Cité, the Notre-Dame Cathedral is essentially the most visited monument of the town.
Certainly, this architectural masterpiece shines over the whole district.
With its excessive towers which impressed Victor Hugo considered one of his novels, Notre Dame bears witness the historical past of Paris.
Its development started in 1163 and it took almost two centuries to complete it.
It’s a must-see in Paris. The sound of the bells will information you to it, with their such attraction that “it’s mentioned to be the soul of Paris setting ablaze after they ring.” Victor Hugo, The Hunchback of Notre-Dame
By means of the centuries, Notre-Dame usually was on the coronary heart of main historic occasions.
Together with the marriage of Henry IV of France and Marguerite de Valois in 1572 and the funerals of the best of males or the coronation of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1804, many essential marks in French historical past came about at Notre-Dame.
While you go to the Cathedral, you’ll be taught of those historic nuggets, and can in all probability fall in love with the Thirteenth-century stained-glass and rose home windows.
The indoor ornament and the 43-meter-high ceiling are attractive as nicely.
You too can see Notre-Dame’s treasures and climb up the steps to benefit from the great view from one the towers, at a minimum of 69 meters in peak.
Replace August 17, 2022: Attributable to it being rebuilt, the Notre-Dame Cathedral is at present closed to the general public. The tip of the development is deliberate for 2024. You possibly can nonetheless stroll as much as -and around- it as a way to get pleasure from its lovely structure which nonetheless qualifies it as considered one of Paris’ iconic monuments.
Charges:
The doorway is free
Climbing as much as the towers prices 10€
Visiting the tower is free for residents of the EU below 26 y-o, disabled folks and their attendants, job seekers and people receiving minimal social advantages
Entry:
Metro line 4, Cité station or Saint-Michel station
RER B and C, Saint-Michel – Notre-Dame station
For additional details about Notre-Dame de Paris, click on right here
6) Centre Pompidou
Place Georges Pompidou – 4th district
The Centre Pompidou is an architectural surprise designed by Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers.
It’s a twentieth century constructing with a futuristic design that’s now a part of the 4th district’s id.
The museum hosts varied non permanent artwork reveals similar to Dali’s items, for instance.
The out of doors escalators and the large colourful pipes make it an unmistakably distinctive constructing in Paris.
The Centre consists of the Nationwide Museum of Fashionable Artwork, a worldwide reference for its collections of the twentieth and twenty first century items.
There are totally different tributes to totally different arts, similar to music, design, or cinema within the Centre.
Georges Pompidou was President of France from 1969 to 1974 and wished to offer French artwork a brand new place on the worldwide stage and open it to the lots. Mission completed.
Charges:
Museum and reveals: 14€ (museum, reveals, and examine of Paris)
Diminished price: 11€
Free for EU residents below 26 y-o, disabled folks and their attendants, journalists…
Entry: Metro strains 1, 4, 7, 11 and 14, Chatelêt les Halles station; RER A, B and D, Chatelet les Halles station.
E book a go to to the Centre Pompidou (skip the road tickets)
7) Louvre
99, rue de Rivoli, 1st district
The Louvre might be the most well-known museum on the planet.
It was the palace of the kings of France and, via its quite a few collections, it permits you at present to find occidental artwork from Center Ages to 1848, in addition to vintage civilizations.
There are main sculptural masterpieces, such because the Winged Victory of Samothrace or the Venus de Milo, or work like The Raft of the Medusa of Géricault.
We advise you to arrange your go to by checking the Museum’s web site: the Louvre is so large you possibly can simply get misplaced, each figuratively and actually.
And naturally, you possibly can admire the portrait of Lisa Gherardini, higher often known as the Mona Lisa, by Leonardo da Vinci.
La Gioconda is consultant of the museum; it’s a portray filled with mysteries, identical to the Louvre itself.
Charges:
Free for kids below 18 and for EU residents below 26
Full price: 15€
Entry: Metro line 1, Palais Royal/Musée du Louvre station
E book a go to to the Louvre Museum
Purchase the Paris PASS – Museums, Sights and Transport inside Paris
- Limitless use of Parisian public transport community (metro zones 1-3, RER, bus, tram)
- Admission to greater than 60 museums and points of interest
- Skip-the-line entry for a lot of actions
8) Musée d’Orsay
1, rue de la Légion d’Honneur – seventh district
On the left financial institution, simply in entrance of the Tuileries, stands the Musée d’Orsay.
The museum occupies an previous railway station constructed for the 1900 Paris World’s Honest of 1900, which makes it an distinctive place for reveals.
You possibly can get pleasure from occidental artwork starting from 1848 to 1914. Whereas not as well-known because the Louvre, the Musée d’Orsay additionally has a really spectacular artwork assortment.
It hosts crucial Impressionist and post-Impressionist artwork assortment on the planet with greater than 900 work.
Occasional non permanent reveals exhibit a selected artist’s work or inventive development.
The Musée d’Orsay is a must-see, and even whereas hidden within the shadows of the Louvre, it’s an important show of artwork in France.
Charges:
Free for kids below 18 and for EU residents below 26
Diminished price for folks below 26: 13€
Full price: 16€
Entry:
RER C, Musée d’Orsay station
Metro line 12, Assemblée Nationale station
E book a go to to the Orsay Museum
9) Palais Garnier
8, rue Scribe – ninth district
Looming over the Place de l’Opéra, the Palais Garnier, additionally referred to as Opéra Garnier, is unquestionably a must-see for anybody visiting Paris.
Its structure and design have been elaborated throughout Napoleon III’s reign, therefore the standard nineteenth Century fashion of the constructing.
Inside, the statues of two ladies holding torches welcome the guests.
You possibly can then admire the Bassin de la Pythie and the Grand Escalier resulting in the well-known vault of the Palais Garnier.
The vault is over 30 meters excessive and is each colourful and brilliant because of the varied kinds of marble it’s product of.
You too can uncover the historical past of this sanctuary of Parisian artwork.
The Palais additionally organizes occasions about opera and trend.
Lastly, the Palais Garnier’s auditorium is without doubt one of the most lovely on the planet.
Charges:
Full price: 12€
Underneath 26 years previous: 9,50€
Free for job seekers and people below 12 years previous
Entry:
Metro strains 3, 7, and eight, Opera station
RER A, Auber station
E book a go to of the Opéra Garnier
10) Place Vendôme
356, rue Saint-Honoré – 1st district
This sq. may be very typical of classical French urbanism, with the well-known Vendôme Column erected in its heart in 1810.
It is usually referred to as the Austerlitz column, and it stands within the 1st district panorama, with a statue of Napoleon dressed as Caesar on the summit.
It’s thought-about to be one of the crucial luxurious squares in Paris.
Designed by Jules Hardouin-Mansart, it shines upon the entire world.
As a middle of French jewellery craft, and with the Rue de la Paix and its many couturiers it symbolizes French refinement.
Charge: Free
Entry: Metro strains 7 and 4, Pyramides station
11) Panthéon
28, Place du Panthéon – fifth district
The Panthéon stands proudly within the coronary heart of the Latin Quarter. Atop the hill of Montagne Sainte-Geneviève, it seems down upon the fifth district.
Kind of impressed by the Pantheon of Rome, the Parisian Pantheon was constructed as a memorial.
Certainly, the crypts are dwelling to the graves of the best French celebrities which marked the nation all through historical past.
One can find such folks as Rousseau, Voltaire, or Alexandre Dumas.
A brief textual content sums up the life and work of those that relaxation right here.
While you come inside, you may also uncover the Foucault pendulum, invented by Léon Foucault in 1851, which has as soon as confirmed that the Earth does, certainly, rotate.
Charges:
Full price: 9€
Diminished price: 7€
Free for residents of the EU below 26 y-o, disabled folks and their attendants, job seekers and people receiving minimal social advantages
Entry: Metro line 10, Cardinal Lemoine station
For extra details about the Panthéon, click on right here
E book a go to to the Pantheon
12) Grand Palais
Avenue Winston Churchill – eighth district
Subsequent to the Champs-Elysées, the Grand Palais has fascinating dimensions: greater than 77000m² are devoted to varied reveals, which is the same as greater than seven soccer fields.
It was constructed for the 1900 World’s Honest and is now one of many foremost exhibition facilities in France.
The image of the Grand Palais is its gigantic 45-meter-high glass roof, in the identical spirit as the remainder of the constructing.
The structure is typical of the eclectic nature of the “Beaux-arts- fashion,” and this constructing alone sums up the tastes of the Belle Epoque.
Apart from its reveals, the Grand Palais hides many different nuggets, such because the beehives on the roof positioned there to extend consciousness about how a lot such bugs are important to life on Earth.
Charges: Rely upon the exhibit
Entry: Metro strains 1 and 13, Champs-Elysées Clémenceau station
For additional details about the Grand Palais, click on right here
Much less-known and less-looked-for monuments of Paris
13) Saint-Jacques Tower
Sq. de la Tour Saint-Jacques – 1st district
On the coronary heart of the first district stands a prestigious constructing you possibly can see from afar: Saint Jacques Tower.
Whereas not very well-known in Paris, the tower actually is magnificent.
In-built a gothic fashion, it’s the solely remnant of the Saint-Jacques-de-la-Boucherie church.
From its 62 meters, the tower has been an essential web site of the suitable financial institution because the sixteenth century.
The guided tour lasts about 50 minutes, throughout which you’ll climb the steps of this monument.
The go to of the tower begins with its historical past, its origin, and tough development.
After a number of stops through the climb, to be taught of the secrets and techniques of the tower, partly destroyed through the French Revolution, you possibly can benefit from the astonishing view from the highest of the tower.
Charges:
Full price: 12€
Diminished price*: 10€
*Free for these below 18 y-o, college students and job seekers
Entry: Metro strains 1, 4, 7, 11, and 14, Chatelet station
14) La Conciergerie
2, boulevard du Palais – 1st district
This constructing within the coronary heart of Paris and the first district has actually witnessed historical past.
It’s a lovely palace inbuilt the best way of Gothic structure, a remnant from previous instances.
This monument was rebuilt below Philip IV the Honest’s reign at the start of the 14th century.
From this unique constructing stays solely the Salle des Gardes (Guards Room), the Salle des gens d’Armes (Corridor of the Soldier), and the kitchens, all of that are a precious pattern of 14th-century structure.
Alongside the go to, you’ll be taught the complete historical past of this constructing which is without doubt one of the oldest in Paris. It was first a king’s palace then a jail, most notably through the French Revolution when Marie-Antoinette was locked up right here.
A little bit-known place nicely value a go to.
Charges:
Full price: 9€
Free for residents of the EU below 26 y-o, disabled folks and their attendants, job seekers and people receiving minimal social advantages
Entry: Metro line 4, Cité station
For additional details about La Conciergerie, click on right here.
E book a go to to the Conciergerie
15) The Expiatory Chapel (Chapelle expiatoire)
29, rue Pasquier – eighth district
The Expiatory Chapel is an previous monument of Paris, however it’s usually uncared for by the vacationers, fortunate you!
It’s positioned within the eighth district, between Saint-Lazare practice station and the Madeleine.
It’s a memorial constructed upon the tombs of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette, the place they now relaxation after being guillotined in 1793.
Contained in the Chapel, you will see statues of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette.
In entrance of the statue of Louis XVI they carved his will, written earlier than his execution; and in entrance of Marie Antoinette’s statue, they carved the final letter she wrote to Madame Elisabeth, the king’s sister
The crypt is one of the best a part of the monument: the altar from which Louis XVI was exhumed.
An unknown but spectacular place which Chateaubriand certified as perhaps being “essentially the most exceptional edifice in Paris.”
Charges:
Full price: 6€
Diminished price: 5€
Free for residents of the EU below 26 y-o, disabled folks and their attendants, job seekers and people receiving minimal social advantages
Entry: Metro strains 3 and 13, Saint Augustin station; Metro strains 8, 12, and 14, Madeleine station
For additional details about the Expiatory Chapel, click on right here
16) Alpine Backyard
Jardin des plantes, 57 rue Cuvier – fifth district
As soon as referred to as the “mountain crops backyard,” the Alpine Backyard is a part of the magnificent Jardin des Plantes.
You could have to search for it, however it is a chance to wander a bit in a pure and unique place.
Stretching over 4000m², the backyard is a spot of discoveries and preservation completely distinctive in Paris.
It consists of crops from all all over the world and stands out in entrance of the Parisian not fairly so inexperienced background.
Charges: Free go to
Entry: Metro strains 5 and 10, Gare d’Austerlitz station; RER C, Gare d’Austerlitz station
17) Japanese backyard of the Buddhist Pantheon
19, avenue d’Iéna – sixteenth district
Hidden from the streets and the crowds in a small yard of the sixteenth district, a Japanese backyard awaits your go to.
Simply behind the Guimet Museum and its essential assortment of Asiatic artwork, you possibly can go to this distinctive place of Paris.
It’s a part of the Buddhist Pantheon (part of the Guimet Museum), and this backyard will amaze you.
It’s free to enter, with a floor of 450m². It was constructed through the renovation of the constructing in 1991.
You will notice large bamboos, stone pavements, and a picket bridge over somewhat stream.
Every part you have to calm down is correct there.
On the heights of the backyard, you possibly can admire the lodge designed by Japanese craftsmen and you could even check out a Tea Ceremony.
Charges: Free go to
Entry: Metro line 9, Iéna station
18) Catacombs
1, Avenue du Colonel Henri Rol-Tanguy – 14th district
The Catacombs are large Parisian ossuaries, stretching underground over 11 000m², impressed from the Catacombs of Rome.
The entry is Place Denfert-Rochereau.
Six million bones from totally different Parisian graveyards relaxation on this maze of 1.7km.
The vault is 1.80m excessive and the temperature about 14°C (57°F).
The tour is unsuitable for folks with coronary heart or respiratory issues, these of nervous disposition, and younger youngsters.
An unique and engaging tour for certain!
Please observe that the exit is 36, rue Rémy Dumoncel.
Paris Catacombs are crucial necropolis on the planet.
The stays of 6 million Parisians are saved right here.
You’ll uncover the Cemetery of the Innocents, with all their fastidiously organized bones.
Dozens of different rooms observe, paying a tribute to the lifeless, just like the room devoted to the victims of September 1792 or one other just for these guillotined on the Place de la Concorde, similar to Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette.
Charges:
Full price: 15€
Diminished price*: 13€
*For big households, academics, younger folks (18 – 26 y-o)…
Free for these below 18, artwork college students, disabled folks and their attendants, job seekers and people receiving minimal social advantages
Entry: Metro strains 4 and 6, Denfert-Rochereau station; RER B, Denfert Rochereau station
E book a skip-the-line ticket to the Catacombs with audioguide included
19) The Wall of Love
place des Abbesses – 18 district
The Wall of Love (in French, Le Mur des Je t’aime) was designed by Frédéric Baron and Claire Kito, on a sq. Place des Abbesses.
This place is a must-see for each couple in Paris.
Similar to the Pont des Arts and its padlocks (which have been taken off on June 1st 2016), the Wall of Love in itself is a logo of Love.
Certainly, with its 40m² and 612 tiles, 311 “I like you”s are written in 250 languages.
It’s a actual tribute to like on Montmartre; in keeping with the artists, the speckled with crimson tiles symbolize the damaged coronary heart of humanity that the wall tries to restore.
An unique web site, away from the same old agitation of Paris.
Charges: Free
Entry: Metro line 12, Abbesses station
20) Statue of Liberty
L’Île aux Cygnes – fifteenth district
No, you’re not dreaming, that is certainly the Statue of Liberty in Paris … or slightly, a smaller replica.
A lot smaller than the unique, this Parisian Statue of Liberty stands on the Île aux Cygnes, close to the Pont de Grenelle (others exist in Paris: will you discover them?).
Solely three years after its large sister, this one was inbuilt 1889.
Its again was dealing with the USA, which didn’t please Auguste Bartholdi. It was then rotated westward, taking a look at New Yorits in 1937, for the World’s Honest, 33 years after the artist handed away.
Charges: Free tour
Entry:
Metro line 6, Bir-Hakeim station
RER C, Champ de Mars – Tour Eiffel station
21) Arènes de Lutèce
49, rue Monge – fifth district
This monument is without doubt one of the oldest in Paris; it was constructed through the 1st century.
The Arènes at the moment are free to entry for everybody, on daily basis from 8:30 a.m. to five p.m. in Winter, and till 9 p.m. in Summer time.
This previous amphitheater within the Latin Quarter might host as much as 15,000 spectators.
Present guests can nonetheless see the place the stage was.
That is, with the Thermes de Cluny, one of many solely remnants of the Gallo-roman period in Paris.
At this time, the Arènes are a well-known place to go to and spend time on a sunny day, enjoying boules, soccer, or taking a nap within the grass.
You too can admire a birdhouse, which permits youngsters to find unknown birds.
Charges: Free
Entry: Metro line 10, Cardinal Lemoine, or metro line 7, Place Monge
22) Open Air Sculpture Museum
Quai Saint-Bernard – Sq. Tino Rossi – fifth District
Situated on the Quai Saint-Bernard, close to the Jardin des Plantes, the open-air sculpture museum is a chance to walk alongside the Seine.
This open-air museum is each superb and intriguing.
It’s solely devoted to sculpture, however the works haven’t any fences, so you possibly can method them, examine them from each angle and even contact them …
Essential sculptors determined to create a piece for the museum, like César-Bru, Brancusi, and Nicola Schöffer. Apart from, the museum gives a very nice view over Notre Dame Cathedral and its island.
It’s open day and night time.
Charges: Free
Entry: Metro line 10, Cardinal Lemoine station
I goal to share my ideas and proposals for the attractive nation of France. My purpose is that will help you plan your subsequent journey, whether or not it’s a weekend getaway or a once-in-a-lifetime journey. From discovering one of the best resorts and eating places, to discovering distinctive actions and sights, I’ve obtained you coated!
