Paris, France
Top places to visit in Paris
6 places worth your time in Paris, with what each is actually like and when to go.
Last updated 2026-08-08
1. Louvre
Photo: User:Gloumouth1 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
The largest art museum in the world. Attempting all of it in one visit is the standard mistake — pick two wings.
- Where: 1st arrondissement
- Map: Open in Maps
- Best time: Wednesday and Friday late openings
- Tip: The Porte des Lions and Carrousel entrances are usually far quicker than the pyramid. Book a timed slot regardless.
2. Musée d'Orsay
Photo: Ignis · CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
Impressionism and post-impressionism in a converted Beaux-Arts railway station, and for many people the better museum of the two.
- Where: 7th arrondissement
- Map: Open in Maps
- Best time: Thursday evening opening
3. Eiffel Tower
Photo: Tristan Nitot · CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
Built as a temporary exhibition piece for 1889 and never removed. The summit is a separate lift and a separate ticket.
- Map: Open in Maps
- Tip: Stairs to the second floor cost about half the lift price and the queue is much shorter.
Watch outThe ring-find, the petition-signing clipboard and the friendship-bracelet grip all cluster on the Champ de Mars and Trocadéro.
4. Sainte-Chapelle
Photo: Carlos Delgado · CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
Fifteen windows of thirteenth-century stained glass enclosing a chapel built to hold Christ's supposed crown of thorns.
- Where: Île de la Cité
- Map: Open in Maps
- Best time: A bright morning — the glass is the entire point
5. Montmartre and Sacré-Cœur
Photo: Bernard bill5 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
The hill village that housed the avant-garde, with the basilica on top and the last vineyard in Paris behind it.
- Map: Open in Maps
- Tip: Walk up via rue Lepic or the Abbesses funicular; the front steps are where the bracelet hustle operates.
6. Le Marais
Photo: Regine7 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
Pre-Haussmann streets, the Place des Vosges, the Jewish quarter on rue des Rosiers, and most of the city's small galleries.
- Map: Open in Maps
- Best time: Sunday, when much of the district stays open
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