Best Places in Paris

Last Updated on September 13, 2023

The mere mention of its name often evokes thoughts of romance, and memories of incredible cuisine, glamorous women, and cutting-edge fashion. For everyone, it’s a city of beautiful buildings, with a style of art and architecture unsurpassed anywhere else. And that’s just for starters…

Estimated reading time: 9 minutes

By Jim Ferri

I never tire of Paris, one of the best places to visit in France. Few places in the world possess such allure for me.

But beyond its cuisine, its museums, and its incredible beauty, what beguiles me most is that Paris never stops fascinating me with myriad discoveries.

How can I forget my first taste of that delicious cheese in the little Left Bank market? Or the café where my morning croissant was as light as air?

And I can’t forget that patisserie where the macaroons were as delicious as they were beautiful in the window. Or my ad-hoc picnic in Luxembourg Gardens one wonderful autumn afternoon after arriving on the train from Brussels.

Of course, from its bistros and boulangeries to its macarons and markets and Michelin stars, Paris oozes a glamor. It has a style like nowhere else, a je ne sais quoi that has been bringing travelers back for centuries.

Whether you are a returning traveler or, on the other hand, making your first trip to Paris on a quick day trip by high-speed train from London, here are the top 10 places in Paris you shouldn’t miss.

The Incredible Musee du Louvre

It’s home to one of the most renowned art collections in the world. And for many travelers, the Louvre is certainly the pièce de résistance of the museum world. It is one of the top 10 places in Paris travelers want to visit.

Although most famous for the Mona Lisa and her enigmatic smile, it’s an incredible repository of more than 75,000 pieces of art. They are from almost every civilization on earth. Curators estimate it would take nine months just to glance at every piece).

Its works are spread out over 675,000 square feet in three different wings, with their entrances under I.M. Pei’s glass pyramid in the courtyard.

It’s best to go online to buy your tickets and select the areas you’d like to see ahead of time.

The Renowned Eiffel Tower

The Eiffel Tower is the top of the top 10 places in Paris just about every traveler wants to see. It seems Incredible to us today, but when Gustave Eiffel’s soaring wrought-iron tower was erected for the 1889 Universal Exhibition, the media denounced it.

Today, though, it still stands proudly along the Seine on the Champ de Mars, the most enduring symbol of Paris. Everyone has to see it if only to stand below to view its soaring arches. However, you’ll find the sights from above much better.

There will be crowds queuing at the tower from opening to closing, so it’s well worth getting tickets online in advance. And if you’re hungry you’ll find its Jules Verne Restaurant to be one of the best in Paris.

Arc de Triomphe and Champs-Élysées

The triumphal arch, the most famous in the world, celebrates Napoleon’s victory at the Battle of Austerlitz in 1805. It is one of the top 10 places in Paris.

The arch is the customary starting point for parades up the Champs-Élysées. Incredibly, it stands in the center of the hub where 12 avenues converge, a nightmare for unsuspecting out-of-town drivers.

The viewing platform on its roof provides one of the best views of the city, the only place to get a good view of the Eiffel Tower and the Champs-Élysées.

When you come down from the Arc, spend an hour or two leisurely strolling along the Champs-Élysées.

Exquisite Notre-Dame Cathedral

Another of the top 10 places in Paris, Notre-Dame de Paris is as beautiful as it is historic, despite it’s horrific fire. Note that the Cathedral still remains closed to the public during its restoration. (Stay updated on its ongoing reconstruction efforts.)

Located on the Île de la Cité in the Seine, it’s now more than 850 years old and attracts 13 million visitors every year. Be one of them and you’ll discover an incredibly beautiful church, unlike any other.

If you have the stamina, climb the 387 steps to the roof of the north tower for a superb view of Paris and the cathedral’s famous gargoyles.

The last time I visited I was enchanted by a boy’s choir in rehearsal, as their voices drifted through the air of the great cathedral.

Famous Sacré-Cœur and Montmartre

The 1914 Romano-Byzantine church of Sacré-Cœur, isn’t as old as other Parisian churches but is more famous due to being a Parisian landmark visible from many areas of the city.

It stands on top of the hill of Montmartre, an area of Paris that was once a village outside the city. For centuries it’s been known as the haunt of artists, something that continues today as scores of them showcase their paintings for tourists in the bustling Place du Tertre.

Yes, it’s touristy, but it’s fun and colorful and still retains the aura of pre-war Paris.

Le Marais

Along with the neighboring Bastille district where the French Revolution was born, the Marais was a forgotten bit of Paris until it became popular once again with artists and designers a few decades ago.

It’s a beautiful area directly north of Notre Dame and the Seine, filled with mansions and several small but notable museums, as well as many popular cafés and restaurants peppered along its little lanes.

Encompassing the 13^th-century Jewish Quarter, undoubtedly it’s one of the liveliest nightspots in the city today.

Musée d’Orsay

From a collector’s perspective, the Musée d’Orsay takes over where the Louvre leaves off, exhibiting pieces from 1848 to 1914.

It’s a superb museum, originally a Belle Époque railway station in the 19^th-century. It was giben a second life as a museum in 1986.

It’s world renown for its collection of Impressionist and Post-impressionist paintings, with works by Renoir, Monet, Van Gogh, Manet, Degas, and Cézanne.

It’s a comfortable, easy-to-see museum with exhibits spread about three floors.

The Famous and Beautiful Luxembourg Gardens

Luxembourg Gardens are not only one of the top 10 places in Paris, but also one of the top parks in the world. It’s a treat to visit these beautiful quiet gardens that are surprisingly close to the hustle and bustle of St-Germain-des-Prés.

Most Popular Paris Hotels

This green oasis is, undoubtedly, the most popular park in all of Paris, a refuge filled with spacious lawns and paths beneath towering chestnut trees.

In its center is the beautiful Luxembourg Palace with its octagonal pool where children sail their toy sailboats, for rent at the nearby kiosk.

The beautiful 60-acre park has both French and English gardens with more than 100 statues spread throughout it.

Notable Sainte-Chapelle

13^th-century Sainte-Chapelle is really Louis IX’s repository for holy relics (now in Notre Dame) that he had acquired from the Emperor of Constantinople.

It’s claim to fame, however, are its magnificent stained-glass windows, the oldest in Paris.

They are what have made it one of the top 10 places in Paris. They are as extraordinary as they are magnificent, soaring glass walls that the ceiling above appears to float over.

It is an amazingly beautiful place, undeniably the most stunning Gothic monument in all of Paris. It is within the Palais de Justice, which requires visitors to transit a security area as they enter. Try to visit on a sunny day to get the full impact.

Panthéon

Located in the Latin Quarter, and modeled after its namesake in Rome, is the neoclassic Panthéon. Originally it was constructed as Sainte-Genevieve Church, in honor of the patron saint of Paris.

Its life as a church was short-lived, however. Since it was completed right before the French Revolution, the revolutionary government converted it into a mausoleum.

Its 220-foot-high dome is so extraordinary that Foucault used it to test his famous pendulum, proving the Earth rotates on its axis.

It is a beautiful and stately building, whose “residents,” a “Who’s Who” of French history, include such luminaries as Voltaire, Rousseau, Victor Hugo, Emile Zola, Louis Braille, and Marat. Marie Curie was re interred there in 1995.

Note: Although it is not within the city of Paris, the reason it is not included in this list, you may also want to take a day trip to Versailles. It is quite close to Paris (only 14minutes by train ($17) or 17 minutes by taxi ($35-45)). See 26 Great European Day Trips by Rail / Bus.

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