Paris

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The glass pyramid designed by I. M. Pei serves as the main entrance to the Louvre, Paris, France

The Tuileries Garden stretches between the Louvre and the Place de la Concorde, Paris, France

Notre-Dame de Paris reopened in December 2024 after restoration following the 2019 fire, France

The upper chapel of the Sainte-Chapelle is lined with thirteenth-century stained glass, Paris, France

About Paris

Paris spreads along both banks of the Seine in northern France, a capital that has shaped European art, politics, fashion and food for centuries. Much of its look today dates from the nineteenth-century rebuilding under Baron Haussmann, which created broad boulevards lined with cream-colored stone apartment buildings. The city is divided into twenty arrondissements, each with its own character, from grand monuments to neighborhood markets and cafes.

The Eiffel Tower, built for the 1889 World's Fair, remains the defining landmark, best appreciated from the Trocadero or the Champ de Mars. The Louvre, the world's most visited art museum, holds collections spanning thousands of years, and beyond it the Tuileries Garden leads to the Musee de l'Orangerie, home to Monet's water lilies. The Champs-Elysees climbs to the Arc de Triomphe. On the Ile de la Cite, Notre-Dame de Paris has reopened after restoration following the 2019 fire, and Sainte-Chapelle is famous for its soaring stained glass. The Musee d'Orsay, set in a former railway station, specializes in Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art.

The neighborhoods are where Paris feels most personal. Saint-Germain-des-Pres and the Luxembourg Gardens suit slow afternoons, Le Marais combines historic mansions with the Place des Vosges, and Montmartre climbs to the Sacre-Coeur. The metro makes getting around simple.

Best seasonSpring and early fall offer mild weather for walking, with fewer crowds than midsummer.

Ideal stayFour to five days covers the major museums and landmarks plus time in several neighborhoods.

ArrivingCharles de Gaulle and Orly airports serve the city, and Eurostar trains arrive at Gare du Nord.

WiserMap travel guideParis France Eiffel Tower Louvre Montmartre and MaraisPlan a Paris trip with the Eiffel Tower, Louvre, Notre-Dame, Sainte-Chapelle, Orsay, Montmartre and the Marais, plus food, seasons and transit tips.Read the guide

12 Places Locals Love in Paris

Landmarks 4

Eiffel Tower

Gustave Eiffel's company built this wrought-iron tower for the 1889 World's Fair, and the critics who called it an eyesore were so...

Arc de Triomphe and the Champs-Elysees

Napoleon ordered the Arc de Triomphe in 1806 to honor his armies, and it was completed in 1836, carved with battle scenes and gene...

Notre-Dame de Paris

Built between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries on the Ile de la Cite, Notre-Dame is a masterpiece of French Gothic, famous for...

Sainte-Chapelle

King Louis IX built this royal chapel in the 1240s to house relics including what was believed to be the Crown of Thorns. The pain...

Museums 3

The Louvre

First a medieval fortress and then a royal palace, the Louvre opened as a public museum in 1793 and is now the most visited museum...

Tuileries Garden and the Musee de l'Orangerie

Laid out by Andre Le Notre in the 1660s, the Tuileries is the formal garden stretching from the Louvre to Place de la Concorde. Pa...

Musee d'Orsay

Housed in a Beaux-Arts railway station built for the 1900 World's Fair, the Musee d'Orsay opened in 1986 and covers art from 1848...

Neighborhoods 3

Saint-Germain-des-Pres and the Luxembourg Gardens

On the Left Bank, Saint-Germain grew up around the oldest church in Paris, whose Romanesque bell tower is about a thousand years o...

Le Marais and the Place des Vosges

Inaugurated in 1612 as the Place Royale, the Place des Vosges is the oldest planned square in Paris, framed by red-brick pavilions...

Montmartre and the Sacre-Coeur

Crowning the highest hill in Paris, the white Basilica of the Sacre-Coeur was built between 1875 and 1914 of a stone that whitens...

History 2

Pere Lachaise Cemetery

Opened in 1804 on a hillside in the east of the city, Pere Lachaise is the largest cemetery in Paris and one of the most visited i...

Palace of Versailles

Louis XIV transformed his father's hunting lodge into the most dazzling palace in Europe and moved the court here in 1682. The hig...

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