Paris, France City Guide

For over 20 years, Pamela Lanier's Paris, France Travel Guide has been your connection to Paris's tourism community with invaluable details on local attractions, restaurants, shopping, museums, history, outdoor recreation and more.

Attractions

Art, architecture, parks, gardens, monuments, palaces, catacombs, cathedrals, universities, sporting events… No matter how much time you have, you cannot see and do it all. Paris will enchant you for a lifetime.

With the hundreds of museums and monuments in the city, one way to catch the highest of the highlights is to visit these top six attractions, which together draw a whopping 23.5 million visitors yearly.

1. The Eiffel Tower: an iron tower built on the Champ de Mars and the most visited monument in the world.
2. The Louvre: one of the world’s greatest museums of art, its exhibits and collections include archeology, history, sculpture and architecture, and feature famous works like the Mona Lisa, Winged Victory and Venus di Milo.
3. Centre Pompidou: a controversially modern complex housing the Bibliothèque publique d'information, a vast public library, the Musée National d'Art Moderne, and IRCAM, a centre for music and acoustic research, as well as shops, restaurants and other amenities.
4. Cite des Sciences at de l'Industrie: A hands-on science museum where you can pilot an airplane, step inside of a camera, travel throughout the human body and much more.
5. Musee d’Orsay: the former Orsay railway station, it is best known for its extensive collection of Impressionist masterpieces.
6. Arc de Triomphe: built by Napoleon Bonaparte, this massive triumphal arch rises majestically above the streets of Paris at the end of the glamorous Champs d’Elysee.
Paris is divided into 20 districts called arrondissements, numbered from 1 to 20 and named according to their number. Pick up a copy of the "Paris Pratique par Arrondissement" pocket map at any newsstand. Each arrondissement has its own unique character and selection of attractions for the traveler.

Note that most museums and galleries are closed on either Monday or Tuesday, and most ticket counters close 30 to 45 minutes before the final closing. All national museums are free on the first Sunday of the month, which usually means long lines and crowded exhibits.
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