Activities
Top 10 Things to Do in Paris
Ten essential Paris places to visit, from landmark viewpoints and Gothic interiors to major museums, opera-house spectacle, and the Catacombs below the city.
- Eiffel TowerThe Eiffel Tower is the defining Paris activity: observation levels, ironwork, restaurants, history, and night illumination in one landmark. Book ahead if going up the tower, or time the visit for evening light around the Champ de Mars.
- Musee du LouvreThe Louvre is Paris's essential museum activity, with the Mona Lisa, Winged Victory, Venus de Milo, Egyptian antiquities, French painting, decorative arts, and the palace architecture itself. Pick a theme or wing rather than trying to cover everything.
- Notre-Dame CathedralNotre-Dame Cathedral is the Gothic heart of the Ile de la Cite, with twin towers, rose windows, sculpted portals, flying buttresses, and a restored interior shaped by centuries of worship and civic memory.
- Sainte-ChapelleSainte-Chapelle is one of Paris's most concentrated visual experiences: a royal Gothic chapel whose upper room rises into walls of blue, red, and gold stained glass. Timed entry helps keep the visit simple.
- Musee d'OrsayMusee d'Orsay turns a former railway station into the city's major Impressionist and Post-Impressionist museum, with Monet, Renoir, Degas, Manet, Van Gogh, sculpture, decorative arts, and a great clock-facing hall.
- Arc de TriompheThe Arc de Triomphe is a monumental attraction of the Champs-Elysees, with sculpted reliefs, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and a rooftop terrace looking over the avenues of western Paris.
- Basilique du Sacre-CoeurBasilique du Sacre-Coeur is Montmartre's white-domed hilltop church, with mosaics, crypt spaces, a dome climb, and one of the city's clearest high viewpoints from the basilica steps and summit.
- Palais GarnierPalais Garnier is Paris's 19th-century opera house, built for opera and ballet on a spectacular scale. The Grand Staircase, gilded foyers, auditorium, Chagall ceiling, and marble-heavy facade make the visit feel theatrical even without a performance.
- Musee de l'OrangerieMusee de l'Orangerie is an art museum for Monet's Water Lilies rooms, plus Impressionist and Post-Impressionist works by Renoir, Cezanne, Matisse, Modigliani, Picasso, and Soutine.
- Paris CatacombsThe Paris Catacombs are an underground ossuary in former limestone quarry tunnels, with narrow passages, carved signs, and stacked bones that make the visit one of the city's most physically memorable historic experiences.
Sacre-Coeur Steps image sourceNotre-Dame de Paris - Practical informationMusee Rodin - Plan your visitEiffel Tower official visit guide
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