Paris Uncovered: 15 Essential Places to Visit in the City of Lights
Welcome to Paris, the city of love! In this period around Saint Valentines day, we would like to present you the 15 must-visit places in Paris, one of the most romantic cities that we have ever seen, city of love and light, Paris.
Paris is one of the biggest cities of the European continent and also one of the cities with more attractions to visit. It is a very special city, with a mix of art, architecture and different environments that make it one of the most romantic places in the world. In addition, it has a special charm due to the big river crossing the city, the Sena river.
Based on our 3 times in the city, we would like to show you this list of must-visit places of Paris. Let’g go!
1. Eiffel tower
Obviously, we have to start this list of 15 must-visit places in Paris by the famous Eiffel Tower. This monument was built in 1889 due to the Universal Exposition of Paris. From there, it has converted in a symbol of the city and humanity, and it’s one of the most important places of the European Continent and, of course, France.
This tower is visible from almost all the places in the city, but there are many places that will make you enjoy even more. The first one is the tower itself. It is possible to pay and access the monument and you can also reach the top of it to observe the city from the best panoramic view. In our opinion, it is worth it to visit the tower from inside as it gives you a different view of the city. If you are interested in booking a ticket to reach the top of the tower, check the official Eiffer Tower website. You have one option that is climb some stairs to an intermediate level of the tower and then take the lift, but it’s not recommended as it a long climb and you have to be in good shape. The tower is opened all days from 9.30 to 22.30.
Another interesting point to observe the tower and take a goof picture is from the gardens places in front of the tower, the Champ-de-Mars. You will see they are really extensive and that you will find places to observe it and take good pictures.
The third place we would recommend is from Jardins du Trocadero. You will see that it is a point with lots of people trying to take a picture as it’s a balcony that is in front of the tower (the photo we attached above is from this exact point).
The last interesting point is that inside the tower there are restaurants and shops. You can check the prices and offer in the official Eiffel Tower website.
2. Arc de Triomphe
Another must-visit place in Paris is the Arc de Triomphe. It is the most representative icon of the city with the Eiffel Tower.
It is located in the Charles de Gaulle square and it was built in 1836, when it was ordered to be built by Napoleon Bonaparte as a commemoration of the Austerlitz battle. Currently, it is the most visited and famous triumphal arc of the world.
You will see that the monument, it is located in the middle of a very crowded roundabout as it’s connecting many of the most important streets of the city. In order to be able to see the arch closer, you can cross the roundabout (be careful!). You will see lots of persons taking pictures of it from the different places around. One of the best places to observe and take a picture is from the Avenue des Champs-Élysées.
You can access the arch to see the viewpoint and the exposition that there’s inside. If you aim to do it on your own, buyin the entrance to the Arc de Triomphe.
3. Louvre museum
There’s no need of being a true museum lover to know that another of the must-visit places in Paris is the Louvre museum.
This place is more than a museum. You will realize that once you reach the place and you observe the amazing exteriors of the Louvre palace and the access place, guarded by a huge crystal pyramid. Just the exterior itself is worth it to visit.
For us, the museum is nice and a must visit (we are not art lovers and we enjoyed it a lot). Obviously, you will get caught by one of the most famous and mysterious art piece of the world, the Gioconda or Mona Lisa of Leonardo Da Vinci. Anyway, the museum is more than Mona Lisa, as you can see more than 500.000 paintings, objects and sculptures among which you can find some of the most important pieces in the world, so you won’t be bored.
The entrance price is 17€ (check it anyway in the official Louvre website), except for students between 18 and 26 years of the European Union that is free. The schedule is all days opened, except Tuesday, from 9h to 16h. You can check more detail and information about the art pieces, areas of the museum and expositions in the museum website.
4. Notre Dame cathedral
Another of the Paris icons. Located in the small Cité island, Notre Dame is a gothic cathedral that was finished in the XIV century but it was started 200 years ago. It is one of the most famous cathedrals in the world.
Unfortunately, it suffered a fire in 2019 that made that for some time the visit was not possible. For some time, the access to the Cathedral square was also closed, but now is opened again. Due to that, we believe that is mandatory to visit it from the exterior and observe it from the square as it is still imposing and a true piece of art that deserves to be in this list of must-visit places of Paris.
5. Montmatre neighborhood
Montmatre is one of the most beautiful neighborhoods of the city and also one of our favorites. It is a bohemian place, with lots of painters and art galleries. We recommend to visit this area and walk through the steep streets and see the shops that you will love for sure, as it looks like a village inside the city. A good way of visiting the place and don’t loose any detail is to do this free tour in Montmatre, where you will learn from the neighborhood history and curiosities.
It you want to do it on your own, we have some places to recommend. One of the most famous places is Place du Tertre where you will find looots of painters painting and selling their pieces. It is also famous due to the cabarets, among them the widely known Moulin Rouge, located in the Boulevard de Clichy street, in the subway stop Blanche. The last typical place of Montmatres is the Mur des Je T’Aime, a wall that contains the word “Love” in 250 languages.
In order to get the Montmatre neighborhood, we recommend take the subway and stop in Anvers (line 2) or Abesses, Pialle or Jules Joffrin (line 12).
At the end of your visit, you can visit the Sacre-Coeur, another of the must-visit places in Paris.
6. Sacré-Coeur
The Sacré-Coeur is located at the top of the bohemian neighborhood of Montmatre. This basilica was ordered to be built in 1873 as a sacred building in honor to the fallen in the French-Prusian war. After some problems and the I WW, it was ended in 1914 and it was inaugurated in 1919.
In this point of the city there are two main interests, the basilica itself and the surroundings and viewpoint. The basilica has a free entrance all days from 6 to 22.30, so it’s interesting to go inside and see the nice inside of the building.
After doing it, you can walk around and take some pictures of the great gardens and the panoramic views of the city from this hill, one of the best views of Paris.
7. Champs-Elysées
The Champs-Elysées avenue is the most important and beautiful street of the city and one of the must-visit places of Paris.
It was created in the XVII century, but it was not until the end of the XX century that was remodeled and adapted to have the current imposing aspect. Nowadays, it was 2km of long and it’s one of the most important shopping streets with lots of shops for all tastes and pockets. This avenue is also famous to cross the Arc of Triumphe and another interesting places such as the Palace of Discovery, the Petit Palais and the Grand Palais.
Our recommendation if you go to Paris is that you must walk at least one time in this avenue as it will surprise you the immensity and life it has.
8. Sena River
We don’t know if we are unique on that, but we really like the cities with a river crossing. In our opinion, it gives places a special beauty and freshness. Paris also has this characteristic, as it has a big river crossing it. This river is Sena, a 776 km river that crosses almost all the French country and it flows in the English channel, in the Atlantic.
Paris has more than 30 bridges that are joining separated parts of the city, so you have infinity of places where you can enjoy a great walk or take a nice picture. Some of the most important bridges are the Pont Neuf, Pont des Arts or Pont Alexandre III.
We really love the area that goes from Notre Dame to the Eiffel Tower, specially on the sunset, as the buildings start to be iluminated. In our opinion, it is one of the most romantic walks of the world and one of the 15 must-visit places in Paris.
9. Cemetery of Pere Lachaise
It is curious that in a guide of 15 must-visit places of Paris we recommend a cemetery, but Pere Lachaise completely deserves to be in this list.
Pere Lachaise is one of the most famous cemeteries in the world and the biggest in Paris, and it is not just a place to honor the ones that passed away, it is also a “park” where you can walk calmly. It is very extensive and you can be hours walking though the different streets, observing imposing graveyards and sculptures. In this cemetery, you could find famous persons like Chopin, The Doors singer, Jim Morrison or the famous dramatist Oscar Wilde, among others.
We visited the cemetery on our own, but a very recommended way of doing it, is contracting this Pere Lachaise tour where they will give you more details about the cemetery history and the graveyards that you can find on it. In order to reach the cemetery, we recommend to stop in the Pere Lachaise stop of the line 2 or 3.
The entrance is free for everyone and you can check the schedule in the official Pere Lachaise website. We recommend to download this map, where you will find the most famous graveyards and it will be easy for you to guide you inside it.
10. Sainte-Chapelle
Saint Chapelle is a gothic temple located in Ile de la Cité, just near the Notre Dame cathedral. It is famous to have some of the most famous relics of christian religion, as the Christ crown of thorns and a part of the cross where Christ died.
For us, the true beauty is inside. There are 15 colorful stained glass windows of 15 meters that show 113 scenes of the Old and New Testament, what makes it one of the most impressive temples we have ever seen.
There are multiple options to visit it. One of them is to book a tour, that will show you the curiosities and peculiarities of the temple. As always, there is the autonomous way, bearing in mind that the entrance cost 10€ (11.50€ without queue). The schedules are all days opened from 9 to 17h.
11. Garnier Opera
Another of the must-visit places in Paris of this list is the Garnier Opera. It is a neo-baroque building ordered by Napolean and whose construction ended in 1875. The building is also famous for inspiring the Phantom of the Opera author.
We recommend to do the visit at least in the exterior part as it’s a nice building. If you want, you can also access to visit it. The price is 17€ for adults and 12 for students between 12 and 25 years old. The building is opened all days between 10h to 17h.
12. Latina Neighborhood, another must-visit place in Paris.
The Latina Neighborhood is located near the Ile de Cité and it is one of the most animated places in the city due to the great presence of students and it is another of our must-visit places in Paris.
Our recommendation is to walk around the neighborhood and go inside some places to take a drink or dinner. You will see that you have lots of places to choose, so it’s impossible to be bored in this part of the city.
Some interesting points in the area are the Panteon, a neo-classic building from the XVIII century that can be visited during all days from 9 to 18h paying 9€ per adult and free for students between 18 and 25 years. Another interesting plave is the Shakespeare library.
Another visiting option is to visit the place with a Latina neighbor tour, that will show you the best places and it will give you interesting information of this animated place.
13. Luxemburg Gardens
If you want to have a nice walk in a green space in the city, you must go to the Luxemburg Gardens. This garden was built in XVII century by order of Maria de Medicis, that was bored of living in Louvre palace. This is a very frequented place by people looking for calm and rest surrounded by grass fields and trees where you can sit. It is also typical to see people doing picnic 😉
As interesting places, it has a central pond and some sculptures and statues that are worth it to observe. If you want to relax, this is one of the must-visit places in Paris where you can do it.
14. Excursion to Versailles Palace
A very recommended excursion you can do near Paris is the Versailles palace. It was the royal residence between 1682 and 1789 and currently is one of the most important monarchic buildings of Europe that has more than 2300 rooms and a extension of 63.154 square meters and 800 hectares of garden. Inside the palace, there is the famous Mirror gallery, an incredible room of 73 square meters with 375 mirrors and the particularity that was the place where it was signed the Treaty of Versailles, which ended the First World War.
To visit the palace, we would recommend a tour that organizes you the departure and guides you all the day. A great option is this excursion in train to Versailles palace.
The other option, as always, is to go for free. You can reach it from the Austerlitz station in 45 minutes, so it’s also interesting. The access prices and schedule can be found in the official Versalles palace website and, as you could observe, they have many prices depending what you want to visit.
15. Disneyland Paris Excursion
It is not a place inside Paris city, but for us, it will always be a very special place and one of the must-visit places in Paris. It is the theme park Disneyland Paris. If you have the possibility to go to Paris for some days and you have a free day, we strongly recommend to visit this park.
It is one of the most famous theme parks in Europe, and it totally deserves it. It is a park that takes you back to your childhood and that transmit special feelings and convert you in a child for some days. The park is 1 hour from Paris and you can get it by train or bus.
If you want extra information, check our complete guide to enjoy Disneyland Paris.
As you could see above, this is our list of must-visit places in Paris. Clearly, if you visit the city, you will find lots of other places and interesting visits, but from our experience, we would include this as the key places to fully enjoy the city.
If you have doubts about some of the mentioned places in the post, don’t hesitate on leaving your question in the comments or sending a DM on our social media.
