Paris

Places to go

the Eiffel Tower

Ok, ten out or ten for stating the obvious. Everyone puts the Eiffel Tower top of the list of things to see in Paris. But with good reason, because the Eiffel Tower is a place you just can’t miss. From its looming construction to its stunning views of the city and just the general energy and buzz of the place, it really does live up to the billing.

The Catacombs of Paris

While most people come to this city for romance, there’s a darker side to be found… This underground burial complex houses six million skeletons dating to the 18th century. Stacked in endless corridors, it’s a fascinating and haunting place. If you have the courage, it’s one of the most interesting places in Paris to see.

Musee du Louvre

The Pantheon's in Rome right? True, but it’s also in Paris. At least, the Paris Pantheon is in Paris. Makes sense, if you think about it. The Paris Pantheon is a church turned mausoleum and resting place of France’s famous. Little visited, it’s a magnificent building and ranks as one of the best things to do in Paris.

Palace of Versailles

A monument to the decadence of royalty and a constant draw for vast numbers of visitors, Versailles is simply astonishing. And if the massive opulent palace isn’t enough, the gardens will simply blow your mind. Representing ostentatiousness beyond measure, it’s clearly one of the very best places to visit in Paris.

Places to stay

Hotels

Hotel Le Bristol
Hotel Le Six
Jays Paris
Hotel Galileo
Mandarin Oriental, Paris
Hotel Fouquet's Barriere
Hotel Relais Saint-Germain

Bed & Breakfast

Courcelles-Parc
La Villa Paris
Manoir de Beauregard
Bed & Breakfast Bouchardon
Les 3 Chambres
Bed and Breakfast VIP Champs Elysees
Appartement d'hotes Folie Mericourt

Camping

Fondation Maison de la Gendarmerie
Camping Paris-Est
Huttopia Versailles
Camping du Bois de Boulogne

Youth Hostels

Auberge Internationale des Jeunes
Peace & Love
BVJ Louvre

More Things To Do

Arc de Triomphe

The Arc de Triomphe stands at the center of Place de l'Étoile, the hub from which 12 grand avenues — including the idyllic pedestrian mall, the Champs Élysées — radiate to form the star for which the Place de l'Étoile is named. Climb to the Arc's panoramic viewing terrace and gaze down each avenue into the city. It's the best place to admire the taut geometry of Paris's urban plan, devised by Napoleon III's prefect Baron Georges-Eugène Hausmann, who razed the city's medieval slums to lay down broad boulevards. Rows of neatly trimmed plane trees line each avenue, heightening the effect. You can also see the Eiffel Tower in its entirety from here — it's close enough for you to marvel at its construction. Yes, the traffic around the Arc is mayhem, and it's crawling with tourists. Don't be deterred — the Arc still thrills.

Musée de l'Orangerie

As much as it delights first-timers, the Orangerie is ripe for repeat visits. The gallery's appeal lies in part in a pleasing sense of scale — it doesn't crowd too much together, but gives the works on offer their due. That offering includes Claude Monet's masterworks, the Nymphéas (Water Lilies), painted in the artist's garden at Giverny and donated to the French state. Monet stipulated that the monumental panels be displayed precisely as they are seen today, in twin oval rooms that surround enraptured viewers with his vision. The gallery also houses, in its specially built subterranean section, the superb Walter-Guillaume collection of post-impressionist works — keep an eye out for Modigliani's portrayal of the fedora-topped collector Paul Guillaume as modern art's Nova Pilota (New Helmsman). Afterward, let impressions settle with a walk through the Tuileries gardens, or feed the pigeons from a perch on the promenade.

Shakespeare and Company Bookshop

Time has not sundered the love-in between literature and Paris's Left Bank. The Shakespeare and Companybookstore, has long been a fixture of the affair. The original shop, which doubled as a library, publisher and boarding house for aspiring writers, was opened by American Sylvia Beach and was featured in Ernest Hemingway's memoir, A Moveable Feast. The store closed during World War II, and was reopened in its current incarnation in 1951 by George Whitman, whose daughter, Sylvia (named after Beach), runs things today. Out front, bookstands surround an ornate drinking fountain, erected in the 19th century to service the area's poor. Inside, there's an extensive stock of second-hand books. When you're done browsing, retire with reading matter to the nearby restaurant Le Procope. Once the haunt of luminaries like Voltaire, Rousseau and Verlaine, its walls are adorned with author-signed title pages, addressed like so many love letters to "Le Procope." The sumptuous set menu (€46 for three courses) is dubbed "The Philosophes."

Institut du Monde Arabe

An estimated 4 to 7 million of France's 62 million residents possess Arabic roots (figures are inexact because the government shrinks from collecting ethnic data on its populace), so it's fitting that the country, together with 22 Arabic nations, founded the Arab World Institute. What's unexpected, however, is the Institute's building, one of Paris's most beautiful contemporary constructions. On its southern exterior, architect Jean Nouvel designed an intricate lattice of photosensitive apertures, which open and close to modulate the light that enters — a modern take on the traditional Moorish screen. Inside, there's a permanent collection that spans millennia of Arabic art, invention and design. Recent temporary exhibitions, including a survey of modern Palestinian art, indicate that the Institute's programming may be acquiring a contemporary edge.