Paris is a compact city for its weight: the 20 arrondissements fit inside the ring road, and most of what visitors come for sits within a few metro stops of the Seine. The Louvre, the Eiffel Tower and the Seine at dusk are on the France page; this page is the rest of the city, the visits that need a slot, a stair climb or a morning.
The pattern to plan around is booking. The Notre-Dame towers, the Catacombs and the Palais Garnier sell entry online only, the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower work on timed slots, and the free things (the cathedral, the Sacré-Cœur, the covered passages, the markets) are best done early or late. Most museums close one day a week, Monday or Tuesday, so check before you build a day around one.
Climb 424 steps through passages as narrow as 45 cm to the top of Notre-Dame's south tower, 69 metres up.
What it is
The cathedral itself is free; the towers are a separate visit run by the Centre des monuments nationaux, and there is no ticket desk on site. The route climbs 424 steps to 69 metres, through passages as narrow as 45 cm, to the top of the south tower, where each visitor gets five minutes.
How to do it
Book a slot online: €16, free for under-18s and for EU citizens aged 18 to 25, who still have to reserve. The entrance is on the right as you face the west front on Place Jean-Paul II.
Good to know
There is no lift and no toilet, and rucksacks larger than 40 x 40 x 20 cm are refused. From April to September it opens 09:00 to 23:00, from October to March until 17:30, with last entry an hour before closing.
Best time
An evening slot from April to September, when it opens until 23:00
Walk 1.5 km of tunnels at a steady 14°C past the stacked bones of millions of Parisians.
What it is
From the late 18th century, the bones of millions of Parisians were moved out of the city's overflowing cemeteries into old limestone quarries under the left bank, and stacked into the walls you walk past today. The ossuary reopened on 8 April 2026 after a renovation that added a new scenography.
How to do it
Tickets are sold online only, for a timed entry; it opens Tuesday to Sunday, 09:45 to 20:30, last entry 19:30, and closes on Mondays. You go down at 1 avenue du Colonel Henri Rol-Tanguy on Place Denfert-Rochereau (metro 4 and 6, RER B) and come up at 21 bis avenue René-Coty, a few streets away.
Good to know
Expect 131 steps down, 112 up, 1.5 km of tunnels at a steady 14°C and about an hour below ground.
Climb the Sacré-Cœur dome, then walk down through Montmartre
Montmartre
Half a day with the walk downNo booking needed
About 280 steps up a narrow staircase lead to a gallery on the Sacré-Cœur dome with a 360-degree view over Paris.
What it is
The basilica is free and open every day from 06:30 to 22:30. A narrow staircase of about 280 steps, with no lift, leads to a gallery with a 360-degree view over the city.
How to do it
The dome is the paid part, and it needs no booking: after the security check, go down into the moat on your left, and the dome ticket office, a window and a machine, is about 20 metres to the right at the bottom of the stairs. To skip the climb up the hill itself, take the funicular from Square Louise-Michel, which takes a standard metro ticket (€2.55 in 2026).
Good to know
Afterwards, walk down past Place du Tertre and the lanes toward Abbesses metro (line 12) instead of going back the way you came.
Climb the Arc de Triomphe and stay for the 18:30 flame
Place Charles-de-Gaulle
Book ahead
From the roof, twelve avenues fan out from the star, and below the arch a flame is rekindled every evening at 18:30.
What it is
From the roof, twelve avenues fan out from the star, with the Champs-Élysées running down toward the Louvre and La Défense in the other direction. The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier under the arch is free, and its flame is rekindled every evening at 18:30, as it has been since 1923.
How to do it
The way in is the Passage du Souvenir, an underpass from the top of the Champs-Élysées or the Avenue de la Grande-Armée (metro and RER Charles-de-Gaulle-Étoile). From October to March a ticket costs €16 and the terrace stays open until 22:30.
Good to know
Never try to cross the roundabout on foot. Since late July 2026 the lift has been out of service, so the terrace means 284 steps; the monument says it will return to service in 2027.
Sit with Monet's Water Lilies at the Musée de l'Orangerie
Jardin des Tuileries
1 to 2 hoursBook ahead
Monet's eight great Water Lilies wrap around two oval rooms lit by daylight from the ceiling, as he planned them.
What it is
Monet's eight great Water Lilies compositions wrap around two oval rooms on the ground floor, lit from the ceiling by daylight, as he planned them; they were installed in 1927, the year after his death. Downstairs, the Walter-Guillaume collection adds Renoir, Cézanne, Matisse, Picasso and Soutine.
How to do it
The museum is the old orangery at the Concorde end of the Tuileries garden, and it is small enough to see in an hour or two. It opens 09:00 to 18:00 and closes on Tuesdays; during exhibitions it has stayed open until 21:00 on Fridays.
Good to know
For the Monet centenary, the exhibition Monet, painting time runs until 25 January 2027.
Time needed
1 to 2 hours
Best time
Friday evening during an exhibition, open until 21:00
Tour the Palais Garnier, from the grand staircase to Chagall
Opéra
About 1 hour 30Timed entry
Climb the marble Grand Escalier to the gilded Grand Foyer and, if rehearsals allow, the auditorium under Chagall's 1964 ceiling.
What it is
The visit takes in the marble Grand Escalier, the gilded Grand Foyer and, when it is free, a look into the red and gold auditorium under the ceiling Marc Chagall painted in 1964.
How to do it
The opera house opens its public areas for self-guided visits, but booking is online only and no visit tickets are sold at the door. Visitors go in at the corner of rue Scribe and rue Auber, not up the front steps. Allow about an hour and a half. Adults pay €15 with an EEA nationality or residence and €25 otherwise, and children aged 12 and under go free. Guided tours, from €11, are booked the same way.
Good to know
The auditorium is the catch: the Opéra warns that rehearsals close it often and without notice, and no ticket guarantees it.
Pass eight locks and two swing bridges, then glide through a vaulted tunnel under the Bastille lit through skylights.
What it is
The canal runs 4.5 km from the Port de l'Arsenal, by Bastille, to the Bassin de la Villette. On the way the boat passes eight locks, two swing bridges and the Crimée lift bridge, and spends a long stretch in the vaulted tunnel under Place de la Bastille, lit through skylights.
How to do it
Canauxrama's boats cover the whole length in about two and a half hours, one way, for €23. The departure point depends on the date: the marina opposite 50 boulevard de la Bastille (metro Bastille) or the quay opposite 13 quai de la Loire (metro Jaurès or Stalingrad), so check your booking. Because it is one way, plan your metro back from the other end.
Good to know
Take the open deck for the locks and a warm layer outside summer.
Not one market but a grid of them, from the narrow covered alleys of Vernaison to mid-century design dealers and furniture.
What it is
Just past the northern edge of Paris, the Puces de Saint-Ouen is not one market but a grid of separate ones for antiques, design and vintage: the narrow covered alleys of Vernaison, the mid-century dealers of Paul Bert Serpette, the furniture of Biron and more.
How to do it
Take metro line 4 to Porte de Clignancourt, line 13 to Garibaldi or line 14 to Saint-Ouen. From Porte de Clignancourt you first pass street stalls selling clothes around the ring road; the antiques markets begin beyond them, along rue des Rosiers.
Good to know
It runs every weekend of the year, public holidays included: Saturday and Sunday 10:00 to 18:00, Monday 11:00 to 17:00 and a short Friday morning from 10:00 to 13:00.
Dance swing to live bands in a vaulted stone cellar that has kept jazz going on rue de la Huchette since the late 1940s.
What it is
Rue de la Huchette, a narrow lane running off Place Saint-Michel toward the river, has kept a jazz club at number 5 since the late 1940s. The Caveau de la Huchette is a vaulted stone cellar with a small stage and a dance floor, open every night with live bands from around 21:00, and its crowd comes to dance swing as much as to listen. Its sign even turns up in the film La La Land.
How to do it
You pay at the door, there is no seating plan and the steep stairs down are part of the experience.
Good to know
If you would rather sit and listen to a set, the jazz street is rue des Lombards near Châtelet, where the Duc des Lombards and the Sunset-Sunside sell seats for each concert on their own websites.
Walk the covered passages from Galerie Vivienne to Jouffroy
2nd and 9th arrondissements
About 1 hour on footFree
A free hour's walk under glass links the covered arcades where Parisians shopped before Haussmann's boulevards.
What it is
Before Haussmann's boulevards, Parisians shopped under glass in covered arcades, and a chain of them survives in the 2nd and 9th arrondissements, close enough for a free walk of about an hour.
How to do it
Start at the Galerie Vivienne, 4 rue des Petits-Champs, built in 1823, with its mosaic floor and glass roof, and look into its neighbour, the Galerie Colbert. Head north to the Passage des Panoramas, opened in 1799 and the oldest of the Paris passages, long a home of stamp dealers. Cross the Boulevard Montmartre straight into the Passage Jouffroy, alongside the Musée Grévin wax museum, and carry on into the Passage Verdeau, with its old books and prints.
Shop the Marché d'Aligre, covered hall and street stalls
12th arrondissement
1 to 2 hoursFree
A covered hall of 1779 and open-air fruit and vegetable stalls share one square, a few minutes' walk from Bastille.
What it is
Aligre is two markets on one square in the 12th arrondissement, a few minutes' walk from Bastille (metro Ledru-Rollin, line 8). The covered hall, the Marché Beauvau, was built in 1779 and keeps its butchers, cheese counters and fishmongers open through the day, while the open-air stalls on the square and along rue d'Aligre, mostly fruit and vegetables, trade in the morning only.
How to do it
Buy cheese, bread and fruit there and you have lunch for the Coulée verte René-Dumont, the planted walkway along the old railway viaduct that starts by the Opéra Bastille, a short walk away.
Good to know
The whole market is closed on Mondays, so come on any other morning, before noon.
The bronze Thinker, The Gates of Hell and The Burghers of Calais stand in the garden of the mansion where Rodin worked.
What it is
Rodin worked in the Hôtel Biron, an 18th-century mansion at 77 rue de Varenne, and gave his work to the French state on condition that the house become his museum, which opened in 1919. Inside are the marbles and studies, including The Kiss; outside, the sculpture garden holds the bronze Thinker, The Gates of Hell and The Burghers of Calais.
How to do it
The museum opens Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 to 18:30, with last entry at 17:45, and closes on Mondays. The nearest metro is Varenne (line 13).
Good to know
Give the garden as much time as the house. The Dôme des Invalides, with Napoleon's tomb, is just across the boulevard, which makes the two an easy morning together.
Picnic at the tip of the Île de la Cité at golden hour
Paris
1 to 2 hoursFree
Watch the Seine turn gold from the willow-shaded tip of the Île de la Cité, with bread and cheese on the grass.
What it is
The best-placed lawn for this is the Square du Vert-Galant, the willow-shaded point at the western end of the Île de la Cité. The point looks downstream toward the Pont des Arts, so the water turns gold as the sun drops.
How to do it
You reach it by going down from the Pont Neuf to river level; the nearest metro stops are Pont Neuf (line 7) and Louvre-Rivoli (line 1). It is free and listed as open day and night.
Good to know
The grass fills early on warm evenings, so arrive an hour before sunset with your bread and cheese. If it is full, walk west along the car-free Parc Rives de Seine on the left bank, between the Musée d'Orsay and the Pont de l'Alma, where the quay has room to spread out.
Spend a Wednesday or Friday evening in one Louvre wing
Paris
About 3 hoursTimed entry
The Louvre stays open late on Wednesdays and Fridays, long enough to give one wing a whole evening.
What it is
The Louvre stays open until 21:00 on Wednesdays and Fridays and is closed on Tuesdays. Pick one wing: Richelieu for the Napoleon III apartments and the French sculpture courts, Sully for ancient Egypt and the medieval moat, Denon for Italian painting.
How to do it
Last entry is an hour before closing and rooms start clearing 30 minutes before, so arriving around 18:00 gives you a solid two and a half hours. Book a time slot at ticket.louvre.fr; since 14 January 2026 a ticket costs €22 for EEA residents and €32 for everyone else. If you already hold a ticket, the Carrousel entrance at 99 rue de Rivoli is the alternative to the Pyramid queues.
Good to know
On the first Friday of the month, entry after 18:00 is free, except in July and August.
Go up the Eiffel Tower at dusk and stay for the sparkle
Paris
2 to 3 hoursTimed entry
See Paris by daylight from the top of the Eiffel Tower, then watch the lights come on as you make your way down.
What it is
The golden floodlights switch on at dusk, and from the next full hour the tower sparkles for five minutes on the hour until midnight or 01:00, depending on the season. The stairs only go as far as the second floor.
How to do it
Book a lift ticket for the slot about an hour before sunset. Online tickets are timed; lift tickets go on sale 90 days ahead and stair tickets 60 days ahead, at the official ticket office, ticket.toureiffel.paris. Once you are back on the ground, catch a sparkle from the Champ de Mars or the Trocadéro.
Good to know
In late October the tower opens 09:30 to 23:00, and the summit can close in bad weather or at peak times.
Stand before Leonardo's portrait, then turn round to Veronese and walk on into the Italian Renaissance with far fewer people.
What it is
Leonardo's portrait hangs in room 711, the Salle des États, on level 1 of the Denon wing, behind glass and a barrier. Veronese's Wedding Feast at Cana covers the opposite wall. Plans announced in 2025 would give the Mona Lisa a room of its own, but for now nothing has changed.
How to do it
Book a time slot at ticket.louvre.fr: slots are compulsory for every visitor from 17 October to 1 November 2026 and recommended the rest of the year. Once you are in front of her, turn around to the Veronese, then walk the Grande Galerie next door, which holds much of the museum's Italian Renaissance painting with far fewer people around it.
Good to know
It is the busiest room in the museum and visitors file past in a managed line, so plan on a brief look rather than a long one. The Louvre warns visitors to watch out for ticket fraud.
See the Féerie revue and its cancan at the Moulin Rouge
Paris
About 1 hour 40 for the showBook ahead
About 80 performers and the French cancan as the set piece, in the Moulin Rouge's one revue at the foot of Montmartre.
What it is
The Moulin Rouge stages one revue, Féerie, twice a night at 21:00 and 23:00, with about 80 performers and the French cancan as its set piece; it runs about 1 hour 40. A 19:00 dinner and show package adds the meal and champagne.
How to do it
The theatre is at 82 boulevard de Clichy, at the foot of Montmartre beside Blanche metro station (line 2). Book on the official site or by phone. Arrive early for the 21:00 show if you want time for a drink before the curtain.
Good to know
Dress smartly: a tie is not required, but men in shorts, flip-flops, running shoes or sportswear are turned away, and hats and caps come off at the door. Children from six are admitted with an adult, though the show includes topless numbers.
Walk Père Lachaise downhill, from Gambetta to Jim Morrison
Paris
About 2 hoursFree
Walk downhill through Paris's largest cemetery, from Oscar Wilde's winged tomb and Édith Piaf to Chopin and Jim Morrison.
What it is
Paris's largest cemetery is free and big enough to get lost in, so plan the route. Oscar Wilde's winged tomb and Édith Piaf's grave are near the top, and Chopin and Jim Morrison nearer the main entrance on the boulevard de Ménilmontant.
How to do it
Enter at the top, by the Gambetta gate near Gambetta metro (lines 3 and 3bis), then walk downhill toward the main entrance by Philippe Auguste metro (line 2). Carry the city's plan, printed or downloaded, since graves are found by division number. From 16 March to 5 November it opens at 08:00 on weekdays, 08:30 on Saturdays and 09:00 on Sundays, closing at 18:00; in winter it closes at 17:30.
Good to know
Nobody is let in during the last quarter of an hour. Wear proper shoes: the paths are cobbled and steep in places.
Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle (CDG) is linked to Gare du Nord and Châtelet by RER B, and Orly has been on metro line 14 since June 2024, about 25 minutes from the centre. Both airport rides need the airport ticket, €14 in 2026, not a standard metro ticket. Trains arrive at six main stations: Eurostar from London and trains from Belgium and the Netherlands at Gare du Nord, TGVs from the south-east at Gare de Lyon and from the south-west at Montparnasse.
Getting around
The metro is the answer for almost everything. A single Métro-Train-RER ticket costs €2.55 in 2026 and covers any trip in the region except the airports; load tickets onto a Navigo Easy card or a phone, or tap a contactless bank card at the gates. Central Paris is also very walkable: the Louvre to Notre-Dame is about 20 minutes on foot along the river. Vélib' bikes and the city's cycle lanes suit short hops on flat ground.
How many days
In must30's view, four full days is the comfortable minimum: one for the Louvre and the Seine, one for Notre-Dame, the islands and the Latin Quarter, one for Montmartre and the Opéra area, one for the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe and a museum on the left bank. Add a day for Versailles and one for a day trip such as Giverny or Fontainebleau if you have a week.
When to go
Spring and early autumn are the easiest months for walking, with long light in May and June. July and August bring the longest queues at the big sights, and many small restaurants close for part of August. Winter is the quietest season for museums, with short days; the Arc de Triomphe and the Notre-Dame towers keep shorter hours from October to March. On the first Sunday of some months several national monuments are free, which also makes them busier.
Where to base yourself
The Marais (3rd and 4th) and Saint-Germain and the Latin Quarter (5th and 6th) put you within walking distance of the Louvre, Notre-Dame and the river. Around Opéra and the Grands Boulevards (2nd and 9th) the metro and RER connections are the best in the city, which matters if you plan day trips. Montmartre is quieter and often cheaper, but every day starts with a hill and a longer ride.
Questions travellers ask
Which Paris sights must be booked in advance?
The Notre-Dame towers, the Catacombs and the Palais Garnier visits are sold online only, with no tickets at the door. The Louvre and the Eiffel Tower use timed slots that sell out in busy weeks. The cathedral of Notre-Dame and the Sacré-Cœur basilica are free.
Is the Notre-Dame cathedral open again?
Yes. The cathedral reopened in December 2024 and entry is free. The climb up the towers is a separate visit run by the Centre des monuments nationaux, at €16, booked online for a time slot.
How do I get from the airport to central Paris?
From Charles-de-Gaulle, take RER B to Gare du Nord or Châtelet. From Orly, take metro line 14, about 25 minutes to the centre. Both need the airport ticket, €14 in 2026.
Which museums are closed on Mondays or Tuesdays?
The Louvre and the Musée de l'Orangerie close on Tuesdays. The Musée d'Orsay and the Musée Rodin close on Mondays. The Catacombs are closed on Mondays too, so do not plan two of these for the same closed day.
.jpg){kind=link}
_March%C3%A9_aux_puces_977.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
