Travel to Paris

Paris, a fabulous heritage!

Rich, vast and extraordinary: With an incomparable heritage of historic sites, iconic monuments and attractions, Paris is a dream destination for visitors in search of places to discover. Classic, innovative and offbeat, the capital offers a unique cultural journey through 1,803 monuments, 173 museums and many other exceptional places. VISIT PARIS TOURS

Most international visitors associate Paris, like other popular destinations, with its top sights: the Notre Dame Cathedral, the Eiffel Tower, the Champs-Elysées, the Louvre, the Sacré Cœur Basilica. But the reason Paris is the world’s leading tourist destination also has to do with the staggering number of monuments it boasts: 1,803, which means near-infinite options for sightseeing and walks through the city and its history.

Of course, enjoy a panoramic view of the city from a 324-metre height at the top of the Eiffel Tower, admire Victor Hugo’s beloved gargoyles at Notre Dame Cathedral and stand at the top of the tallest hill in Paris at the Sacré Cœur Basilica. These are the three monuments most popular with visitors to Paris. Not far from Notre Dame Cathedral, the Sainte Chapelle with its beautiful stained glass windows is also well worth visiting.
A short distance from the Champs-Elysées, the Grand Palais, a huge stone, steel and glass structure, hosts prestigious exhibitions. Built by Napoleon, the Arc de Triomphe offers a breathtaking bird’s-eye view of the city.
In the heart of Paris, the Louvre is a former royal residence which was transformed into a museum after the Revolution and has since become the world’s most visited museum. The Musée d’Orsay houses the largest collection of Impressionist and post-Impressionist paintings in the world.
Another must-see is the Palais Garnier with its ornately decorated façade and its ceiling painted by Marc Chagall. Finally, a trip out to the Père Lachaise cemetery offers the opportunity to pay homage at the tombs of many famous people.

These extraordinary and varied range of monuments makes up the charm of Paris and the very core of its identity. Both banks of the Seine and all the city’s districts bear witness to Paris’s incredible heritage, and visitors constantly travel through time in the course of their sightseeing. Past, present and future intermingle more effortlessly in Paris than anywhere else in the world.

Do not miss other Parisian treasures!
It is only a short distance from Ile de la Cité and its venerable attractions, the Conciergerie to the modern architecture of the Pompidou Centre and the Institut du Monde Arabe. Similarly, the Tour Saint-Jacques is a stone’s throw from the Hôtel de Ville. There is a monument to stop and gaze at on every street, square, courtyard and park, making a stroll through any part of the city a journey of discovery.
Numerous palaces and private mansions have survived the transformation of Paris over the centuries to form part of the city’s heritage, and not merely for historical reasons. While some of them, like the Elysée Palace, the Palais-Royal and the Palais Brongniart, are the seat of French government institutions, many others have become cultural venues.
The Palais de Chaillot in the 8th arrondissement has 1930s architecture and houses several museums; a few hundred metres on, the Palais de Tokyo has become a key venue for contemporary art in Paris. The Petit Palais near the Champs-Elysées focuses on classical art, while the much-visited Palais de la Découverte next door does an excellent job of popularizing science.
Some private mansions have also been turned into museums, like the sumptuous Musée Carnavalet (closed for renovation work) in the Marais, the Musée Jacquemart-André in the 7th arrondissement and the Musée Nissim de Camondo in the 8th arrondissement.