Ahhh Paris. The City of Lights. The City of Love. The city of beautiful art and delicious food.
I know it sounds cliché but it really is one of the most amazing places in the world. Just embrace it and fall in love with the city itself.
One of the things that makes it so special is that there are so many world-famous things to see and do here. It’s worth the hype.
When you do for the first time there are certain things that are so iconic or captivating that you have to make sure to do them.
Eiffel Tower
I thought that this was going to be the most cliché thing we did the entire trip, to my surprise it actually ended up being one of my trip highlights.
It was built in 1889 for the World Fair and constructed by the architect that also designed the Statue of Liberty. Everyone hated it so much as it was being built that he put up most of the money for it himself. The workers faced away from it when they ate lunch because they didn’t want to look at such an ugly building.
All the criticism stopped however, when the tower was completed because of how beautiful and grand it was. For over 40 years it was the world’s tallest structure.
It was also used in World War 1 as a radio tower to intercept German military messages. And Gustave Eiffel lived at the top, along with a grand piano and a laboratory he invited famous scientist to.
The tower itself is MUCH bigger than I had anticipated. It is absolutely massive and in a beautiful park. As you walk towards the security entrance you pass an old-fashioned carousel and street venders selling roses, crepes and tiny technicolor Eiffel Towers (it can’t all be picture perfect I guess).
You will have your bags checked by security and then you’ll be allowed into the area under the tower. You can then choose to walk or ride the elevator up to the second or third floors.
Everyone has to take the elevator from the second to third floors, but I recommend walking up as much as you can if you can manage it. The view of Paris as it slowly unfolds is beautiful.
There are restaurants and shops on the lower levels and even ice-skating in the winter!
The Eiffel Tower at night is a wonder unto itself.
The tower does a light show every hour on the hour after dark, and it sparkles magically. We stayed in the area for 3 hours to watch it 3 times.
Either go near dusk to see the view from the top when it is still light outside, then go down to watch the show from below. Or, go during the day and plan a walk-by for the evening as well.
Get tickets online or at the gate in off seasons (winter and fall).
Louvre
Museum and art lover or not, you cannot miss the Louvre.
The palace it is in houses a drop-your-jaw-like-a-cartoon-character impressive collection of art. It is mind blowing in both world-famous pieces and the sheer volume of art.
The Louvre itself has played home to kings and emperors of France and houses an art collection started in the time of Leonardo di Vinci!
It has three main wings and extensive gardens. The art inside is mostly historical and classic, if you want to see modern or impressionism check out Musée d’Art Moderne or Musée d’Orsay respectively.
Come down at least once through the top entrance via the pyramids. It is a grand entrance with a beautiful modern gold chandelier that contrasts the traditional marble halls leading to each wing.
The Denon wing has Mona Lisa and the Winged Victory of Samothrace (also known as Nike of Samothrace). Other things to see in this wing include a beautiful collection of art from different nations in Europe. You will recognize a lot of it from your high school history books.
Head here first or you will get stuck way back in the crowd of the Mona Lisa room. She is a very small painting and hard to see over the sea of heads in front of you.
Coming around the corner to see Winged Victory is pretty breath-taking. I was stunned by how powerful and beautiful she is, dominating an entire hall.
Sully wing houses Venus di Milo, a stunning collection of marble statues dating back to ancient Greece and Rome, and Egyptian artifacts including a giant sphynx.
The Richelieu wing is an interesting mix of different types of art.
You need to check out the Napoleonic apartments to see how the emperors of France lived. (Think more over-the-top than Donald Trump’s house.) Hogwarts-like staircases lead to beautiful French sculptures and paintings upstairs.
If you’re a museum lover, go with knowing that there is no way to see it all. If you were to spend 30 seconds looking at each piece and stayed there from opening to closing time, it would take you over 100 days to see it all!!! That doesn’t even include the amazing architecture of the museum itself.
Taking on too much of the Louvre wears you out and you enjoy it less.
If you’re not museum person, like my husband, just hit the main features in each wing and you will still enjoy it.
You’re going to spend all day there, so you might as well eat there too! The food is not what you are used to in your typical museum, this is Paris after all.
There are several places to eat from formal restaurant (Angelina’s) to quick café counters and a bakery near the entrance. The café in the Denon wing was one of our favorites for quiche and sandwiches. Read more about the best foods in Paris.
You can see the tables for the cafe in the picture and the cafe itself is off to the right.
Read more about highlights of the Lourve.
Walk the Champs Élysées to Arc de Triumph
The view of the park (and the Eiffel Tour in the distance) from inside the Louvre.
After leaving the Louvre, head straight out from the pyramids down the park (Jardin des Tuileries) and you will pass many iconic things to see on the way to the Arc de Triumph.
As you exit the park, you will come to a tall pyramid topped pillar. It is the Luxor Obelisk and is one of the two original pillars outside the Luxor Temple in ancient Egypt. It is over 3000 YEARS OLD.
Cross the street on the other side and you will be officially on the Champs Élysées, the most famous street in Paris.
Grab a crepe from a small stand in one of the parks and munch as you go, enjoying the Parisians rush by.
On your left you will see the Grand Palais, built in 1900 for the World Fair it has an impressive glass ceiling and houses art exhibitions and special events.
Keep going straight and the park to your right will disappear as both sides of the street become lined with some of the most stylish and interesting store fronts in the world.
From Tiffany’s and Chanel to Disney and Five Guys (where my husband, to my horror, wanted to eat), the Champs Élysées is a great place to window shop. It’s like Rodeo Drive but better because the architecture is historic and beautiful.
Crowning the top of the Champs Élysées is the iconic Arc de Triumph itself. The finishing point to the Tour de France and a tribute to French victories. It is also the home of the French Tomb of the Unknown soldier, paying respect to fallen soldiers protecting their country. A flame is kept lit underneath and a soldier stands guard.
Before you head over to the Arc itself, there is a great photo spot in the middle of the road.
Seriously!
Wait for a red light and look both ways a few times, and carefully go halfway across the street. There is a little median in the center that you can take some photos standing from that gets a great picture of the Arc de Triumph.
Then to get to the Arc go under the street because it is also the world’s scariest round-about. Cars race around in five undefined lanes on the cobblestone street. Traffic signals are a suggestion.
You can pay to go on top of the Arc and look over Paris. The Eiffel Tower has a better view, you can see the Eiffel Tower from it and if it’s nighttime you might catch the light show.
Street Food
In Paris, if it looks good, eat it!
As you walk along the streets there will be a bakery or patisserie every block. The windows will be lined up with colorful pastries and breads, and I recommend eating as you go!
My family would pick out a few things at each place and share them so we could try all the different things.
Read more about what the best things to Eat in Paris are.
Usually things along the street are just a few euros and are absolutely delicious. Everything is simple with quality ingredients.
The most iconic Parisian street food has to be the crepe.
It can be sweet or savory, depending on the fillings you want in it. There are always a wide variety of fillings to choose: cream, berries, sugar, apples, Nutella, banana, cheese, ham, egg, tomato…
My favorite is ham and cheese, especially when the cheese oozes out the top when cooking and gets crispy on the edges!
Notre Dame
Notre Dame is one of the most famous landmarks in the world and is sometimes considered THE best example of gothic architecture. It took nearly 200 years to build and since construction started in 1163, it is one of the oldest buildings in Paris.
On an island in the middle of the Seine river, it is considered Point Zero, the center of Paris where all the other landmarks are measured from. Rick Steve’s free walking audio tour of Paris begins here.
Standing outside of it look up to see the intricate carvings and statues on the outside. Around the main entrance, you will see the good souls going to heaven and the evil-doers being dragged down to hell on the other. The iconic gargoyles stand guard near the roof and one of the famous rose stained-glass windows is between two spires.
We got to visit Notre Dame in January and in April the cathedral caught fire and was severely damaged, including the collapse of one of the spires. It is now under restoration but is not expected to be able to be opened again for another five to six years.
There are a few alternatives that I would suggest to visit right now while Notre Dame is still closed.
Sainte-Chapelle, “Kingdom of Light“
This church (technically Notre Dame is the only cathedral in Paris) is world famous for its stained-glass windows.
Over 1000 historical stained-glass windows line walls of this gothic building. They let in a gorgeous purply-blue light and sparkle in the (artificial) candlelight.
It was built in just 6 years to house a relic that is the crown of thrones that Christ is believed to have worn before the crucifixion.
It is great to visit after seeing the outside of Notre Dame, since they are close-by on the same island.
This is a newer church, completed right after WWI, and stands on a hill that provides gorgeous views of the city (and the Eiffel Tower from a distance!). It is like a palace in the sky and is full of intricate and beautiful golden mosaics.
See the city
This is a city that feels old, in a very good way. You can imagine the horse drawn carriages going down the streets and Prince Louis XIV floating with his royal court and entire orchestra serenading him down the Seine.
It feels full of exciting history. And one of my favorite things to do is Paris was to explore it by walking around.
We found lots of great food this way and met lots of kind locals as we asked for directions. We also found beautiful hidden gems this way. Like picture perfect alleys with vines crawling up the trellises and old palaces for minor royalty.
My favorite was the outdoor markets! Paris has incredible outdoor markets were vendors gather to sell items in certain categories. Produce, meat, books, etc. They are set up for specific times and then are taken down. If you miss them, they’re gone!
We went in the winter so we missed the famous fruit and veggie markets of the spring. But we stumbled upon a tropical plant and pet market! We saw little bunnies, colorful birds, little hamsters, and every color of orchid you could think of. Right next to a man roasting chestnuts on the street, it was whimsical and incredibly fun.
Another option we did not do, is to take a boat tour on the Seine. You can get hop-on hop-off boats where you can get off to explore and area that interests you and get on the next boat as it comes by.
Is Paris really safe to be walking around at night? Of course it is. But like any major city, be smart about it. Stick to public, high trafficked, areas that are well lit.
Take a food tour
Food tours are great ways to get to know the best food of the city you are visiting and the history behind them.
They are usually guided by a local that knows the best restaurants and shops, the best times to go and the best things to order. The tours are also usually small groups and so you feel like you get a lot of interaction.
We booked our tour through Trip Advisor.
In Paris, the Saint Germain neighborhood is known for being a fantastic French food destination. I even met another couple on our tour that stayed in that neighborhood for that reason.
There are a variety of different tours that you can take depending on what types of things you are into. We took a chocolate and pastry tour and went to some of the (literally) top shops in the WORLD.
Yes, we probably could have found all the shops via our own research. But it would have taken A LOT more time. We wouldn’t have known the best route to get to them all. And we would have missed all the interesting background information on the chefs, city and foods themselves that made it so much more interesting.
Read more about the Best Food in Paris to know what you have to try when you are there.
In the 18th century, the graveyards of Paris were becoming overcrowded over centuries of people being born, dying and being laid to rest in the city.
At the same time, there were many miles of quarries under the city. They were formed from the mining of materials to build all the palaces and churches commissioned by generations of royalty.
As an effort to promote public health, the 6 to 7 million remains were relocated to the Catacombs, and in 1810 they began being organized which continues today.
You actually only get to see a very small fraction of the more than 84 miles total. You’ll walk down a small winding staircase to the underground quarry entrance. Then you follow a mile long path lined by artistically arranged walls of bones and skulls.
You might not like the Catacombs if the thought of seeing real human bones freaks you out. The sheer volume of past people that the bones represents is amazing and could be overwhelming to some.
I LOVED the Catacombs. I found it beautiful and a wonderful way to both think about life and what the lives of these of these people must have been like.
It is cool year-round and 57 degrees, no big bags, no coat check, small bags must be carried in front of you to avoid damaging the bones. It is NOT handicapped accessible and you must be able to walk the hundred steps both in and out, and the mile through it.
Getting in can be a very long wait. Only 200 people are allowed at a time, and the line outside gets long, so come early!
Duh, duh, duh, duh, da, dum! There is reportedly an underground lake, the giant chandelier once fell and killed a woman and a “man without a face” lived there. This is the opera house that the Phantom of the Opera was based off of.
Our tour guide told us that the lake and chandelier story are true, but the faceless man is a myth.
But the Opera house is AMAZING. It was built for the Napoleonic Emperors and is so grand and intricate that it gives Versailles a run for its money.
Colorful marble is sourced from all over the world and stunning Italian mosaics cover the ceiling and floor in ever-changing patterns. Each room is like a totally new and stunning discovery.
Ever wonder why we associate red velvet carpets with fancy theatres? It’s because of the Palais Garnier. Previously light pinks were used but the new red carpets and gold detail were so popular in the stunningly popular Opera house that almost every theater has since copied it.
What are your favorite things in Paris? Or what are you looking forward to the most?
