Paris: top attractions & road trip guide
Paris is the capital of France and one of the world's most visited cities, built along the Seine and organized into twenty spiraling arrondissements. It is known for the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Notre-Dame, and a dense concentration of museums, monuments, and grand 19th-century boulevards laid out under Baron Haussmann.
For a road trip, Paris works best as a bookend rather than a driving destination: park on the outskirts or use the périphérique ring road, then explore the center on foot or by metro. Most Grand Tour and Camino routes through northern France begin or end here, with the A6, A10, and A13 motorways fanning out toward the Loire Valley, Normandy, and the south.
Top attractions
Eiffel Tower
Built by Gustave Eiffel for the 1889 World's Fair, this iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars is Paris's best-known landmark and offers panoramic views from three public levels.
Louvre Museum
Housed in a former royal palace, the Louvre is the world's most-visited art museum, holding the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo, and collections spanning ancient civilizations to the 19th century.
Notre-Dame Cathedral
This Gothic cathedral on the Île de la Cité, begun in 1163, is renowned for its flying buttresses, rose windows, and gargoyles, and was restored after the 2019 fire.
Sacré-Cœur Basilica
Perched atop Montmartre, this white travertine basilica completed in 1914 offers one of the highest natural viewpoints in the city and overlooks the artists' square of Place du Tertre.
Arc de Triomphe
Commissioned by Napoleon in 1806 to honor his armies, this monumental arch stands at the center of Place Charles de Gaulle, where twelve avenues converge, including the Champs-Élysées.
Musée d'Orsay
Set inside a former Beaux-Arts railway station on the Left Bank, this museum holds the world's largest collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist masterpieces by Monet, Degas, and Van Gogh.
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