Paris Guide
Things not to miss
1 The Eiffel Tower
• The closer you get to its radical structure, the more exhilarating and less familiar the Eiffel Tower feels.
2 Pompidou Centre
• The Pompidou's radical "inside-out" architecture still draws the crowds, but don't miss its fine modern art museum inside, with significant holdings of works by Matisse, Kandinsky and Picasso.
3 Notre-Dame
• The mighty Gothic cathedral of Notre-Dame, with its exquisite rose windows and soaring nave, is an awe-inspiring sight.
4 Musée du Quai Branly
• The newest and flashiest museum in town is worth seeing just for its cutting-edge architecture, never mind the eye-popping collection of folk art objects inside.
5 Sainte Chapelle
• The glorious interior of the Sainte Chapelle, with its almost entirely stained-glass walls, ranks among the finest achievements of French High Gothic.
6 The Louvre
• If the brilliance of the Louvre's art collection doesn't bring you to your knees, the sheer scale of the place will.
7 Place des Vosges
• A superb architectural ensemble, the elegant Place des Vosges is lined with arcaded seventeenth-century buildings and has an attractive and popular garden at its centre.
8 Musée Jacquemart-André
• This sumptuous Second Empire residence, built for the art-loving Jacquemart-André couple, is preserved more or less intact, complete with its fabulous collection of Italian, Dutch and French masters.
9 Père-Lachaise
• Pay homage to Chopin, Oscar Wilde or Jim Morrison – just some of the countless notables buried in what is arguably the world's most famous cemetery.
10 Site de Création Contemporaine
• If you're tired of galleries that feel like mausoleums for the dead art of the past, make for this chic, bohemian gallery, which showcases the exciting work of contemporary artists.
11 Musée Rodin
• Elegance matched with passion: Rodin's powerful works are shown off to their best advantage in the sculptor's beautiful eighteenth-century mansion.