Paris

Paris is the capital of France and one of the world's leading centres of culture, fashion and gastronomy, spread along the banks of the Seine. The city welcomes around 40 million visitors a year, which puts it among the most visited cities on the planet; for its boulevards, its embankments and the floodlighting of its monuments it is known as the "City of Light".

A little history

Paris grew out of a settlement of the Celtic Parisii tribe on the Île de la Cité, where the Romans founded the town of Lutetia. In the Middle Ages it became the capital of the French kingdom and a centre of scholasticism and university learning — the Sorbonne dates back to the 13th century. Its modern appearance, with wide avenues, uniform building heights and the characteristic mansard roofs, took shape in the middle of the 19th century during Baron Haussmann's rebuilding of the city. Paris is bound up with the great events of European history, from the French Revolution of 1789 to the May unrest of 1968.

Main sights

• The Eiffel Tower — a 330 m iron tower built for the World's Fair of 1889 to a design by the engineer Gustave Eiffel. It was originally intended to be a temporary structure. Tickets bought online run from €11.30 (stairs to the second level) to €29.40 (lift to the summit).
• The Louvre — the largest art museum in the world, with a collection running from Ancient Egypt to the 19th century. It holds Leonardo's "Mona Lisa", the Venus de Milo and the Winged Victory of Samothrace. Entry is through I. M. Pei's glass pyramid. Tickets are about €22, and admission is free on the first Friday of the month after 6pm, except in July and August.
• Notre-Dame de Paris — a masterpiece of 12th–14th-century Gothic on the Île de la Cité. After the fire of 2019 it underwent a huge restoration and reopened in December 2024; entry is free.
• Montmartre and the Basilica of Sacré-Cœur — the highest hill in the city, crowned by a gleaming white basilica in Romano-Byzantine style. Street artists work around Place du Tertre, and a genuine vineyard survives on the slope.
• The Musée d'Orsay — a former railway station on the Left Bank, home to the largest collection of Impressionists and Post-Impressionists: Monet, Renoir, Degas, Van Gogh. Tickets around €16.
• The Arc de Triomphe and the Champs-Élysées — the arch on Place Charles de Gaulle, from which twelve avenues radiate like the spokes of a wheel.
• Versailles — the residence of the French kings, 45 minutes away on the RER C: a palace with the Hall of Mirrors and a formal park (about €20). Best visited on a weekday and early in the morning.

Districts

Paris is divided into 20 arrondissements, spiralling outwards from the centre.

• The 1st–4th arrondissements — the historic heart: the islands of the Cite and Saint-Louis, the Louvre and the Les Halles quarter.
• Le Marais (3rd–4th) — medieval lanes, aristocratic mansions, galleries, fashionable shops and a lively LGBT quarter.
• The Latin Quarter (5th) — the Sorbonne, the Panthéon, bookshops and a student atmosphere.
• Saint-Germain-des-Prés (6th) — the legendary literary cafés and the Luxembourg Gardens.
• Montmartre (18th) — the bohemian hill, the Moulin Rouge cabaret, steep staircases and panoramic views.

Food

Parisian gastronomy runs from street-corner baking to haute cuisine. Breakfast means a croissant or a pain au chocolat (€1.20–2) with coffee. In a bistro it is worth trying onion soup, steak frites, croque-madame, foie gras, oysters and duck confit. Lunch in a bistro costs €14–18, dinner in a restaurant €25–50. Cheeses, baguettes from artisan bakeries and desserts — macarons, eclairs, tarte tatin — deserve attention of their own. Many people shop at the covered markets and street stalls.

Practicalities

• Transport. The metro is one of the oldest and densest networks in the world; a single journey costs €2.55 on a flat fare covering the metro and RER across the whole region, airport stations excepted, and a book of ten tickets works out cheaper. The metro is backed up by buses, trams and the suburban RER lines. Walking is still the best way to get to know the city.
• From the airports. RER B trains and buses run into the centre from Charles de Gaulle (CDG); a taxi runs at a fixed rate of €56 to the Right Bank and €65 to the Left Bank. Prices are as of 2026.
• When to go. The best time is late spring (April–June) and early autumn (September–October): mild weather and shorter queues than at the height of summer.
• How many days. Around 5 days is about right: enough for the main museums, unhurried walks through the arrondissements and a day trip out to Versailles.
• Tips. Buy tickets for the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre and Versailles online in advance, arrive at opening time, and watch out for pickpockets at tourist sites and on the metro.