Ten EPIC Destinations to Explore in Paris

Paris is an epic destination for visitors from around the world. The impressive mix of art, culture, food, history, entertainment, and museums has made it a model for cities everywhere. It is easy to identify several dozen sites and activities worth exploring during a trip there. Therefore, it is important to experience the ambience of the city while exploring places that will be meaningful to you when visiting Paris. In addition to seeing key landmarks, spend a little time each day just walking through one of the many parks, relaxing on a Seine riverboat, or sitting in a cafe. This article presents ten special destinations to consider visiting during a trip to Paris for a well-rounded visit.

1. Luxembourg Gardens

There are beautiful parks and gardens in Paris which enhance the various landmarks of the city. Approaching the Eiffel Tower by walking towards the Seine across the grounds of the Parc du Camps-de-Mars is an unforgettable experience. Similarly, the formal Tuileries Gardens which connect the Louvre to the Place de la Concorde provides a tree lined route to contemplate the beauty of nature and the beauty of man. For pure relaxation, however, the Luxembourg Gardens close to the Latin Quarter have a lot to offer for passive and active recreation. The French Queen Marie de Medici arranged for a palace with Italian architectural features to be built for her during the early part of the 17th century. In the years that followed, the property was expanded to include French and English style gardens, a forest, orchards, statues, and fountains. As with some other places in Paris, the property saw dark days during the French Revolution and the German occupation but retained its uplifting and inspiring character through the years.

Visitors to the park today can enjoy a wide variety of activities. For children, there is a playground, pony rides, puppet shows and a small pond for sailing wooden boats. For adults, there are walking and jogging paths, tennis courts, benches, chess tables, concerts, and periodic exhibitions. A restaurant and several stalls provide food and drink service for visitors and picnickers. The Luxembourg Gardens can provide a respite from sightseeing for travelers or a wonderful place to plan the day’s activities during morning coffee. 

2. Musee d'Orsay

The Orsay Museum, located on the Left Bank of the Seine in a wonderfully restored railway station is one of Paris’s real treasures. The Orsay is a digestible and inspiring cultural experience for both art enthusiasts and the general audience. This museum focuses on the works of artists from the mid-19th century to the early 20th century including Renoir, Van Gogh and Monet. 

Thousands of paintings from classicist, impressionist, French realists, and other styles are displayed on two levels of the Orsay. You can walk down one side of the museum and back along the other, moving quickly through the displays or studying ones of particular interest or beauty to the beholder. For most people, a two-to-four-hour visit focusing on the impressionist rooms on the upper level provides a pleasant experience. One hidden gem not to be missed is the museum restaurant located upstairs. This elegant restaurant has a 1900 era decor with Fresco's adorning the ceiling. It offers tasty cafe items, lunch entrees and a variety of wines, teas, and beverages.

3. Moulin Rouge

The Montmartre section of Paris is located on a hilltop on the north side of the city. People visit there to see the impressive Sacre-Coeur Basilica or to take in the bohemian atmosphere of its residents. But more than 600,000 people come there annually to enjoy the cabaret performances at the 133-year-old Moulin Rouge nightclub. While the performances on display are always changing, the “can can” dancers, singers, comedians, and other performers can be counted on to deliver a high energy and risqué program in unique costumes to a full house of 850 guests.

 The entertainment provided consists of a served dinner with orchestra music at 7:00 p.m. and/or a show at 9:00 p.m. or 11:00 p.m. The price ranges from approximately $200 for dinner and the show and $100 to $240 for the show alone, depending on the seat location. d. The show draws people from around the globe. Our crowded table included six Swedish businessmen and an older couple from Canada. Next to us were tables filled with a tour group from Japan. Is the Moulin Rouge worth it? That depends. Sometimes the high culture of Paris’ museums and respected landmarks needs to be balanced with the low culture of brightly clad dancers wearing feathers and a lampshade. 

4. River Cruise or Riverside Promenade

Many major sites and beautiful locations in Paris are along the river or near it. In addition, the Seine River has long been associated with romance, history, and adventure. For these reasons one popular experience is to explore the City by walking or cycling along the Riverside promenade called the Park River des Seine which runs for 1.5 miles on the Left Bank from the Pont des Arts pedestrian bridge to the Eiffel Tower, and on the right bank from the Louvre footbridge to the Place de la Bastille. Along the way, you not only pass by major attractions but also can enjoy sports facilities, play areas for kids, benches, and watching the water traffic. 

A second way to experience the same river is to take a river cruise on one of the motorized barges there. Some boats provide hard bench seating outdoors while others offer enclosed comfortable seating with guide narration or feature nighttime dinner cruises. Most daytime cruises last about an hour and anchor near the Eiffel tower. We have enjoyed using the Batobus instead to get around the center of the city and to view the waterfront sites. This water bus system has eight stops on a round trip that goes from the Eiffel Tower on the Left Bank to Jordin des Plantes before circling back to the Champs-Elysees. Along the way there are other convenience stops at the Orsay Museum, Notre Dame Cathedral, the Louvre, Invalides, and two other locations. The boats run every 17 to 35 minutes depending on the time of the year and costs approximately $20 per adult.

5. Eiffel Tower

Ever since the 1889 World's Fair and Exposition, the Eiffel Tower has been the symbol of Paris. Rising more than a thousand feet above the city the four-sided black metal structure is France's leading tourist attraction and one of the most recognized structures in the entire world.

The tower provides a commanding view of the entire metropolitan area. There are three ways to enjoy this view. First, you can take an elevator to the top of the tower and look out in all four directions. Second, you can take an elevator to the first or second observation platforms which provide excellent views and amenities including cafes, shops, restrooms, and   entertainment that changes from time to time. The second observation deck also contains the fine dining Jules Verne restaurant accessible by a special elevator. Third, you can walk up to the first or second observation platforms without having to wait in line for the elevator if you can manage the strenuous 360 stairs leading to each platform. 

Notwithstanding the impressive experience of mounting this landmark, another possibility is to simply view the tower from the ground during the daytime or when it is lit up at night. From several nearby parks or directly beneath the arches, the tower overwhelms everything in the vicinity. If your time in Paris is limited or you intend to visit many places along with the Eiffel Tower, it is important to book a reservation in advance for the elevators, and to be prepared to undergo security inspections and wait in a long line at various points during your visit.

When Gustave Eiffel’s unique tower was selected to be the “Piece de Resistance” at the Paris World's Fair, the Tower also made a statement for France the nation was determined to be a world leader in the gilded age and beyond. The Eiffel Tower is a reminder to visitors from throughout the world of the enduring culture and potential of the French people.

6. Cathedral of Notre Dame

For two millennia, there has been an island in the middle of the river known as The Isle de la Cite where many historic events have occurred. The island has served as a key location for bridges over the river, a Roman fortress, a palace, the conciergerie judicial office and prison, a royal garden, and execution spot. However, the most significant and spectacular structure on the island is the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris which was constructed over a period of two hundred years beginning in 1163. At that time, the struggling residents of medieval Paris set out to build a cathedral that would outshine every church in Europe and serve as a symbol for Christian worship for generations to come. The building was famous for its 400-foot height, the capacity to hold up to 10,000 parishioners, and its French Gothic architecture. The cathedral featured flying buttresses, a church spire with two Bell towers, stained glass windows and gargoyles. Over the centuries, important religious artifacts were collected there and sculptures honoring heroes like Joan of Arc and other patron saints were added to the grand building.

 Notwithstanding the indignities visited on the cathedral by secular fanatics during the French Revolution, Notre Dame was used primarily as a place of worship for close to seven hundred years. Hundreds of thousands of people visited it every year until the Great Fire of April 2019 destroyed the roof, collapsed the steeple, and caused structural damage to the interior of the building. The French government and private benefactors have vowed to rebuild Notre Dame and like their medieval predecessors this project could take decades. In the meantime, visitors should continue to take in the grandeur of the structure and its history from the outside and reimagine a new Notre Dame. 

7. The Louvre

The Louvre is regarded as the greatest museum in the world because of its size, the antiquities on display from ancient civilizations around the world, and the masterpieces of art, painting, and sculpture there. The museum is located above ground on the right bank of the Seine within connected buildings originally used as a royal palace from the 1300s to the late 1700s. In 1988, a glass pyramid was placed in the center of the complex. Today over 550,000 square feet of building space is dedicated to the museum. It contains by some estimates up to one million objects and over 35,000 works of art. 

The museum is divided into eight curatorial departments: Egyptian antiquities, Near East antiquities, Roman and Greek displays, Islamic art, sculptures, decorative arts, paintings, and prints and drawings. However, the museum’s many special display rooms, staircases, corridors, and floors make it a confusing place to relax and appreciate the beautiful works around you. Nevertheless, the Louvre is not to be missed and best enjoyed if you decide what you really want to see and limit your visit to four or five hours. 

Antiquities and history fans should not miss the Egyptian mummies, Hammurabi's Code, the gates and statues from ancient Babylon and Persian civilizations, and the friezes from the Athens Parthenon. Despite the crowds, everyone also enjoys viewing the Greek statue of Venus de Milo, Michelangelo's Mona Lisa, and other precious works. For other people, the grand gallery which is 42 ft wide and runs the length of five football fields is the most enjoyable section. It contains hundreds of paintings including ones on huge canvasses. Walking through this gallery and the other special painting sections is inspiring and overwhelming. You will see paintings like Liberty Leading the People, the Coronation of Napoleon, and The Raft of Medusa which display vivid scenes involving dozens of unique people struggling through incredible events or witnessing them.

8. Invalides Military Museum and Napoleon's Tomb

King Louis XIV took the unusual step of building a hospital and retirement place for the veterans of the French military in 1670. Over the centuries, this hospital building known as Les Invalides grew into a large complex housing a collection of French military equipment and weapons, and a church containing the final resting place of modern Europe's greatest conqueror - Napoleon Bonaparte. Located close to the Eiffel Tower and the Rue Cler marketplace, the museum provides unique insights into the glory days of France and its special place in the ongoing history of Europe.

Items displayed at the museum include everything from medieval instruments of war such as swords, armor, and crossbows, to the cannons and rifles used by Napoleon's armies, and the destructive weaponry of the Great War and World War II. French forces and citizenry suffered during those two conflicts, and the gallantry of the French Resistance and eventual routing of the German forces in both wars is presented in historical displays. Although not as interactive as some other museums, Invalides still brings to life the scope and importance of France’s long military and political history and it is an interesting stop for some teenagers as well as historically inclined adults. 

The star of the show is still Napoleon's tomb which takes up the center of the complex. You enter a large domed building which has a circular passageway around the outside. Beneath you is a huge mahogany coffin in which Napoleon has been entombed within several containers like the Pharaohs of ancient Egypt whose tombs he visited during his conquest of North Africa. Although still regarded with antipathy by some Europeans, French reverence for this past emperor is apparent from the solemnity of the tomb.

9. Catacombs

One unusual attraction in Paris that young people may enjoy is a visit to the Paris catacombs. While macabre, touring this historic Paris landmark for an hour or so will provide an experience they will tell their friends about. The history of how the catacombs came into existence is quite unusual. From the early Middle Ages until the late 1700s as Paris grew into a major city, cemeteries were built throughout residential and merchant areas in a haphazard manner. Eventually, the odor from these crowded graveyards together with the subsurface collapse of one major cemetery led to a crisis. The crown placed a ban on any burials within the capital and began to explore a more permanent solution. In 1786, the King's engineer produced a plan to empty the cemeteries and transport all the bones and remains of an estimated five million Parisians for reburial in the underground quarries. Over the next 12 years, this mission was accomplished in an organized manner by a workforce of laborers and engineers accompanied by priest. The result was the construction of a huge central graveyard that extends for miles under the capital. 

It was Napoleon who determined that a small portion of the Paris catacombs should be opened to the public because of his familiarity with the popularity of the catacombs outside Rome. The project maintained a degree of solemnity and respect for the deceased by building shrines and monuments in certain places in the catacombs. Nevertheless, it is reported that prior to the French Revolution, the nobility held parties down in the catacombs which ironically forecast the fate of the aristocrats. Later, during World War II, the French resistance often hid out from the German occupation or conducted operations from the tunnels. 

The catacombs are open for a limited number of visitors from Tuesdays to Sundays. Guided tours are sometimes available, but many people enjoy an audio tour which explains the major sites along the way. It is difficult to describe the displays that you will find in the catacombs. Portions of the tunnels were carved out to create decorative arrangements of the bones for viewing. One chamber may have a stack of leg bones arranged to create a pattern or an image. Another one has piles of skulls staring out at you. There are also stand-alone sculptures and murals which were left behind to commemorate the deceased in that location or the efforts of the workmen. It has now been over 150 years since any of the dead or their bones were interred in the catacombs but the legacy of 30 or 40 generations of Parisians who built one world's greatest cities remains. The public areas are well lit, and the route is easy to follow.

10. Champs-Elysees and Its Attractions

There are few streets in the world which can compare to the Champs-Elysees. This entrance to the city brings together the unique majesty, history, and elegance of Paris in one location. The 1.17-mile-long avenue stretches 230 feet across six lanes of traffic with plenty of room for pedestrians and window shoppers on both sides.

The Arch de Triumph serves as a useful starting point for exploring the area. Just as the Romans commemorated military triumphs and the achievements of their emperors with a column or arches, French emperor Napoleon build a 164-foot-high engraved arch near the entrance to the street in 1806 to celebrate the conquest of the French military under his command in Europe and elsewhere. Today, energetic visitors can climb to the top of the arch on over two hundred steps to join enjoy excellent sites along the boulevard to the south.

The street itself contains three other important landmarks for the city. First, while no longer limited to haute couture, it remains one of the premier shopping destinations in Paris. Luxury stores like Dior Paris, Prada, Tiffany and the Galleries Lafayette have been joined by Abercrombie & Fitch, Disney, and other international brands. It is not unusual to see shoppers lined up outside seeking to view the wares of these retailers. There are also fine dining restaurants, nightclubs, and leading cafes along the route. 

Second, the street has served as the venue for famous parades and events such as the liberation of Paris from the Nazis, the finale of the Tour de France, and the annual Bastille Day celebrations. The Place de la Concord located at the eastern end of the street is an excellent place to experience the scenery of the area. This square contains a small park with benches along with a large Egyptian obelisk requisitioned from Luxor in the early 1800s and erected there. It was also the location for the guillotine used during the French Revolution to execute the royal family. There is a proposal to reconstruct the boulevard over the next decade to expand pedestrian space, reduce traffic, and add green space.