If you’re coming to Paris for the first time, you’re likely going to want to visit some of the city’s top sites. Paris has over 2,000 years of history and there are literally dozens of important sites – too many to see in a short trip and I don’t recommend trying to pack too much into your itinerary either. So if you’d like to visit the most important of these, read on to discover what I feel are the top historical sites in Paris. You might only need to see certain ones from the outside and want to visit the interiors of others, so I’ve added some useful info to help you decide what’s best for you.
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(WA = Wheelchair Accessible)
Eiffel Tower
Of course, when people think of top Paris sites, the Eiffel Tower is usually the first to come to mind. Built for the World’s Fair of 1889, if it’s your first trip to Paris, you’ll likely want to see this world-famous monument, but there are different ways you can do this. Keep in mind, you don’t have to go up it if you don’t want to, it’s nice simply to see it and you can also do this from a distance – away from the crowds. We’ve included some great views of the city in this article on top budget hacks in Paris.
If you do want to go up the Eiffel Tower, I highly recommend you book your tickets as soon as possible (they go on sale three months in advance) or consider joining a guided tour. Walks offer a great Eiffel Tower tour that includes those hard-to-get entrance tickets, as well as the best place to take photos, and tons of cool info about the monument.
Get tickets to the Eiffel Tower | 7th Arrondissement | WA
The Louvre
Even if you don’t plan on touring the museum, you might like to at least see the outside of this former royal palace as it’s a very impressive building. Its history dates back to the turn of the 1200s when it was first built as a fortress, although the current building was mostly created from the 1500s to mid-1800s. Turned into a museum during the French Revolution, today it displays a whopping 30,000 works of art, including what is maybe the most famous piece in the world– the Mona Lisa. You definitely can’t see everything on one visit, but for the main masterpieces, I recommend taking this Louvre highlights tour. The museum is HUGE and thus a bit chaotic, so it can be overwhelming touring it on your own. On a tour, your guide will know how to get around the crowds and show you the most important works of the collections. If you do visit on your own, be sure to get tickets in advance, try to go on a Friday night, that’s when the museum is open in the evening and MUCH less crowded. Walks also have an early evening tour worth booking.
Get timed tickets to the Louvre | 1st Arrondissement | WA
Notre Dame Cathedral
After being closed for five years following its tragic fire, I’m thrilled that Notre Dame is finally reopened. The city’s main catholic cathedral, Notre Dame was the most visited site not just in Paris, but the whole world before the fire. Even if you’re not religious, it’s worth going by to see its amazing Gothic-style architecture. You can admire it from the outside or it’s free to visit the inside. During the first weeks after the cathedral’s reopening (from December 2024), there will be a time-entry system, which you can book in advance via the cathedral’s website.
If you’d like to know more about Notre Dame and the other historic sites of the Île-de-la-Cité island (which I’ll tell you about next), then you might like to join this tour of Medieval Paris. It includes skip-the-line tickets (to the paid sites), a detailed overview of each site, and some secret stories.
Get tickets for Notre Dame Cathedral | 4th Arrondissement | WA
Sainte-Chapelle
A short walk from Notre Dame is this other stunning Gothic church. It was built in the 1240s as the private chapel of French royals, who were living next door at the time (I’ll tell you about it next). It’s especially famous for its spectacular stained-glass windows, around 70% of which are original. Today it’s a national monument and thus, unlike other Paris churches, there’s a fee to enter it. If you think you’d like to visit it, I highly recommend getting tickets in advance as it has really looooong lines. Or better yet, join the Medieval Paris guided tour that includes skip-the-line entrance tickets to Sainte-Chapelle and also visits other sites from the era that are found nearby.
Get tickets for Sainte-Chapelle | 1st Arrondissement
Image Courtesy of Get Your Guide
The Conciergerie
This large building situated two doors down from the Sainte-Chapelle was the main castle of the French royals during the Middle Ages. When the royals moved to the Louvre in the mid-1300s, this castle was used as a prison – and all the way until 1934. Its most famous prisoner was Marie-Antoinette and her reconstructed cell can be seen if you visit the inside of the building, either on your own or on the Medieval Paris tour. In addition to the queen’s cell, it has displays on the French Revolution and the history of the building. If you just stick to the outside of the building, don’t miss viewing the stunning historic clock on the northeast corner (just before the Pont au Change bridge) and the castle’s huge Medieval towers on the river-facing side of the building.
Get tickets for Conciergerie | 1st Arrondissement
L’Arc de Triomphe
This colossal monument also usually features on the list of top historical sites in Paris. That said, if there’s one Paris site to skip, this could be it – and I’ll explain why. Originally started as a monument honoring Napoléon I, the Roman-style archway wasn’t finished when he was ousted from power in 1814, but was finally completed in 1836. Above all a military monument, the 50-meter-high (150 ft) archway is impressive, but it also has some downsides.
It sits at the end of the Champs Elysées, which is one of the biggest tourist traps in Paris (overpriced and bad quality EVERYTHING, unless you want to do luxury shopping and utilise VAT refunds). There’s also little else of interest in the general area, so you may be wasting valuable time coming over here. However, if you’re really keen to see it, you can easily take the métro to reach it. And while you’re over here, the view from the top is actually pretty fantastic – if you feel like climbing up its 284 steps to admire it (paid entry).
Purchase tickets to the Arc de Triomphe | 8th Arrondissement | WA
Image Courtesy of Get Your Guide
Opéra Garnier
Paris’s gorgeous historic opera house is well worth seeing, even just from the outside. Named after its architect Charles Garnier, it was finished in 1875. It’s covered in marble columns, busts of composers, and gilded chandeliers – it seems like Garnier left no inch of the building untouched. For any Phantom of the Opera fans out there, it really did serve as the inspiration for the book and musical. There’s actually a water reservoir beneath it (not quite a lake), but the rest of the tale was invented. If you want to see a stunningly decorated interior while you’re in Paris – and you’re not going to the Louvre or Versailles – then you might want to visit the inside. To do this, you can purchase a ticket to wander through its dazzling rooms during the day or reserve a ticket for an evening ballet or opera performance.
Get tickets for the Opera Garnier | 9th Arrondissement | WA
Basilique de Sacré-Coeur
This massive white-domed basilica is the second most visited church in Paris after Notre Dame, but it hasn’t always been loved by everyone. Consecrated in 1919, Sacré-Coeur (Sacred Heart) was nicknamed the wedding cake and much disliked by the artists and bohemians who lived in Montmartre in the early 20th century. Today, most Parisians and visitors are very fond of it. The interior is free, so if you feel like peeking inside, you can admire the stunning mosaic covering the inside of the dome, which is one of the largest in the world. Even if you don’t go in, what might be more spectacular than the building itself is the view you get from in front of it – a sensational panorama of the whole city – or almost. If you want to see the WHOLE city, including the Eiffel Tower, you can climb up to the top of the dome (paid ticket you buy at the basilica). If you’d like to learn more about Sacré-Coeur and the history of the surrounding charming district of Montmartre, consider taking this small-group walking tour of the area.
Sacré-Coeur | 18th Arrondissement | WA
Saint-Germain-des-Prés Church
While the other churches on this list tend to steal the limelight, Saint-Germain-des-Prés is actually the oldest church in the city. Considering this, it rightfully deserves a place on this list of the top historical sites in Paris. The church was founded in the 500s as part of a monastery that was once on the outskirts of Paris, although the current structure dates from the 10th to 13th centuries. It might look simple on the outside, however, its interiors are covered in breathtaking colorful paintings. These were done in the mid-1800s and depict scenes from the bible and saints. Like with Notre Dame and Sacré Coeur, even if you’re not religious, it’s nice to pop in for a little look – and it’s free.
Find out more about Eglise Saint-Germain-des-Prés | 6th Arrondissement | WA (south entrance)
Place des Vosges
Paris has a number of famous and fabulous squares, but this one in the Marais was the first in the city and all of Europe. Commissioned in 1605 by King Henri IV, it’s a perfect square with nine elegant townhouses on each side. They might seem to all look the same, but there are some differences. Some tricky owners cut corners by using plaster painted to look like brick, instead of real brick which was more expensive. Try to spot these when you visit the square.
Originally called la Place Royale, it was completed in 1612 and honored the new King Louis XIII depicted on a statue in the center of the square. So beautiful, the following French kings also wanted their own squares – leading to the construction of Place des Victoires, Place Vendome, and Place de la Concorde. During the Revolution, the square was renamed in honor of the eastern French county of Les Vosges which was the first to pay its taxes. If you’d like to learn more about it, and other places in the area, join one of these Marais walking tours.
Place des Vosges | 4th Arrondissement | WA
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