Paris has a lot of places to give you a delightful experience if you have planned your trip in advance. People visiting Paris for the first time often want to spend their time at renowned Eiffel Tower, the Louvre and Notre-Dame. There are other beautiful places to visit in Paris such as the Luxembourg Gardens or Le Marais and the Musee d’Orsay. The list of things to do in Paris is endless – shopping, cemetery-perusing, museum touring, opera-attending and district-exploring – to name a few. It is advisable to plan your own itinerary and see Paris on your own terms.

Eiffel Tower

Built by the French engineer Gustave Eiffel, famous at the time for building bridges, Eiffel tower is a – cannot be missed place to visit in Paris. He presented Eiffel Tower as a monument in the World Exhibition in 1889. This antique beauty is competitive with the Big Ben in London, the Taj Mahal in India, and the Statue of Liberty in New York. You can possibly climb up to the third floor of Eiffel Tower using the elevator, the view from there is very romantic especially in the evening.

Notre Dame

Amongst the places to visit in Paris, Notre Dame is the most visited site with 10 million tourists each year. It was the focus of Catholic Paris for 700 years as well as a Gothic architecture masterpiece. The cathedral’s construction was started by Maurice de Sully in 1163 and was completed after 182 years in 1345. After being damaged during the French Revolution, the renovation of the building was given to the world famous architect Viollet-le-Duc. It is a huge cathedral with a 425 foot long, 150 foot wide and 115 foot high interior. The things to do in the cathedral is to fully appreciate the architecture, 420 spiraling stairs, the South tower giving a spectacular view of Paris and the beautiful window to the North which has not been touched since last 700 years.

Louvre Museum

One of the places to visit in Paris is the Louvre Museum which is also the largest art museum in the world. Originally built as a fortress in 1200, reconstructed in 1650 for the personal use of the king but in 1793 the French revolutionists declared it as the first French national museum. Out of the 30,000 exhibits, the paintings of two women – the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo – are just the two amazing pieces of art in the Louvre Museum. There are seven galleries in the museum displaying distinct contents of their own. Plan and book your tickets in advance as there is always a long line you will have to pass before you get a chance to see anything.

Arc de Triomphe

Arc de Triomphe is the biggest and the tallest triumphal arch in the world, a must place to visit in Paris. Situated 2kms northwest from the place de la Concorde in the middle of the ‘Place Charles de Gaulle’. It is suggested to use the underground passage to reach the square. The things to do here include taking the stairs to the top where you can see the 12 radiating avenues, viewing across the Champs-Elysees from the Arc, and taking a closer look at the Arc.

Tuileries Gardens

One of the spectacular places to visit in Paris is the Tuileries Gardens, designed by Catherine de Medicis in 1564 for the Tuileries Palace. It is amongst the most French gardens, with fine rows of trees and well-formed paths. Back in 1667 it became the public park after the French Revolution. Huge 18 bronze statues created by Maillol are placed in Tuileries Gardens. The place is appealing to many painters such as Monet and Renoir, loving the colors reflected by the flowers, grass and water.