Paris
Opened in 1882, this museum traces the evolution of humankind through artefacts gathered from around the world. Fascinating pieces on display include a…
Must-see attractions in Paris
Paris
The Galerie du Jeu de Paume, which stages innovative photography exhibitions, is housed in an erstwhile jeu de paume (royal tennis court) of the former…
Latin Quarter
This hands-on science museum tailored to children from ages six to 12 is located in the Grande Galerie de l’Évolution, part of the Muséum National d…
St-Germain & Les Invalides
Resembling a mini Notre Dame, with twin conical steeples and flying buttresses at the rear, this delightful basilica presides over a pretty park. Dating…
Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature
Le Marais, Ménilmontant & Belleville
Collections at the Hunting and Nature Museum, inside the delightful Hôtel de Guénégaud (1651), include paintings, sculptures and objets d’art related to…
Paris
Haute lisse (high relief) tapestries have been woven on specialised looms at the Manufacture des Gobelins since the 18th century along with Beauvais-style…
Le Marais, Ménilmontant & Belleville
Built between 1863 and 1868 on the site of a former church, Notre-Dame de la Procession, this distinctive church with twin towers rising 68m was designed…
Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemporain
Paris
Designed by Jean Nouvel, this stunning glass-and-steel building is a work of art in itself. It hosts temporary exhibits on contemporary art (from the…
Montmartre & Northern Paris
Founded in 1986, this museum and gallery is in a lovely former covered market. It focuses on the primitive and Art Brut schools; there is no permanent…
Le Marais, Ménilmontant & Belleville
Paris’ beautiful town hall was gutted during the Paris Commune of 1871 and rebuilt in luxurious neo-Renaissance style between 1874 and 1882. The ornate…
Paris
Paris’ Fashion Museum warehouses some 100,000 outfits and accessories – from canes and umbrellas to fans and gloves – from the 18th century to the present…
Le Marais, Ménilmontant & Belleville
In 1993 iconic Niçois artist Ben set to work on one wall of a red-brick building overlooking rue de Belleville. Look up to spot two men appearing to be…
Les Grandes Serres et Galerie de Botanique
Latin Quarter
These four beautiful glass-and-metal greenhouses in the Jardin des Plantes have been in use since 1714. Several of Henri Rousseau's jungle paintings,…
Le Marais, Ménilmontant & Belleville
Meaning 'the wall' but also standing for Modulable Urbain Réactif (Modular Urban Reactive), street-art canvas Le MUR, on the southern side of the building…
Paris
Testament to the 13e’s ongoing creative renaissance, this gallery showcases graffiti and street art, and can advise on self-guided and guided street-art…
Latin Quarter
The 2nd-century Roman amphitheatre Lutetia Arena once seated 10,000 people for gladiatorial combats and other events. Found by accident in 1869 when rue…
Statue of Général Charles de Gaulle
Paris
Created by Jean Cardot, this 3.7m-high bronze statue (2000), set atop a 3.85m-high pedestal, depicts a striding Général Charles de Gaulle, who led the the…
Paris
This pretty, three-storey spa house is where realist novelist Honoré de Balzac (1799–1850) lived and worked from 1840 to 1847, editing the entire Comédie…
Paris
This wing of Fragonard's Perfume Museum holds a collection of copper distillery vats and antique flacons. It's located in a beautiful old hôtel…
Paris
Northwest of the main building of the Centre Pompidou, this reconstruction of the studio of Romanian-born sculptor Constantin Brancusi (1876–1957),…
Montmartre & Northern Paris
Designed by art nouveau architect Hector Guimard, Abbesses' wrought-iron, glass-canopied metro entrance is Paris' only remaining Model A entrance, and one…
Paris
Almost as dazzling as the masterpieces inside the Louvre is the 21m-high glass pyramid designed by Chinese-born American architect IM Pei, which crowns…
Le Marais, Ménilmontant & Belleville
Clad with benches and shaded by trees, this pretty pedestrian square is framed on three sides by atmospheric cafe pavement terraces that are perfect for…
Galerie de Paléontologie et d’Anatomie Comparée
Latin Quarter
Dinosaur skeletons and fossils fill the Galerie de Paléontologie et d’Anatomie Comparée, part of the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, within the…
Latin Quarter
Extensively renovated in the 15th century, this Gothic church contains one of the oldest bells in Paris, cast in 1412. Also of note are the seven modern…
Paris
Like something out of a Renoir painting, the largest lake in Bois de Vincennes is a popular destination for walks and rowboat excursions in warmer months …
St-Germain & Les Invalides
All ages love the octagonal Grand Bassin, an elegant ornamental pond where proud parents watch their children tear with sticks after 1920s toy sailboats…
St-Germain & Les Invalides
Let your eyes settle on the aesthetic minutiae of the fantastic art nouveau façade of this building, which is one of the most photogenic private edifices…
St-Germain & Les Invalides
This elegant museum plays host to prestigious temporary art exhibitions. Admission prices vary; it's free for under-16s. Online bookings cost €1.50 extra…
Paris
A 14th-century fortress built to protect the city gates, the Bastille became a prison under Cardinal Richelieu, which was mobbed on 14 July 1789, igniting…
Latin Quarter
The crème de la crème of academia flock to this distinguished university, one of the world’s most famous. Today ‘La Sorbonne’ embraces most of the 13…
Église St-Pierre de Montmartre
Montmartre & Northern Paris
All that remains of the former Benedictine Abbey of Montmartre, this church dates back to the 12th century and is one of the oldest in Paris, though it…
Paris
Paris' main wholesale food market stood here for nearly 800 years before being replaced by this underground shopping mall in 1971. Long considered an…
Latin Quarter
One of the city's grandest remnants of pre-Revolution Paris, Chapelle de la Val-de-Grâce was built in 1645 to celebrate the birth of Anne of Austria and…
St-Germain & Les Invalides
The French Institute, created in 1795, brought together five of France’s academies of arts and sciences. The most famous of these is the Académie…
Paris
In such a classical part of Paris, 59 Rivoli is a bohemian breath of fresh air. Watch artists at work in the 30 ateliers (studios) spread over six floors…
Institut des Cultures d'Islam-Léon
Montmartre & Northern Paris
The Islam Cultural Institute hosts concerts, poetry readings, film screenings, temporary exhibitions, art workshops and cooking classes, all generally…
Montmartre & Northern Paris
In the late 19th century and early 20th century impoverished artists Max Jacob, Amedeo Modigliani and Pablo Picasso – who painted Les Demoiselles d…
Paris
This triumphal arch, erected by Napoléon to celebrate his battlefield successes of 1805, rises from the Jardin du Carrousel, the gardens immediately next…
Paris
La Défense’s landmark edifice is the marble Grande Arche, a cube-like arch built in the 1980s to house government and business offices. The arch marks the…
