Arc de Triomphe

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  • Address
    Place Charles de Gaulle, 8e, 75008
  • Show map Close map
  • Phone
    01 55 37 73 77
  • Website
  • Transport
    underground rail: Charles de Gaulle Étoile, George V, Franklin D Roosevelt, Champs Élysées Clemenceau
bus: 22, 30, 31, 52,73, 92
  • Oct-Mar 10:00 - 22:30 ; Apr-Sep 10:00 - 23:00

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Lonely Planet review

The Arc de Triomphe is the world's largest traffic roundabout and the meeting point of 12 avenues. Commissioned in 1806 by Napoleon to commemorate his imperial victories, it was not completed until 1836. From the viewing platform at the top (284 steps up), you can see the avenues - many named after illustrious generals - radiating toward every part of Paris.

Since 1920, the body of an unknown soldier from WWI taken from Verdun in Lorraine has lain beneath the arch, his fate and that of countless others like him commemorated by a memorial flame rekindled each evening. France's national remembrance service is held here annually on Nov 11th.

Tickets to the platform are sold in the underground passageway - the only sane way to reach the base of the arch - that surfaces on the even-numbered side of Ave des Champs-Élysées.