Palais de Chaillot & Jardins du Trocadéro

Lonely Planet review

The two curved, colonnaded wings of the Palais de Chaillot, built for the 1937 World Exhibition held in Paris, and the terrace in between them afford an exceptional panorama of the Jardins du Trocadéro, the Seine and the Eiffel Tower.

The palace's western wing contains two interesting museums. The Musée de l'Homme focuses on human development, ethnology, population and population growth; it's a branch of the Musée National d'Histoire Naturelle. There are also excellent scientific and ethnographical temporary exhibits on everything from the personality and the brains to the Inuit people of Greenland.

The Musée de la Marine focuses on France's naval adventures from the 17th century until today and boasts one of the world's finest collections of model ships as well as ancient compasses, sextants, telescopes etc.

Unfolding below the Palais de Chaillot are the Jardins du Trocadéro, whose fountains and statue garden are grandly illuminated at night. They are named after a Spanish stronghold near Cádiz captured by the French in 1823.