Things to do
What to do, city by city: the things worth your time, in the order to do them, with how long each takes, what it costs and when to go.
Best things to do in Paris
France, 20 things to do
1Monument
Go up the Eiffel Tower
Monument, Champ de Mars
The view everyone came for. Go up before sunset, watch the city turn gold, and be on the ground again when the tower starts to sparkle.
- Time to allow
- 2 to 3 hours
- Cost
- Ticket
- Best time
- An hour before sunset
4.7496,438 Google ratingsFrom €28.80
Read the guide2Museum
See the Mona Lisa at the Louvre
Museum, 1st arrondissement
The largest museum in the world, and the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo and the Winged Victory under one roof. Pick ten works, not a hundred.
- Time to allow
- 3 to 4 hours
- Cost
- Ticket
- Best time
- First thing in the morning
4.7378,984 Google ratingsFrom €55.20
Read the guide3On the water
Cruise the Seine
On the water, The river, from the Eiffel Tower to Notre-Dame
An hour on the water takes you past the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre and Notre-Dame without a single queue. The easiest way to see how Paris fits together.
4Walk
Climb Montmartre to Sacré-Cœur
Walk, Montmartre
The village on the hill: steep lanes, a vineyard, the studios of Picasso and Renoir, and the white basilica at the top with the whole of Paris below it.
- Time to allow
- 2 to 3 hours
- Cost
- Free, ticket for the dome
- Best time
- Early morning, or at sunset
4.7168,834 Google ratingsFrom €15
How to do it5Church
Step inside Notre-Dame, restored
Church, Île de la Cité
The cathedral that burned in 2019 reopened in December 2024, its stone cleaned for the first time in centuries. It has never looked like this in living memory.
- Time to allow
- 45 to 90 minutes
- Cost
- Free
- Best time
- Early, on a weekday
4.7101,142 Google ratingsFrom €5
How to do it
How the lists are made
The choice and the order are this site's: what a first visit should do first. Nobody has paid to be on a list or to be higher on it.
This page shows the first 5 of each city. The whole list, with how long each thing takes, what visitors rate it and a map, is on the city's own page.