---
node: dest_paris
type: destination
slug: paris
title: "Paris"
lead: "Paris is the capital of France and one of the world's most visited cities, laid out along the Seine around grand boulevards, museums and cafes. The Eiffel Tower, the Louvre and Notre-Dame are only the start of what the city holds."
published: 2026-08-10
updated: 2026-08-10
image_file: paris.jpg
image_source: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eiffel_Tower_from_north_Avenue_de_New_York,_Aug_2010.jpg"
image_author: "Julie Anne Workman"
image_license: "CC BY-SA 3.0"
---

## Overview

Paris grew from an island in the Seine into a capital of two million at the city's core, ringed by the wider metropolis. Baron Haussmann's nineteenth-century boulevards gave it the stone facades, wide avenues and long views that still define the centre, threaded by the river and its bridges. The city is walkable and layered, and its pleasures are as much the cafe terrace and the market street as the famous monuments.

## Highlights

The Eiffel Tower rises over the Champ de Mars, and the Louvre and the Musee d'Orsay hold art from antiquity to the Impressionists. The restored Notre-Dame stands on its island beside the Latin Quarter, while Montmartre climbs to the white domes of Sacre-Coeur. A walk along the Seine, the Champs-Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe, and a day at Versailles round out the classic visit.