the best viewpoints of Paris

When you think of going to Paris and wonder where would the best view of the city be, normally the first place that would come to mind would be the Eiffel Tower {Tour Eiffel}! You can either take the stairs up or take a lift up to the first two floors and to reach the top of the tower you need to take a separate lift. Each floor has a different and prettier view than the last as you get higher and higher. I recommend taking the stairs up to the first two floors {it doesn’t take too long & wasn’t too difficult} and you get to look at the view as you go up, and it is even easier walking down. You can also have a drink and/or bite to eat on each floor at the cafes and as you get higher the price does too! :) I think that the best time to go up the Tour Eiffel is dusk/sunset and then you can stay up there or be at the base looking up for the first sparkling of the lights at 8pm!

The Tour Eiffel really is a wonderful place to take in a 360 degree view of Paris but there are also many other great places to take in the City of Light from higher up and most of them you also get to see the Tour Eiffel in your view which makes it even better! Below is a list of some of my favourite monuments to take in the beauty of Paris, along with photos of each of the views that I captured from these viewpoints!

For all the information you need for visiting ~ click on the title of each which will take you to their website. Another great viewpoint not mentioned below is from the top of the bell tower of the Cathedralé Notre-Dame, but unfortunately since the fire that happened in 2019 the cathedralé and the lookout have been closed as they re-build the cathedralé, so in the meantime these are some great viewpoint alternatives.

Tour Montparnasse

The Tour Montparnasse is in the the 7th arrondissement and is one of the few modern buildings in Paris ~ it is 56 floors high so it is hard to miss but you may just think it is an office building and not a place that you can visit! You can get there by going to the metro stop ‘Montparnasse’ and follow the signs. Once you have your ticket you then get to take Europe’s fastest elevator and in 38 seconds, you arrive on the ‘panoramic floor’ which is the 56th floor. There you can see the view of Paris from inside and get a glass of wine or champagne to sip on while you take in the gorgeous view. But the highlight is to find the stairway for the rooftop which is called the ‘terrace’ and you are outside on the roof of the building with a 360 view of the city! The main highlight is the Tour Eiffel which is directly in front of you! I highly recommend going at the end of the day so you can get photos in daylight and as the sun sets, and if you stay until 8pm you will see the first sparkle of the Tour Eiffel!

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Tour Saint-Jacques

The Tour Saint-Jacques is a tower in the 4th arrondissement {the Marais} that I would walk by all the time and had no idea until recently that you could actually go to the top ~ so on my last trip to Paris I went! The nearest metro stops are ‘Hôtel de Ville’ or ‘Châtelet’. It dates back to the 16th century and was once the bell tower of the Saint-Jacques church, which was sold during the Revolution as a stone quarry so the church was destroyed and the stones were used all over Paris to build new buildings! But the one thing they did keep and preserve was the tower. In order to visit you need to sign up for a guided tour {link in the title} and you walk in a single file line up winding stairs that equates to about 300 steps or 16 floors {so they recommend if you have difficulty climbing stairs or are claustrophobic not to go}. They stop a third of the way of up for about 10 minutes to tell you more about the history before making the final ascent to the rooftop. Once at the top you have about 10-15 minutes to take in the 360 beautiful view {main highlights are the Panthéon, the Cathedralé Notre-Dame, the Hôtel de Ville & the Tour Eiffel} and take as many photos as you want before descending back down together.

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Arc de Triomphe

The Arc de Triomphe in the 8th arrondissement is one of the most well known monuments in Paris and is situated at the end of the famous shopping street Champs Élysées in the centre of Place Charles du Gaulle and was completed in 1836. The nearest metro stops are ‘Charles de Gaulle Etoile’ or ‘Kleber’. The Arc de Triomphe honors those who fought and died for France during the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars, with the names of all French victories and generals inscribed on the monument. On my recent trip it was entirely wrapped in fabric as part of an art exhibition by Christo and Jeanne-Claude which was super cool! This is another climbing monument ~ there are 284 steps to the top! But for those that have reduced mobility there are two elevators for priority access. It offers a totally different view point than the others including the Basilique du Sacré-Coeur, La Défense {modern downtown of Paris} , the Tour Eiffel and the Champs Élysées.

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Basilique du Sacré-Coeur

The Basilique du Sacré-Coeur is the Roman Catholic church that sits above all of Paris as it is located at the highest point in the city in the Montmartre area in the 18th arrondissement and is one of the most visited monuments in Paris. The nearest metro stops are Pigalle, Anvers and Abbesses ~ but if you go to Anvers and Abbesses there is a cable car/funicular that takes you to the top. Construction began in 1875 and was completed in 1914 and is unique in Paris as it is the only Romano-Byzantine style church, and one of it’s bells is the fifth largest in Europe! You can climb up into the dome for a magnificent view but also at the church base there is a beautiful panoramic view of Paris which lays out below you. There are tiered steps and grass to sit on to take in the sweeping views, and there are usually performers or singers there to entertain you as well. Afterwards you can wind your way through the enchanting streets, cafes and shops of Montmartre.

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Institut du Monde Arabe

The Institut du Monde Arab is a lesser known place to take in views of Paris despite being in the heart of the Paris and close to the Cathedralé Notre-Dame. It is in the 5th arrondissement along the Seine at the end of Pont du Sully, and the closest metro stops are Cardinal Lemoine, Jussieu and Sully Morland. It is a modern and architecturally interesting 11 floor building that was built in the 1980’s and the facade reinterprets traditional Arab latticework screens in glass and steel with 30,000 light-sensitive diaphragms that are designed to regulate the penetration of light into the building! The institute promotes collaboration between France and the Arab nations mostly in the realms of technology and science, and it houses a museum, a 100k volume library, an auditorium, offices, as well as a cafe and a restaurant. The pretty view of Paris is from the terrace of their restaurant ‘Le Zyriab’ on the 9th floor, and you can go up to see the view from the terrace even if you are not dining there! You have views of the Cathedralé Notre-Dame and the Île de la Cité, as well as Île Saint-Louis all right there before you!