City of Paris
Paris is the capital and most populous city of France. Most French rulers since the Middle Ages made a point of leaving their mark on a city that, contrary to many other of the world’s capitals, has never been destroyed by catastrophe or war. The historical district along the Seine in the city centre is classified as a UNESCO Heritage Site.
Basic tourist information
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To enjoy the wonders of Paris, make realistic plans. The amounts of attractions and landmarks is overwhelming; visiting only the most famous ones (which can be overcrowded during major holidays) takes more than a week.
Popular landmarks in the city centre included the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris (map); the Gothic royal chapel of Sainte-Chapelle (map); the Eiffel Tower (map); the Grand Palais des Champs-Élysées (map) and Petit Palais (map); the *Arc de Triomphe (map), and the Basilica of Sacré-Coeur (map) on the hill of Montmartre (map).
⇒ Discovering • Plans and maps of Paris • Celebrations & festivals
For centuries, Paris has attracted artists from around the world, who arrive in the city to educate themselves and to seek inspiration from its vast pool of artistic resources and galleries. City was in its artistic prime in the 19th century and early 20th century, when it had a colony of artists established in the city and in art schools associated with some of the finest painters of the times.
Parisian examples of European architecture date back more than a millennium, including the Romanesque church of the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés (1014–1163, map), the early Gothic Architecture of the Basilica of Saint-Denis (1144, map), the Notre Dame Cathedral (1163–1345, map), the Flamboyant Gothic of Saint Chapelle (1239–1248, map), the Baroque churches of Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis (1627–1641, map) and Les Invalides (1670–1708, map).
Catacombes de Paris (map). Used to store the exhumed bones from the overflowing Paris cemetery. The bones of more than 6 million bodies lie here.
Since the late 18th century, Paris has been famous for its restaurants and haute cuisine, food meticulously prepared and artfully presented. Today, due to Paris’ cosmopolitan population, every French regional cuisine and almost every national cuisine in the world can be found there; the city has more than 9,000 restaurants. >> (*French cuisine).
Fontainebleau (map). A lovely historic town south of Paris (55.5 km or 35 mi). A favourite weekend getaway for Parisians, it is renowned for its large and scenic forest, and for its château. 35 min train ride from Gare de Lyon (map).
Good listings of current cultural events in Paris can be found in Pariscope, weekly magazines listing all concerts, art exhibitions, films, stage plays and museums. Timeout is a good option for tourists, who don’t speak French.
Flea markets >> The most famous of these is the Marché aux Puces de St-Ouen (Clignancourt Flea Market, map), Métro: Porte de Clignancourt, a haven for lovers of antiques, second-hand goods, and retro fashion. The best days to go are Saturday and Sunday. The Marché aux Puce de Vanves (map)
The Louvre (map) was the most visited art museum in the world in 2019. The Musée d’Orsay (map), Musée Marmottan Monet (map), and Musée de l’Orangerie (map) are noted for their collections of French Impressionist art. The Pompidou Centre (map) / Musée National d’Art Moderne (map) has the largest collection of modern and contemporary art in Europe.
The Musée Rodin (map) and Musée Picasso (map) exhibit the works of two noted Parisians. (*List of museums in Paris)
One of the best value and most convenient ways to see the sights is with the Paris Museum Pass, a pre-paid entry card that allows entry into over 70 museums and monuments around Paris (and the Palace of Versailles).
Also сheck оut мore info about Paris: Wikipedia • Wikivoyage • UNESCO
Must to See & Do
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- Arc de Triomphe, Paris
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- Eiffel Tower, Paris
- Festival of Giants (Gayant), Douai
- Fontainebleau
- Louvre Museum
- Mont Saint-Michel
- Musee d’Orsay, Paris
- National Museum of Modern Art
- Notre-Dame de Paris
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- Arc de Triomphe, Paris
- Bastille Day (la Fête nationale)
- Catacombs of Paris (ossuary)
- City of Aix-en-Provence
- City of Albi
- City of Annecy
- City of Arles
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- Eiffel Tower, Paris
- Festival of Giants (Gayant), Douai
- Fontainebleau
- Louvre Museum
- Mont Saint-Michel
- Musee d’Orsay, Paris
- National Museum of Modern Art
- Notre-Dame de Paris
- Palace of Versailles
- Verdon Gorge
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Regions & Cities of France
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::: Source: www.ezilon.com
The *French Riviera (Côte d’Azur, map), in southeastern France, is the second leading tourist destination in the country, after the Parisian region. Main cities on the French Riviera include Nice (map), Antibes (map) and Cannes (map); Cap Ferrat (map) is also a popular destination.
Provence – numerous famous natural sites can be found in the region, as the Gorges du Verdon (map), the Camargue (map), the Calanques National Park (map) and the typical landscape of *Luberon.
Loire Valley – This World Heritage Site is noteworthy for the quality of its architectural heritage, in its historic towns such as Amboise (map), Angers (map), Blois (map), *Chinon (map), *Orléans (map), and Saumur (map) >> +*Châteaux of the Loire Valley)
French Alps are the portions of the Alps mountain range that stand within France, located in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (map) and Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur regions. Notable towns in the French Alps include Grenoble (map), Chamonix (map), Annecy (map) is called “the Venice of Savoie”, Chambéry (map), Évian-les-Bains (map) and Albertville (map).
Corsica – is the fourth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea after Sicily, Sardinia and Cyprus. It is a popular attraction for tourists with both cultural aspects (cities *Ajaccio and *Bastia) and geographical features (Parc naturel régional de Corse, map).
Aix-en-Provence
Ajaccio
Albi
Amboise
Amiens
Angers
Angoulême
Arles
Arras
Aurillac
Autun
Auxerre
Avallon
Avignon
Bayeux
Bayonne
Beaune
Beauvais
Besançon
Béziers
Biarritz
Blois
Bordeaux
Boulogne-Billancourt
Boulogne-sur-Mer
Bourges
Brest
Caen
Calais
Cannes
Carcassonne
Chablis
Châlons-en-Champagne
Chambéry
Chamonix
Chantilly
Chartres
Château Gontier
Cherbourg-en-Cotentin
Chinon
Clermont-Ferrand
Colmar
Dieppe
Dijon
Douai
Dunkirk
Eguisheim
Épernay
Épinal
Fontainebleau
Fontenay-Le-Comte
Grenoble
Honfleur
Kaysersberg
La Baule
La Rochelle
Laon
Le Havre
Le Mans
Le Touquet
Lens
Les Sables d’Olonne
Lille
Limoges
Lorient
Lyon
Mâcon
Marseille
Mayenne
Meaux
Metz
Migennes
Montpellier
Montreuil
Mulhouse
Nancy
Nans-sous-Sainte-Anne
Nantes
Narbonne
Neuf-Brisach
Neufchâtel-Hardelot
Nevers
Nice
Nîmes
Orléans
Paray-le-Monial
Paris
Périgueux
Perpignan
Poitiers
Provins
Quiberon
Quimper
Reims
Rennes
Ribeauvillé
Riquewihr
Rouen
Saint-Brieuc
Saint-Claude
Saint-Dié-des-Vosges
Saint-Étienne
Saint-Malo
Saint-Nazaire
Samoëns
Saulieu
Saumur
Sélestat
Semur-en-Auxois
Sens
Strasbourg
Toulon
Toulouse
Troyes
Vannes
Verdun
Versailles
Vézelay
Vitré
Vittel
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes / adm. center Lyon
Bourgogne-Franche-Comté / adm. center Dijon, Besançon
Brittany / adm. center Rennes
Centre-Val de Loire / adm. center Orléans
Corsica / adm. center Ajaccio
Île-de-France / adm. center Paris
Normandy / adm. center Caen, Rouen
Nouvelle-Aquitaine / adm. center Bordeaux
Occitanie / adm. center Toulouse
Pays de la Loire / adm. center Nantes
Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur / adm. center Marseille
Alsace / adm. center Strasbourg
Champagne-Ardenne / Châlons-en-Champagne
Lorraine / adm. center Metz
Hauts-de-France
Nord-Pas-de-Calais / adm. center Lille
Picardy / adm. center Amiens
For the most up-to-date information, see the official tourist resources.