Roavina

Country guide

France

A photograph of France
Photograph · Pierre Blaché · CC0

France is 18 regions and 632,702 km2, and five of those regions are overseas - French Guiana in South America, the French West Indies, islands in the Indian and Pacific oceans. Metropolitan France alone runs from the Rhine to the Atlantic and from the Mediterranean to the North Sea, so a week here is a choice rather than a circuit. Of the 69.1 million people estimated in 2026, more than 13 million are in the Paris metropolitan area, which is why the capital tends to win the first visit. The corners - Alpine, Atlantic, Mediterranean - are further from one another than the map's familiarity suggests.

Reviewed by Elena Voss · Roavina Travel Editor

Cities

Every city catalogued in this country so far, ranked by how much there is to see.

Practical information
Language spoken
French
French is the language of the Republic under Article 2 of the Constitution
Dialling code
+33
The country code for metropolitan France
Currency
Euro (€, EUR)
France has used the euro as its official currency since 2002
Emergency number
112
One number across the country; 15 reaches an ambulance directly
Plug type
Type E · 220 V
Round-pin sockets use a projecting earth pin
Tap water
Safe to drink
The health ministry says tap water may be consumed safely unless local authorities issue specific advice

Planning a visit

  1. January: seasonal closure recorded
  2. February: seasonal closure recorded
  3. March: seasonal closure recorded
  4. April: seasonal closure recorded
  5. May: seasonal closure recorded
  6. June: seasonal closure recorded
  7. July: seasonal closure recorded
  8. August: seasonal closure recorded
  9. September: no seasonality data recorded — this month
  10. October: seasonal closure recorded
  11. November: seasonal closure recorded
  12. December: seasonal closure recorded

Top things to see

Ranked by importance — sitelinks, pageviews and heritage status, not editor preference.

Filter the list

62 places match
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Category

Historic monuments 62 Museums 38 Places of worship 14 Nature sites 27 Viewpoints 0 Food and drink 10 Markets and shopping 9 Entertainment 4 Nightlife 6 Family attractions 1 Art and culture 13 Activities 1

Typical visit duration

Up to 1 hour 52 1 to 2 hours 9 Half a day or more 1

Interests

History 62 Art 0 Museums 0 Nature 0 Sea and beach 0 Viewpoints 0
  1. Eiffel Tower Eiffel Tower
    01 2 hours

    Eiffel Tower

    Tour Eiffel

    The Eiffel Tower was built to stand for twenty years and be taken down.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Paris
  2. Notre-Dame de Paris Notre-Dame de Paris
    02 1 hour

    Notre-Dame de Paris

    Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris

    Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris is the historic cathedral on Île de la Cité, where the west façade, soaring nave, rose windows and restored liturgical spaces make the building more than a quick photograph stop.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Paris
  3. Père Lachaise Cemetery Père Lachaise Cemetery
    03 1 hr 30 min

    Père Lachaise Cemetery

    Cimetière du Père-Lachaise

    Père Lachaise is a working cemetery that became a destination because its managers marketed it.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Paris
  4. Arc de Triomphe Arc de Triomphe
    04 1 hour

    Arc de Triomphe

    Treat the what it is details as provisional when arranging this stop in Paris. Keep enough flexibility to move the visit within the same area if current conditions differ from the plan.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Paris
  5. Sacré-Cœur Sacré-Cœur
    05 45 min

    Sacré-Cœur

    Basilique du Sacré-Cœur

    Sacré-Cœur was built as an apology. After France lost the war of 1870, Bishop Felix Fournier proposed a church as an act of national penitence, reading the defeat as divine punishment for the country's moral decline since the Revolution.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Paris
  6. Palais Garnier Palais Garnier
    06 1 hr 30 min

    Palais Garnier

    Opéra Garnier

    The Palais Garnier is what Napoleon III's Paris looked like when it stopped pretending to be restrained. He commissioned it in 1861, Charles Garnier won the competition, and it was built from 1861 to 1875, opening on 5 January 1875.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Paris
  7. Sainte Chapelle Sainte Chapelle
    07 45 min

    Sainte Chapelle

    Sainte-Chapelle

    Sainte-Chapelle is a reliquary the size of a building, and the relic cost more than three times what the building did.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Paris
  8. avenue des Champs-Élysées avenue des Champs-Élysées
    08 45 min

    avenue des Champs-Élysées

    Champs Élysées

    The Champs-Élysées is 1.91 km long, 70 m wide, and it is a garden path that became a shopping street. André Le Nôtre laid it out in 1667 as an extension of the Tuileries.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Paris
  9. Montparnasse Tower Montparnasse Tower
    09 1 hour

    Montparnasse Tower

    Tour Montparnasse

    Montparnasse Tower is a 210 m office block finished in 1973, and the reaction to it is the reason Paris has not built another skyscraper in its centre since.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Paris
  10. Champ de Mars Champ de Mars
    10 45 min

    Champ de Mars

    The Champ de Mars is a parade ground that became a lawn, and the Eiffel Tower stands at one end of it.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Paris
  11. Panthéon Panthéon
    11 1 hour

    Panthéon

    The Panthéon was built as a church and finished just in time to stop being one.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Paris
  12. Les Invalides Les Invalides
    12 2 hr 30 min

    Les Invalides

    Hôtel des Invalides

    Les Invalides was built to house disabled soldiers and ended up housing Napoleon. Louis XIV ordered it on 24 November 1670; Libéral Bruant and Jules Hardouin-Mansart designed it, and it was completed in 1706.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Paris
  13. place de la Concorde place de la Concorde
    13 20 min

    place de la Concorde

    Place de la Concorde

    The Place de la Concorde is a 7.6-hectare traffic island that was once the busiest execution ground in Europe. It is the largest public square in Paris.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Paris
  14. Grand Mosque of Paris Grand Mosque of Paris
    14 45 min

    Grand Mosque of Paris

    Grande Mosquée de Paris

    The Grand Mosque of Paris opened in 1926 as France's thanks to its Muslim soldiers, and it remains the city's central mosque a century later.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Paris
  15. Palais-Royal Palais-Royal
    15 45 min

    Palais-Royal

    Palais Royal

    The Palais-Royal was a cardinal's house that became Europe's first shopping centre and then the place the Revolution started. Jacques Lemercier built it for Cardinal Richelieu between 1633 and 1639 as the Palais-Cardinal.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Paris
  16. Hôtel de la Marine Hôtel de la Marine
    16 2 hours

    Hôtel de la Marine

    Hôtel de la Marine is a paid-ticket monument on Place de la Concorde, one of a matching pair of colonnaded palaces — its twin across the square today houses the Hôtel de Crillon — built between 1758 and 1774 to…

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Paris
  17. Bastille Bastille
    17 20 min

    Bastille

    Ruines de la Bastille

    The Bastille is a square where a prison used to be, and the prison held seven people on the day it was stormed.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Paris
  18. National Assembly National Assembly
    18 1 hr 30 min

    National Assembly

    Assemblée nationale

    The Palais Bourbon is where the National Assembly, the lower house of the French parliament, has sat since the Revolution turned a princess's private mansion into the seat of the republic's elected chamber.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Paris
  19. Élysée Palace Élysée Palace
    19 1 hr 30 min

    Élysée Palace

    Palais de l'Élysée

    The Élysée Palace is where the President of France lives and works, and it is closed to visitors for all but one weekend a year.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Paris
  20. Luxembourg Palace Luxembourg Palace
    20 20 min

    Luxembourg Palace

    Palais du Luxembourg

    The Luxembourg Palace is the French Senate, and it was built because a widowed queen was homesick for Florence.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Paris
  21. Louvre Pyramid Louvre Pyramid
    21 20 min

    Louvre Pyramid

    Pyramide du Louvre

    The Louvre Pyramid is the glass entrance structure built in the museum's main courtyard in the 1980s, and it is a part of the Louvre — its main entrance and one of the more argued-over additions to central Paris …

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Paris
  22. University of Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne University of Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne
    22 1 hour

    University of Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne

    Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - Centre Sorbonne

    Behind the gate at Place de la Sorbonne sits a university with a name older than most nations: Robert de Sorbon founded a theology college here in 1257 under the patronage of Louis IX, and the word "Sorbonne" has meant…

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Paris
  23. La Madeleine La Madeleine
    23 30 min

    La Madeleine

    Église de la Madeleine

    La Madeleine is a Greek temple in the middle of Paris, and it took seventy-nine years and several changes of mind to finish.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Paris
  24. place Vendôme place Vendôme
    24 20 min

    place Vendôme

    Place Vendôme

    Place Vendôme is an octagon of uniform stone façades built as a single architectural composition, not a collection of separate buildings that happened to end up on the same square.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Paris
  25. Pont Neuf Pont Neuf
    25 20 min

    Pont Neuf

    The Pont Neuf is the New Bridge and it is the oldest standing bridge in Paris, which has been the joke about it for four hundred years.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Paris
  26. Château de Vincennes Château de Vincennes
    26 1 hr 30 min

    Château de Vincennes

    Château de Vincennes is a medieval fortress on the eastern edge of Paris, beside the Bois de Vincennes.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Paris
  27. Hôtel de Ville Hôtel de Ville
    27 1 hour

    Hôtel de Ville

    The Hôtel de Ville is Paris's city hall, seat of the mayor and the city council, on the square that carries its name.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Paris
  28. Chapelle expiatoire Chapelle expiatoire
    28 30 min

    Chapelle expiatoire

    The Chapelle expiatoire is a neoclassical funerary chapel built between 1815 and 1826 on the site of the former Madeleine cemetery, where the guillotined bodies of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were buried in unmarked graves covered with quicklime in…

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Paris
  29. arc de triomphe du Carrousel arc de triomphe du Carrousel
    29 15 min

    arc de triomphe du Carrousel

    Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel

    The Arc de triomphe du Carrousel stands in the Cour Napoleon, between the Louvre's wings and I. M.

    • High
    • Historic monument
    • Paris
  30. Jardin des plantes Jardin des plantes
    30 1 hr 15 min

    Jardin des plantes

    Jardin des Plantes

    The Jardin des plantes is Paris's main botanical garden and the founding site of the Museum national d'Histoire naturelle, on the Left Bank in the 5th arrondissement, between the Seine and the Austerlitz rail yards.

    • High
    • Historic monument
    • Paris
  31. Chaillot Palace Chaillot Palace
    31 30 min

    Chaillot Palace

    Palais de Chaillot

    The Palais de Chaillot is the curved, colonnaded building on the hill of Trocadero facing the Eiffel Tower across the Seine, built for the 1937 Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques on the site of the demolished 1878 Palais du…

    • High
    • Historic monument
    • Paris
  32. Hôtel Matignon Hôtel Matignon
    32 1 hour

    Hôtel Matignon

    Hôtel de Matignon

    The Hotel Matignon is the official residence and working office of the French Prime Minister, on the Rue de Varenne in the 7th arrondissement, and it is not open to the public in any ordinary sense — this is a…

    • High
    • Historic monument
    • Paris
  33. Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Paris Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Paris
    33 15 min

    Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Paris

    Tombe du Soldat inconnu

    The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is a flat paving stone beneath the Arc de Triomphe, at the centre of Place Charles de Gaulle, marking the grave of an unidentified French soldier from the First World War.

    • High
    • Historic monument
    • Paris
  34. place de la République place de la République
    34 20 min

    place de la République

    Place de la République

    Place de la Republique is a large public square straddling the 3rd, 10th and 11th arrondissements, at a junction where several of Paris's grand boulevards meet, and it functions today primarily as a civic gathering space rather than a sightseeing…

    • High
    • Historic monument
    • Paris
  35. Palais Bourbon Palais Bourbon
    35 1 hr 30 min

    Palais Bourbon

    The Palais Bourbon, on the Left Bank facing Place de la Concorde across the Seine, is the seat of the French National Assembly, the lower house of Parliament — a working legislature, not a former palace turned museum.

    • High
    • Historic monument
    • Paris
  36. École Militaire École Militaire
    36 15 min

    École Militaire

    The Ecole Militaire is an operating French military academy, not a museum, and it is not open to the public.

    • High
    • Historic monument
    • Paris
  37. Luxor Obelisk Luxor Obelisk
    37 10 min

    Luxor Obelisk

    Obélisque de Louxor

    The Luxor Obelisk stands at the centre of Place de la Concorde, a 3,300-year-old pink granite obelisk that once stood at the entrance to Luxor Temple in Egypt, one of a matching pair carved in the reign of Ramesses II.

    • High
    • Historic monument
    • Paris
  38. galerie Vivienne galerie Vivienne
    38 20 min

    galerie Vivienne

    Galerie Vivienne

    Galerie Vivienne is a covered shopping passage, one of the best-preserved of the passages couverts that dotted central Paris in the early 19th century before department stores and Haussmann's boulevards displaced most of them.

    • High
    • Historic monument
    • Paris
  39. Jardin des serres d'Auteuil Jardin des serres d'Auteuil
    39 1 hour

    Jardin des serres d'Auteuil

    Jardin des serres d’Auteuil

    The Jardin des serres d'Auteuil is a municipal botanical garden built around a set of glasshouses, on the western edge of Paris beside the Bois de Boulogne.

    • High
    • Historic monument
    • Paris
  40. Arènes de Lutèce Arènes de Lutèce
    40 30 min

    Arènes de Lutèce

    Cavae des Arènes de Lutèce

    Arenes de Lutece is the surviving Roman amphitheatre of Lutetia, built in the 1st century AD on the slope of what is now the 5th arrondissement, and it once seated an estimated 15,000 people for gladiator contests and theatre.

    • High
    • Historic monument
    • Paris
  41. Saint-Jacques Tower Saint-Jacques Tower
    41 15 min

    Saint-Jacques Tower

    Tour Saint-Jacques

    The Tour Saint-Jacques is the last surviving fragment of the church of Saint-Jacques-de-la-Boucherie, a late-Gothic parish church built between 1509 and 1523 for the guild of Paris butchers, whose market gave the church its name.

    • High
    • Historic monument
    • Paris
  42. July Column July Column
    42 1 hour

    July Column

    Colonne de Juillet

    The Colonne de Juillet stands at the centre of Place de la Bastille and commemorates the July Revolution of 1830 — the Trois Glorieuses, three days of fighting on 27-29 July that drove King Charles X from the throne.

    • High
    • Historic monument
    • Paris
  43. Palais de Justice Palais de Justice
    43 20 min

    Palais de Justice

    Palais de Justice de Paris

    The Palais de Justice is the historic seat of the French judiciary on the Ile de la Cite, built on the site of the medieval Palais de la Cite, the residence of the Capetian kings from the 10th century until…

    • Notable
    • Historic monument
    • Paris
  44. Pont Mirabeau Pont Mirabeau
    44 15 min

    Pont Mirabeau

    Pont Mirabeau carries a road and pedestrian walkways across the Seine between the 15th and 16th arrondissements, built between 1893 and 1897 under the chief engineer Paul Rabel using a steel arch design that was, at the time, one of…

    • Notable
    • Historic monument
    • Paris
  45. Porte Saint-Denis Porte Saint-Denis
    45 10 min

    Porte Saint-Denis

    Porte Saint-Denis is a triumphal arch built in 1672 on the orders of the city of Paris to honour Louis XIV's military victories on the Rhine, in particular the crossing of the Rhine earlier that year during the Franco-Dutch War.

    • Notable
    • Historic monument
    • Paris
  46. Colonne Vendôme Colonne Vendôme
    46 15 min

    Colonne Vendôme

    The Colonne Vendome stands at the centre of Place Vendome in the 1st arrondissement, raised between 1806 and 1810 on Napoleon's order to commemorate the victory at Austerlitz.

    • Notable
    • Historic monument
    • Paris
  47. parc Montsouris parc Montsouris
    47 1 hour

    parc Montsouris

    Parc Montsouris

    Parc Montsouris is a 15.5-hectare public park in the 14th arrondissement, opened in 1878 as part of Napoleon III and Baron Haussmann's programme of large landscaped parks for Paris.

    • Notable
    • Historic monument
    • Paris
  48. pont au Change pont au Change
    48 10 min

    pont au Change

    Pont au Change

    Pont au Change carries rue de Rivoli's continuation across the northern arm of the Seine, linking the Ile de la Cite -- at the Conciergerie and the Palais de Justice -- to the Right Bank at Place du Chatelet.

    • Notable
    • Historic monument
    • Paris
  49. Hôtel de Crillon Hôtel de Crillon
    49 30 min

    Hôtel de Crillon

    Hotel de Crillon opened as a hotel in 1909, but the building itself is a 1758 royal commission: Louis XV had Ange-Jacques Gabriel build two identical stone palaces flanking the Rue Royale on the new Place de la Concorde, and…

    • Notable
    • Historic monument
    • Paris
  50. Académie de la Grande Chaumière Académie de la Grande Chaumière
    50 45 min

    Académie de la Grande Chaumière

    Academie de la Grande Chaumiere is an art school founded in 1904 by the Catalan painter Claudio Castelucho on the street of the same name in Montparnasse, near the older Academie Colarossi, and it became a defining institution of the…

    • Notable
    • Historic monument
    • Paris
  51. Jardin du Luxembourg Jardin du Luxembourg
    51 45 min

    Jardin du Luxembourg

    The Jardin du Luxembourg is a 23-hectare formal garden on the Left Bank, laid out from 1612 for a queen who wanted a Florentine garden in Paris and built by the French Senate, which still owns the palace at its…

    • Notable
    • Historic monument
    • Paris
  53. Port-Royal Abbey Port-Royal Abbey
    53 45 min

    Port-Royal Abbey

    Abbaye de Port-Royal

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Paris
  59. 26 rue Vavin 26 rue Vavin
    59 45 min

    26 rue Vavin

    Immeuble Henri Sauvage

    • High
    • Historic monument
    • Paris

Source: OpenStreetMap contributors, Wikidata ·

Common questions

How long should a first trip to France be?

Ten to fourteen days supports four or five days in Paris plus one coherent regional direction, such as Lyon, Bordeaux, Strasbourg, or Marseille. Avoid routing every extension back through Paris, because even fast TGV journeys leave local connection time at each end.

What entry documents are needed for France?

France applies Schengen entry rules, but the required passport validity or visa still depends on nationality and route. France-Visas is the official place to verify the exact requirement before booking and again before entering from outside Schengen.

What is the best way to travel around France?

TGV trains join France's largest cities, while TER services handle regional links and many rural areas still favour a car. Long-distance reservations may be mandatory, and each city retains its own urban ticket system rather than accepting one national visitor card.

When is a practical time to visit France?

April to June and September to October suit the Paris-plus-region route described here. Alpine access, Mediterranean heat, Atlantic weather, and rural seasonal services differ enough that the selected second region should determine the final dates.

What money and payment basics apply in France?

France uses the euro (EUR). Bank cards are common, yet a small euro reserve remains useful for markets or local machines; confirm any terminal conversion choice before accepting it because this page does not record changing fees.

What practical safety details should I save for France?

For urgent help anywhere in France, call 112; medical emergencies also use 15 and police matters 17. The electrical standard is 230 V with Type C and E plugs. This dataset has no recorded national tap-water finding, so consult the municipality or lodging for the specific stop.