Monument in Paris
Partly free, partly paidSome of it costs nothing, some of it charges.
The Arc de Triomphe is Napoleon’s triumphal arch at the western end of the Champs-Elysees, the largest triumphal arch in the world at nearly 50 meters tall. Napoleon commissioned it in 1806 to honor the Grande Armee, and it was completed in 1836. The exterior and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier with its eternal flame at the base are free to view. The monument stands on a traffic island at the center of the Place de l’Etoile, so reach it through the free underground pedestrian tunnel rather than trying to cross the roundabout on foot.
The rooftop terrace is paid and reached by a spiral staircase of close to 300 steps. It looks down the twelve avenues radiating from the square and out toward the Eiffel Tower. Budget travelers in Paris photograph the arch from the Champs-Elysees for free, stand under it beside the eternal flame at no cost, and pay the modest rooftop ticket only if they want the avenue-spoke view from above. The arch also marks the top of the grand axis that runs down through the Tuileries to the Louvre Museum, a long free walk that strings several of the city’s landmarks together.
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Other places worth the walk, and what each one costs.
Canal Saint-Martin is a tree-lined waterway in the 10th arrondissement, threaded with arched iron footbridges and a chain of locks that still raise and lower passing boats. Napoleon ordered it dug to bring clean water into the city, and it opened in 1825.
The Avenue des Champs-Elysees runs from the Place de la Concorde to the Arc de Triomphe, the most famous boulevard in the world. It forms the central stretch of the historic axis that lines up with the Tuileries Garden and the Louvre Museum to the east. Free to walk.
The Eiffel Tower is the most recognized structure in the world, built for the 1889 World's Fair by Gustave Eiffel's engineering company and never taken down. It was meant to be temporary, a 20-year exhibit, but its usefulness as a radio and telegraph mast saved it and it has stood in the 7th arrondissement ever since.
The Grand Canal is a cruciform artificial lake at the western end of the Palace of Versailles Gardens, roughly 1.6 kilometers along its long arm. Andre Le Notre designed it as the vanishing point of the garden's central axis and as a mirror for the sky, so the whole layout pulls the eye toward the water.
Ile de la Cite is the island in the Seine where Paris began, the spot where the Gallic Parisii and then Roman Lutetia first took root before the city spread to both banks. It is the historic heart of Paris, and almost everything on it can be seen for free.
Ile Saint-Louis is the smaller of the two natural islands in the Seine, a quiet residential island of 17th-century townhouses, one main street with ice cream shops (Berthillon is the most famous), and views of Notre-Dame from its western tip. Free to walk.
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