Monument in Paris
Also known as La Tour Eiffel
Partly free, partly paidSome of it costs nothing, some of it charges.
The Eiffel Tower is the most recognized structure in the world, and seeing it does not require a ticket. It was built for the 1889 World’s Fair by Gustave Eiffel’s company and was meant to be temporary. It stayed, kept around at first because it made a useful radio mast. Climbing or riding the elevator is paid and tiered: taking the stairs to the second floor is the cheapest option, the lift costs more, and going all the way to the summit costs the most. Skipping the ascent entirely is what most budget travelers do, and they rarely regret it. The reason is simple. Paying buys the view out from the tower, but the view of the tower, the one everyone actually wants in their photos, is free.
The best free vantage point is the Trocadero terrace across the Seine. It frames the whole structure head-on and costs nothing. The other one is the Champ de Mars, the long park stretching out behind the legs. Budget travelers sit on the Champ de Mars with a baguette and a bottle of wine from a supermarket and look up. That picnic costs almost nothing and is the thing most people remember long after the trip. The ground level under the four iron legs is also free to walk through, so getting close enough to crane your neck up the ironwork never costs a cent either.
The tower sits in the 7th arrondissement and is easy to fold into a free walking day along the river. From here it is a short walk along the Seine toward the bridges, and central Paris landmarks are all reachable on foot or one short metro hop: the Louvre Museum, the Arc de Triomphe at the top of the Champs-Elysees, Notre-Dame Cathedral and the riverside lanes of Ile de la Cite, and the cafe-lined streets of Le Marais. Several of them, the river path included, are free to enjoy from the outside, which means a full day of Paris sightseeing can come close to costing nothing.
A tip on timing: come at dusk and stay a few minutes after dark. On the hour, every hour, the tower breaks into a sparkling light show for about five minutes. It is one of the best free sights in Paris and you only need a patch of grass to watch it.
Practical
Nearby
Other places worth the walk, and what each one costs.
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 finished in 1836, long after his fall.
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 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.
Working out what Paris costs?
The whole of Paris