Monument in Paris
Partly free, partly paidSome of it costs nothing, some of it charges.
The Moulin Rouge is the world’s most famous cabaret, a red windmill on the Boulevard de Clichy in Pigalle at the foot of Montmartre. It opened in 1889 and turned the French cancan into a global spectacle, and its dancers were painted often enough to become a fixed image of Belle Epoque Paris. For a budget traveler the value is the building itself, not the seat inside. The windmill and the neon are free to photograph, and they look best after dark when the red sails and the lettering are lit.
The show is a different budget entirely. Tickets run into the high tens or hundreds of euros depending on the package, so the practical move is to treat the facade as a free photo stop rather than an evening out. Most budget travelers walk down from Sacre-Coeur and the lanes of Montmartre, pass the Sacre-Coeur Steps Panorama on the way, photograph the Moulin Rouge for free, and continue through Pigalle without buying a ticket. The building is the landmark. The show is for those with a different budget.
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 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.
Working out what Paris costs?
The whole of Paris