Transportation: metro Bir-Hakeim

Hours: Sept. – Jun. 12:  9:30am – 11:00pm; Jun.13 – Aug:  9:00am- midnight

Tickets:  Elevator  (1^st floor €4,80) (2^nd Floor €7,80) (Top €12,00)  Stairs (+25  €4) (-25    €3,10)

    Located beside the Seine River, the Eiffel Tower is the icon of Paris and all of France.  Named after its designer, Gustave Eiffel, the tower was constructed in 1889.  It boast the position of the most-visited paid monument in the world, with over 200,000,000 visitors.  The first and second floors can be accessed by stairs, but an elevator is required to visit the top level.  From the top two levels of the city, it provides an excellent view of the city.  If you visit the tower before any other sights in Paris, you can find the other sights and try to get a mental image of where they are all located in the city. 

    Since 2000, the tower has been lit up every night by flashing lights and four high powered spotlights that beam from the top of the tower.  The glittering lights flash for 10 minutes at the top of each hour upon nightfall, until 2:00am in the summer, and 1:00am in the winter. 

Transportation: metro Charles De Gaulle - Eoile B

Hours: 10:00am -11:00pm

Tickets: €5 for rooftop access

    Napoleon ordered the construction of this enormous arch. Located at the western end of the Champs Elysees in the center of the Place Charles de Gaulle.  Below the arch is the tomb of the unknown soldier from WWI, which has an eternal flame burning for the memorial of soldiers who were never identified.  Visitors can climb the stair to access the top and see an astounding view of the city.  It is located at the Charles De Gaulle – Etoile Stop, where you can walk through the underpass so you don’t have to risk your life running through busy traffic.

    The avenue des Champs-Elysees is one of the most famous streets in the world.  It hosts some of the most luxurious stores, such as Louis Vuitton,  Zara, Cartier, and Benetton.  The area also attracts some nightlife with its cinemas, bars, and clubs. 

Transportation: metro Anvers or Abbesses

Hours: 6:00am- 11:00pm

Tickets:  €5 for Dome

    Sacre Coeur is a Roman Catholic Basilica located in the Monmarte area of Paris.  Built in 1876, the church sits at the summit of the hill, and is the highest point in the city of Paris.  The top of the dome is open to tourists and provides a panoramic view of Paris.  If you don’t want to spend the money to get up the Eiffel Tower, the view from Sacre Coeur plays a worthy substitute. 

    Located on the tallest hill in Paris, Montmarte plays host to the Sacre Coeur Cathedral and is a popular nightclub district. Artists such as Monet, Picasso, and Van Gogh all had studios or did work in this area of the city. There are often musicians playing on the steps in front of the Sacre Coeur basilica, which when added to the beautiful view of the city, makes for quite an experience.  It is a very nice place to sit on the lawn or steps and relax with your significant other. 

    This area also hosts the infamous cabaret, Moulin Rouge and Le Chat Noir, and the district attracts a very Bohemian crowd. Down the hill to the Southwest is the red-light district of Pigalle, where numerous sex shops and prostitutes are located. 

Transportation: metro Palais-Royal/Musee du Louvre

Hours: Mon., Thurs. and Sat.  9:00am -6:00pm, Wed. and Fri.  9:00am -10:00pm   First Sunday of the Month is free

Price:  €8,50

    The Louvre is one of the world’s most popular museums and contains nearly 35,000 pieces of art.  It is located at the opposite end of the Champs Elysees as the Arc de Triomphe.  The Louvre was established in 1793, and the popular glass pyramid was built in the late 1980’s.  This museum has eight different departments of art including Decorative arts, Egyptian Antiquities, Greek, Etruscan, and Roman, Islamic art, Near Eastern Antiquities, Paintings, Prints and drawings, and Sculptures.  Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa is one of the main draws of this museum.  Other works by Da Vinci include “The Virgin and Child with St. Anne,” and “Madonna of the Rocks.”  The Louvre also holds Alexandros of Antioch’s “Venus de Milo”, Jacques Louis David’s “Oath of the Horatii”, Antonio Canova’s “Psyche Revived by Cupid’s Kiss”, and Delacroix’s “Liberty Leading the People”, Rembrandt’s “The Supper at Emmaus” and “Bathsheba at her Bath” and “The Slaughtered Ox”,  also holds Michelangelo’s sculptures “Dying Slave” and “Rebellious Slave.”  Because the Louvre contains such an extensive collection, College Backpacking recommends spending an entire day here (and even then, you still may not see everything).

Address: 3 Pl St Germain des Pres

Transportation: metro St Germain des Pres

Hours: 8:00am- 7:30pm, open until 9:00pm on weekends.

Transportation: metro Cite

Hours: Mon. -Fri. 10:00am -6:30pm, Sat. and Sun. 10:00am -11:00pm

Tickets: €5 for cathedral and tour

    Notre Dame is one of the most known Gothic cathedrals in the world, and was the dwelling of the Hunchback of Nortre Dame. It is located on the eastern half of the Ile de la Cite and was one of the first buildings to use flying buttresses and arched exterior supports.  Construction began in 1163, towers completed in 1245, and the entire cathedral was finished in 1345.  The organ has over 7,800 pipes, 900 classified as historical, 109 stops, five 56 key manuals, and a 32 key pedal board. 

Transportation: metro Invalides

    A complex of buildings containing museums, monuments, and Napoleon Bonaparte’s tomb in the 7^th arrondisment in Paris, France.  All of the buildings are related to the military history of France with the Musee de l’armee ( Museum of the Army of France).  Hopital des invalides. Les Invalides is easily identifiable due to its enormous golden dome.

Transportation: metro Solferino

Tickets: €5       

    This museum, located on the left bank of the Seine River, was converted from what used to be the Gare d’Orsay, or train station.  It is famous for holding French art from the mid-1800s to the early 1900s.  There are many impressionist pieces here by popular painters like Monet, Renoir, and Van Gogh. These include:

Monet: The Saint-Lazare Station, Rue Montorgueil in Paris, Celebration of June 30, 1878, Wind Effect, Series of the Poplars, Rouen Cathedral, Harmony in Blue, Blue Water Lillies

Renoir: Bal au Moulin de la Galette, Monmarte

Van Gogh: Starry night over the Rhone, Portrait of Dr. Gachet, Self Portrait, The Siesta, The Church at Auvers, View from the Chevet, The Italian Woman  

James McNeill Whistler’s painting “Whistler’s Mother” is also located here. 

Address: 5 rue de Thorigny

Transportation: metro Saint Paul, Saint Sebastien Froissart, Chemin Vert

Hours: April- Sept. 9:30am- 6:00pm; Oct.- March 9:30am- 5:30pm

Tickets: 30 FF, 20 FF students

    Situated in the 17^th century building, previously Hotel Sale, the Musee National Picasso de Paris contains thousands of works from Pablo Picasso.  The museum opened in 1985, after 10 years of restoration, and contains drawings, manuscripts, paintings, sculptures, ceramics, and many more of Picasso’s work.  The collection also contains Picasso’s own personal art collection, with pieces by Matisse, Renoir, and some more eclectic pieces.

Address: 158 bd Haussmann

Transportation: metro Miromesnil or Saint Phillippe du Roule

Hours: 10:00am- 6:00pm

    This museum is housed in a splendid mansion built by Edouard Andre and his wife, Nelie Jacquemart, both art collectors. Their collection contains a series of 18^th-century paintings, 17^th century paintings by Dutch and Flemish masters, the Italian Renaissance, and furniture from the Louis XV and XVI era. Inside the mansion, visitors can view the Winter Garden, an indoor Eden at the bottom of the staircase filled with blossoming plants. 

Address: 6 Place Paul Painleve

Transportation: metro Cluny-La Sorbonne, Saint Michel, Odeon

Hours: 9:15am- 5:45pm, closed Mondays

Tickets: €7,50, €5,50 students, free first Sunday of each month

    Full of beautiful gold work, tapestries, fabrics and embroideries, paintings, sculpture and artifacts from everyday life in the Middle Ages, this museum provides a wonderful insight into medieval culture, art and life. The museum is housed in the former Hotel de Cluny (the abbots of Cluny), built in the 14^th century.

Transportation: metro Denfert-Rochereau

Hours: Tues.- Sun. 2:00- 4:00pm, as well as 9:00- 11:00am on weekends

Tickets: €5

    The l’Ossuaire Municipal are underground catacombs dating back to the 18^th century.  Paris’ largest cemetery, Les Innocents became so full that people in the neighboring town became sick.  The city cemeteries were unearthed and put into the catacombs.  The creepy passages that wind through caverns are lined with walls of bones-- millions of them.  At the end of the tour, visitors walk up a rather long staircase to the bright sunlight.

    Located on the left bank of the Seine River, the Luxembourg gardens are filled with grassy fields, statues, fountains, flowers, orchards of apple and pear trees, and puppet shows for children.  Within the garden (in the northern part) resides the stately Luxembourg Palace, built for Marie de Medici in 1612.  Today, the French Senate meets there.

Transportation: metro Concorde

    The largest square in Paris, the Place de la Concorde was built under Louis XV to hold an equestrian statue of himself. During the French Revolution, the square held the guillotine that executed Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, Robespierre, and others. During this time, it was renamed Place de la Revolution.  The equestrian statue of Louis XV has since been replaced by the Obelisk of Luxor, a gift from the Egyptian viceroy, Mohamed Ali.

Flights:  Aéroport Roissy-Charles de Gaulle handles most of Paris’ international flights, and Aéroport d’Orly handles many of the continental flights. 

Trains:  Paris has six major train stations serving different areas of Europe.  They include:

• Gare d’Austerlitz – Loire River Valley, southwestern France, Portugal, and Spain
• Gare de l’Est – Austria, Czech Republic, eastern France, southern Germany, Switzerland, Hungary, and Luxembourg
• Gare de Lyon – Southern France, Greece, Italy, and Switzerland
• Gare du Nord – Belgium, Britain, eastern Europe, Netherlands, northern France, northern Germany, and Scandinavia
• Gare Montparnasse – Brittany and southwestern France
• Gare St-Lazare – Normandy

Buses: Gare Routière Internationale du Paris-Gallieni is where all the intercity bus travel is conducted.  It is located at 28 av. Du Général de Gaulle. 

The Métro:  The Métro is Paris’ best method of public transportation, and will likely be heavily relied on when backpacking in Paris.  There are 14 different lines, which should likely get you within a five minute walk of your destination.  The Métro runs from 5:30am to 12:15am, but they stop selling tickets at 10pm.

RER: The RER is also located within the city limits of Paris, but its lines travel further outside of Paris into the suburbs.  If you decide to visit Versailles during your backpacking trip, you’ll have to ride the RER C5 train that begins with a "V" to get there.    

Buses:  The buses in Paris run from 7am- 8:30pm, at which point the Autobus de Nuit take over and run until 1:30am.  If you are still out and need a ticket, the Noctambus runs once per hour from 1am-6am, but has limited stops.  Regular buses and Autobus de Nuit cost €1,30, and the Noctambus costs €2,50.

Taxis:  Taxis run throughout Paris, but the fare changes depending on the hours that you travel.  From 7am- 7pm is cheaper than 7pm- 7am. 

Bikes:  You can rent bicycles in many locations to ride around Paris.  Rentals typically cost between €10-20 for a day. 

Address: 7 Rue du Bourg- l’Abb

Transportation: Etienne Marcel

Hours: midnight- 8:00am, closed Mondays

Cover: around €5

    This gay-friendly dance club attracts the trendiest (and sometimes famous, as Madonna has made an appearance) of Paris and the world.  Dress to impress at this club-- the bouncers select only the finest of the bunch.

Address: 58 Rue des Lombards

Hours: live music generally starts between 8:00- 10:00pm

    One of the most famous jazz clubs in Paris, Le Baiser Sale hosts many famous jazz musicians from around the world.  An institution in Paris, this jazz club is situated on Rue des Lombards, the jazz central of Paris.

Address: 15 Place Vendome, Hotel Ritz

Hours: Tues.- Sat. 6:30pm- 2:00am

    Named for the place in the Ritz Paris where Hemingway ordered single malt whiskies, this luxurious bar is a nice place to bask in the opulence that Hemingway so enjoyed. 

While the place is exceedingly expensive (€23 for a cocktail!), the Bar Hemmingway provides a true taste of luxury and a little bit of history.

Address: 10 Rue de l’Odeon

Transportation: metro Odeon

    What may be considered a dive bar in Paris, this bar is known for its inexpensive (and delicious) Sangria and its jukebox filled with a magnificently impressive collection of music.