Paris itinerary — 1 days

A masterpiece of French Gothic architecture on the Île de la Cité in Paris, founded in 1163 under Bishop Maurice de Sully. The cathedral is renowned for its twin western bell towers, intricate 13th-century stained-glass rose windows, flying buttresses, and stone gargoyles gazing over the Seine. Following extensive restoration, it stands as the spiritual heart and geographic zero point of France.

A pinnacle of Rayonnant Gothic architecture on the Île de la Cité, consecrated in 1248. King Louis IX commissioned the two-story royal chapel as a monumental reliquary to enshrine Christ's Crown of Thorns. In the upper chapel, stone walls almost disappear into jewel-toned light pouring through fifteen 15-metre-high stained glass windows depicting 1,113 biblical scenes, crowned by a flamboyant western rose window of the Apocalypse.

Completed in 1607 under King Henry IV, Pont Neuf is the oldest standing bridge across the river Seine in Paris. Linking the Left and Right Banks through the western tip of Île de la Cité, it broke medieval tradition as the first Paris stone bridge built without houses lining its span and the first to feature elevated pedestrian sidewalks. The bridge's stone cornices are ornamented with 381 expressive mascarons depicting grotesque faces.

A pioneering cultural complex and National Museum of Modern Art in the Beaubourg district, opened in 1977 to an innovative design by Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers. The building famously turns architecture inside out, placing color-coded mechanical pipes, air ducts, and a transparent caterpillar escalator on its external facade. Inside, it houses Europe's largest modern art collection alongside top-floor panoramic city views.

The oldest planned square in Paris, inaugurated in 1612 in the historic Marais district as Place Royale. An exquisite symmetrical quadrangle, it is enclosed by 36 uniform pavilions crafted from red brick and pale limestone above vaulted ground-floor arcades. The central garden square features lime trees and marble fountains, while pavilion number six houses the Maison de Victor Hugo museum.