Paris itinerary — 1 days

The world's largest museum and a palace of French kings: from a medieval fortress to the Grand Louvre, from the Mona Lisa to the Venus de Milo. Some 35,000 works span Egyptian antiquities to Romanticism. I. M. Pei's glass pyramid in the Cour Napoléon is the main entrance; the museum is closed on Tuesdays.

Paris's oldest public park, laid out between the Louvre and Place de la Concorde in the 16th century for Catherine de' Medici and redesigned by André Le Nôtre. A masterpiece of French formal garden design, it features statues by Rodin and Maillol, tree-lined gravel promenades, fountains, and iconic green chairs where locals and travelers relax by the ponds.

The largest public square in Paris, covering almost nine hectares at the eastern foot of the Champs-Élysées along the Seine. Infamous as the site of the guillotine during the French Revolution where King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were executed, it now centers on the 3,300-year-old Luxor Obelisk of pink granite gifted by Egypt, flanked by two ornate neoclassical fountains.

The Arc de Triomphe at Place Charles de Gaulle, commissioned by Napoleon after Austerlitz and completed in 1836. Beneath the vault lies the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier with its eternal flame; the walls list battles and 660 generals. The rooftop terrace has the best view of axial Paris, from the Louvre to La Défense.