9 Best Sights in Around the Louvre, Paris

This quintessential French garden, with its verdant lawns, rows of manicured trees, and gravel paths, was designed by André Le Nôtre for Louis XIV. After the king moved his court to Versailles in 1682, the Tuileries became the place for stylish Parisians to stroll. (Ironically, the name derives from the decidedly unstylish factories that once occupied this area: they produced tuiles, or roof tiles, fired in kilns called tuileries.) Monet and Renoir captured the garden with paint and brush. It's no wonder the Impressionists loved it—the gray, austere light of Paris's famously overcast days make the green trees appear even greener.

The garden still serves as a setting for one of the city's loveliest walks. Laid out before you is a vista of must-see monuments, with the Louvre at one end and the Place de la Concorde at the other. The Eiffel Tower looms in the distance on the other side of the Seine, along with the Musée d'Orsay, accessible by a footbridge in the center of the garden.

Begin exploring the garden at the Louvre end, with the Arc du Carrousel, a stone-and-marble arch commissioned by Napoléon to showcase the bronze horses he stole from St. Mark's Cathedral in Venice. The horses were eventually returned and replaced here with a statue of a quadriga, a four-horse chariot. On the Place de la Concorde end, twin buildings bookend the garden. On the Seine side, the former royal greenhouse is now the exceptional Musée de l'Orangerie, home to the largest display of Monet's lovely Water Lilies series, as well as a sizable collection of early 20th-century paintings, including many Impressionist works. On the opposite end is the Jeu de Paume, which hosts some of the city's best photography exhibitions.

Note that the Tuileries is one of the best places in Paris to take kids if they're itching to run around. There's a carousel, trampolines, and, in summer, a funfair. If you're hungry, look for carts serving ice cream from Le Glacier Farmers or sandwiches from Eric Kayser at the eastern end near the Louvre. Within the gated part of the gardens are four cafés with terraces. Pavillon des Tuileries near Place de la Concorde is a good place to stop for late-afternoon tea or an apéritif.

Simply put, the Louvre is the world's greatest art museum—and the largest, with 675,000 square feet of works from all over the world. The Mona Lisa is, of course, a top draw, along with the Venus de Milo and Winged Victory. These and many more of the globe’s most coveted treasures are displayed in three wings—Richelieu, Sully, and Denon—which are arranged like a horseshoe around I. M. Pei's Pyramide. The giant glass pyramid surrounded by a trio of smaller ones opened in 1989 over the new entrance in the Cour Napoléon.

While booking admission tickets online in advance is not required, it's the best way to avoid disappointment: the €22 timed entry guarantees admission, while tickets bought on-site are only sold when space is available—and given a recent decision to limit daily visitors to 30,000 (a third of the previous norm), it's unlikely that spontaneous appearances at the museum will result in a successful visit. Be aware that children under 18 get in for free. Slick Nintendo 3DS multimedia guides (€5), available at the entrance to each wing, offer a self-guided discovery of the museum in a variety of languages, and extended openings (noctournes) on Friday evening allow you to visit the museum until 9:45 pm.

Having been first a fortress and later a royal residence, the Louvre represents a saga that spans nine centuries. Its medieval roots are on display underground in the Sully wing, where vestiges of the foundation and moat remain. Elsewhere in this wing, you can ogle the largest display of Egyptian antiques outside of Cairo, most notably the Great Sphinx of Tanis, one of the largest outside of Egypt (Salle 338). Upstairs is the armless Venus de Milo, a 2nd-century representation of Aphrodite (Salle 345). Highlights of the wing’s collection of French paintings from the 17th century onward include One Odalisque by Jean-August-Dominique Ingres (Salle 702). In the Denon wing, climb the sweeping marble staircase (Escalier Daru) to see the sublime Winged Victory of Samothrace, carved in 305 BC. This wing is also home to the iconic, enigmatic Mona Lisa (Salle des Etats); two other Leonardo da Vinci masterpieces hang in the nearby Grand Galerie. The museum’s 30,000-square-foot Arts of Islam exhibition space is here, too. Topped with an undulating golden roof evoking a flowing veil, its two-level galleries contain one of the largest collections of art from the Islamic world. After admiring it, be sure to visit the Richelieu wing and the Cour Marly, with its quartet of horses carved for Louis XIV and Louis XV. On the ground floor, the centerpiece of the Near East Antiquities Collection is the Lamassu, carved 8th-century winged beasts (Salle 229). The elaborately decorated Royal Apartments of Napoléon III are on the first floor. On the second floor, French and Northern School paintings include Vermeer's The Lacemaker (Salle 837).

This truly Parisian garden is enclosed within the former home of Cardinal Richelieu (1585–1642). The 400-year-old arcades now house boutiques and one of the city's oldest restaurants, the haute-cuisine Le Grand Véfour, where brass plaques recall former regulars like Napoléon and Victor Hugo. Built in 1629, the palais became royal when Richelieu bequeathed it to Louis XIII. Other famous residents include Jean Cocteau and Colette, who wrote of her pleasurable "country" view of the province à Paris. It was also here, two days before the Bastille was stormed in 1789, that Camille Desmoulins gave an impassioned speech sowing the seeds of revolution. Today, the garden often hosts giant temporary art installations sponsored by another tenant, the Ministry of Culture. The courtyard off Place Colette is outfitted with an eye-catching collection of squat black-and-white columns created in 1986 by artist Daniel Buren.

Rue Montorgueil was once the gritty oyster hub of Les Halles; now lined with food shops and cafés, the cobbled street—whose name translates to Mount Pride—is the heart of one of the city's most culinary neighborhoods. History runs deep here. Monet captured the scene in 1878, when Montorgueil was ablaze with tricolor flags during the World's Fair (see the painting in the Musée d'Orsay). Honoré de Balzac and his 19th-century band of scribes frequented Au Rocher de Cancale at No. 78, whose famously crumbling facade has been painstakingly restored with gilt panache. Stohrer at No. 51 has been baking elaborate pastries since 1730.

Indeed, it is pastries that reign over this small street these days, thanks to the arrivals of Fou de Pâtisseries at No. 45 and Jeffrey Cagnes at No. 73. The street extends onto Rue des Petits-Carreaux just before the Sentier métro, home to an outpost of excellent Breton crêperie Breizh Café at No. 14. Cross the boulevard to reach the diminutive Rue du Nil, a foodie haven home to Frenchie restaurant (No. 5) and wine bar (No. 6) as well as Terroirs d'Avenir's locavore shops and Plaq (No. 4), known for bean-to-bar chocolate. Even the area around Rue d'Aboukir, once far scruffier, is now a hipster fave thanks to the arrival of American-style baked goods like Boneshaker's doughnuts (No. 86) and Cookie Love's cookies (No. 84) as well as brunch spots Echo (No. 95) and Maafim (5 rue de Forges).

After years of false starts, tycoon François Pinault is now showcasing his billion-dollar trove of contemporary works by bold-faced names such as Mark Rothko and Damien Hirst under the historic iron-and-glass dome of the 19th-century Commerce Exchange, one of the city's most stunning, if underused, buildings. After losing a previous bid to open a museum outside Paris and taking his works to Venice instead, Gucci owner Pinault could only watch as archrival Bernard Arnault opened his Frank Gehry–designed Fondation Louis Vuitton in 2014. Not one to be outdone, Pinault tapped star Japanese architect Tadao Ando to carry out a nearly $140 million redesign of Paris' former grain exchange in 2017. Inside, four levels of exhibition space spiral skyward along a giant concrete cylinder ringed at the top by a walkway offering a bird's-eye view of the galleries below. The sparsity of the collections only contributes to the spaceship-like appeal of the contemporary renovation, with a handful of 19th-century details remaining: double-helix stone staircases, wooden display cases dating to 1889, the engine room on the lower level, and the realist mural adorning the underside of the dome, displaying seasonal panoramas of French traders engaged in commerce with the rest of the world. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, who supplied a 50-year lease, called Pinault's creation an "immense gift" to the city. Free 20-minute tours depart daily from the ground-floor level; on the hour, tours explore the collection, while on the half-hour, they delve into the history and architecture of the building. A children's area allows kids to engage with a tour guide, discovering the collection by way of games and books, while the Halle aux Grains restaurant from Michelin-starred father-and-son team Michel and Sébastien Bras allows you to discover a tasting menu in three, five, or seven courses or an à la carte selection of upscale, contemporary French specialties. Don't miss the 100-foot-tall Medici Column on the back side of the building. It was once the stargazing perch of Marie de Medici's powerful astrologer, Cosimo Ruggieri. Legend has it that on stormy nights, a silhouetted figure can be seen in the metal cage at the top.

Considered the grande dame of Paris's 19th-century passages couverts—the world's first shopping malls—this graceful arcade evokes an age of gaslights and horse-drawn carriages. Parisians once came to passages like this one to tread tiled floors instead of muddy streets; to see and be seen browsing boutiques under the glass-and-iron roofs. Today, the Galerie Vivienne still attracts unique retailers selling clothing, accessories, and housewares. La Marelle (No. 25) stocks secondhand designer labels, and wine merchant Legrand Filles et Fils ( 1 rue de la Banque) is the place for an upscale tasting. The Place des Victoires, a few steps away, is one of Paris's most picturesque squares. In the center is a statue of an outsized Louis XIV (1643–1715), the Sun King, who appears almost as large as his horse.

This splendid museum is the closest you'll get to Versailles in Paris. It took more than 200 skilled artisans and nearly $160 million to achieve what is hands down Paris’s most ravishing museum to date, allowing the public a glimpse behind the elegant facade of a masterpiece of French 18th-century interior design for the first time in 250 years. No detail was overlooked in the restoration: wallpaper and curtains were painted or sewed by hand using the original 18th-century techniques; the woodwork was painstakingly stripped, restored, and gilded by master craftspeople; and decorative features were created in Paris’s most rarified workshops. 

The mansion is one of two twin structures built in 1758 for Louis XV to mark a new square created in his honor (now Place de la Concorde). Both buildings sat unused before the eastern facade—now the Hôtel de Crillon—was auctioned off to the Duc d’Aumont. The western edifice became the Garde-Meuble de la Couronne, the institution in charge of selecting, maintaining, and storing the king’s furniture. In 1789, it became the headquarters for the navy ministry, which remained in the building for 226 years. The decrees ending slavery and the slave trade in France were signed here in 1794. Visitors can learn about the building's history through state-of-the-art interactive displays in the grand ballroom and loggia, a sprawling balcony facing Place de la Concorde with impressive views of the Assemblée Nationale and the Eiffel Tower. You can take a guided visit (in English) or grab a state-of-the-art headset; well worth it to discover the museum's fascinating history.

The museum also houses the exquisite Al Thani collection, featuring objects and artwork spanning 6,000 years and myriad civilizations, as well as an outpost of the Cordon Bleu cooking school ( www.cordonbleu.edu/paris-hoteldelamarine). The waiting room retains lovely details of the historic mansion while classrooms are equipped with top-of-the-line culinary equipment. At stations designed for two students, participants in these hands-on ateliers glean the secrets of French cuisine from professional chefs; while classes are taught in French, expert interpreters are always present to ensure English-speakers reap the full benefits. Classes start at €33 for a one-hour demonstration, but spring for the €110 two-hour Capitaine or €165 three-hour Amiral for the fullest experience.

Another great pleasure of your visit is lunch, teatime, or a cocktail at the romantic Café Lapérouse (offshoot of the historic Paris restaurant) or Mimosa, across the courtyard, helmed by chef Jean-François Piège, one of the city's star chefs. Both restaurants offer sumptuous interiors and outdoor dining in the interior courtyard or under the pillars overlooking Place de la Concorde.

In high season, the lines to see Claude Monet's massive, meditative Water Lilies (Les Nymphéas) can stretch into the pretty Tuileries Gardens, but the paintings are well worth the wait. These works, displayed in two curved galleries designed in 1914 by the master himself, are the highlight of the Orangerie's small but excellent collection, which also features early-20th-century paintings by other Impressionist masters like Renoir, Cézanne, and Matisse. Many hail from the private holdings of high-powered art dealer Paul Guillaume (1891–1934), among them the dealer's portrait by Modigliani entitled Novo Pilota (New Pilot). Temporary exhibitions are typically quirky and well-curated. Originally built in 1852 to shelter orange trees, the long rectangular building, a twin of the Jeu de Paume across the garden, includes a portion of the city's 16th-century wall (you can see remnants on the lower floor). A small café and gift shop are here, too. Timed entrances, easily bookable online, are strongly recommended.

For centuries, this 170-foot bell tower guided pilgrims to a starting point of the Chemin de St-Jacques (Way of Saint James). Built in 1508 in the Flamboyant Gothic style, it's all that remains of the Église St-Jacques-de-la-Boucherie, which was destroyed in the French Revolution. Purchased by the city in 1836, the tower languished until a three-year renovation, completed in 2009, restored 660 tons of stone and statues, including the gargoyles hanging from the upper reaches and the figure of Saint James gracing the top. Blaise Pascal was among the medieval scientists who conducted experiments here (his involved gravity), which is why his statue sits at the base. If you wish to enter the tower, guided tours are occasionally offered in spring, summer, and early fall by reservation only.