Paris draws around 30 million visitors a year, and its best-known sights earn the hype — but most of them now require advance booking to avoid losing hours of your trip to a queue.
1. The Eiffel Tower
Book online up to 60 days ahead — Summit access in particular sells out weeks in advance during peak season. Stairs to the second floor are the cheapest ticket and usually have shorter lines than the elevator, and many locals consider the second floor the best vantage point anyway, with clear views over the Louvre, Notre-Dame, and Sacré-Cœur. Sunset slots are the most popular time to visit but book out fastest; the tower's hourly lights show after dark is worth timing a visit around.
2. The Louvre
The world's largest art museum, home to the Mona Lisa and roughly 35,000 works on display. A timed-entry ticket booked in advance is close to essential — early 9:00am slots or the extended Friday evening hours (open until 9:45pm) are the best way to avoid the worst of the crowds around the museum's headline pieces.
3. Notre-Dame Cathedral
The cathedral's interior is free to enter, though a separate ticket is needed for the towers, with availability confirmed on the official Notre-Dame site. Even a brief visit gives a sense of the roughly 850 years of Parisian history bound up in the building, and it anchors easily into a walk through the surrounding Île de la Cité.
4. Montmartre and Sacré-Cœur
A hillside neighborhood of steep, narrow streets, a working vineyard, and the site's namesake basilica, with sweeping views over the city from the steps outside. It's one of the best free things to do in Paris — no ticket needed to wander the streets, visit the basilica, or take in the view.
5. A Seine River Cruise
A dozen major landmarks — the Louvre, Eiffel Tower, Musée d'Orsay, Notre-Dame, and Invalides among them — sit on or near the riverbanks, making a boat trip one of the most efficient ways to see a lot of Paris at once. Options range from a budget-friendly hop-on-hop-off Batobus ticket to a sit-down dinner cruise; even the basic 60-minute sightseeing versions cover most of the highlights.
Worth knowing
Booking ahead is the single biggest lever for a smoother trip — the Eiffel Tower, Louvre, and Notre-Dame towers all reward it, and most other major sights do too. A Paris City Pass can be worth it if you're stacking several paid attractions across three or more days, bundling entry with transport and a river cruise in one purchase.