Paris

Built by Gustave Eiffel for the 1889 World's Fair to commemorate the centennial of the French Revolution, the Eiffel Tower is now one of the world's most recognizable monuments as well as one of the most visited ones, attracting nearly seven million visitors every year. It towers over the city at 324 metres (1,063 feet) and weighs over 10,000 tons, making it both an imposing monument and an engineering marvel. Climb all the way to the top for a breathtaking view of the City of Light.

The Louvre is one of the largest museums in the world, famous for its many masterpieces: the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, art by Rembrandt, Vermeer, Caravaggio, and many more. The main entrance is covered by the 21-metre-high glass Pyramide de Louvre. The French government has collected the 35,000 paintings, sculptures, and artefacts that inhabit its endless halls over the past five centuries. Its collection boasts Assyrian, Etruscan, Greek, Coptic, and Islamic art as well as antiquities dating from prehistory to the 19th century.

Commissioned by emperor Napoleon Bonaparte in 1806 on account of the French victory at the Battle of Austerlitz, the Arc de Triomphe took 30 years to be erected and was then inaugurated by the French king Louis-Philippe in 1836, 15 years after Napoleon's death. And standing tall at 50 metres (164 feet), it is one of the most famous monuments in Paris. Located at the centre of Place Charles de Gaulle at the western end of Champs-Élysées, the arch honours those who fought and died for France in the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars. Under its vault, lies the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from the First World War.

With its 10 million yearly visitors, Notre-Dame was the most visited site in Paris until a devastating fire ravaged its significant part in April 2019, suspending visits inside until further notice. The structure of the building itself was preserved, as well as most works of art that used to be contained inside. The place has always been the religious centre of the city: the Celts considered the grounds sacred, the Romans built a temple here, the Christians, a basilica, and the last religious structure before the Notre-Dame cathedral was erected was a Romanesque church. The Gothic cathedral of Notre-Dame, finished in 1345, is a tectonic masterpiece. The massive structure is 128 meters (420 feet) long and has two 69-meter-tall (226 feet) towers.

Boat cruises on the Seine embark at the foot of the Eiffel Tower and take you through the heart of the city where you can admire the prestigious monuments and landmarks of the city and the stunning architecture from bridge to bridge and bank to bank. To learn history along the way, plug in your audio guide and choose your language. Come back at night for another tour, and it will be a different Paris before your eyes, yet just as magical.

The town of Versailles is a wealthy Parisian suburb and municipality, located 20 kilometres outside the city. In the 11th century, Versailles was merely a country village enveloping a castle and the church of Saint-Julien. Today, it is mostly known for the lavish Château de Versailles, which served as home to King Louis XIV and summer palace to Napoleon. It also saw the historic signing of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 in the now legendary Hall of Mirrors.

The Musée d'Orsay was originally a railway station, so the building itself demands a visit. The museum holds a mesmerizing collection of mainly French paintings, sculptures, and photography, including the world's largest collection of impressionist and post-impressionist paintings, with works from artists such as Van Gogh, Cézanne, Renoir, and Monet.