Paris, FranceThe most visited paid monument on Earth — Gustave Eiffel's 1889 iron lattice tower that was supposed to be temporary and became eternal. The view from the second floor is arguably better than the summit. Book tickets online months ahead for summer; the area around the tower (Champ de Mars) is free and lovely.
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The world's largest art museum and a former royal palace — 35,000 works across three wings that would take weeks to properly see. The Winged Victory, Venus de Milo, and Mona Lisa are here; so is an overwhelming amount of art that tourists walk past to reach those three. Book timed entry online.
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The world's greatest Impressionist collection inside a magnificent 1900 railway station — Monet, Renoir, Degas, Cézanne, Van Gogh, and Seurat in a soaring glass-and-iron hall. More manageable than the Louvre and infinitely more beautiful as a space. The rooftop café has Seine views.
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The most controversial building in Paris when it opened in 1977 — the inside-out industrial cathedral of pipes, escalators, and coloured ducts that houses Europe's largest modern art museum. The free public plaza is always buzzing; the rooftop panorama of Paris is extraordinary and often overlooked.