Paris, France: Top Sights

At the centre of the city, on an island in the Seine, stands the Gothic magnificence of Notre Dame Cathedral. Climb up the towers for a superb view of the city, one that is more intimate, though not as all-encompassing, as that offered by the Eiffel Tower over in the west. For an even wider view, there's the mock-Byzantine oddness of Sacre-Coeur, a church that sits on the hill of Montmartre, itself a big tourist area due to its now faded reputation as an artistic district.

For the real thing, the South Bank and its Latin Quarter still beat to the drum of creative culture thanks in part to an abundance of resident students. Hugging the northern bank of the river lie many of Paris's most famous sights.

Running east-west, you get the artistic glories of the Louvre, the promenaders' heaven of the Champs-Elysee and the imperial ambition of the Arc de Triomphe, all in the space of two kilometres.

As well as the Louvre, Paris boasts an abundance of world famous museums and galleries, from the post-modern Pompidou Centre, due to be re-opened in 2000, to the Musee D'Orsay to name just two.

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