Tour · 6 stops · ~2.5 hours
Belle Époque Paris
1875 to 1914, in six stops.
The Paris of Proust and the World's Fairs. Iron-and-glass exhibition halls, Art Nouveau métro entrances, and the city's most operatic opera house. About 5 km — feasible on foot but absolutely a métro tour if your shoes disagree.
Through the7e · Eiffel Tower & Invalides8e · Champs-Élysées & Madeleine9e · South Pigalle & Opéra18e · Montmartre & Pigalle
1Pont Alexandre III
The bridge built for the 1900 Exposition Universelle. Beaux-Arts at full volume — gilded fames, cherubs, cornucopias. Crossing it is the Belle-Époque overture.
Walk down to the lower quay (Port des Champs-Élysées) for the best view of the gilded statues against the sky. Worth doubling back to look at — most tours just cross and miss the underside.
From Wikipedia›
The Pont Alexandre III is a deck arch bridge that spans the Seine in Paris. It connects the Champs-Élysées quarter with those of the Invalides and Eiffel Tower. The bridge is widely regarded as the most ornate, extravagant bridge in the city. It has been classified as a French monument historique since 1975.
Read more on Wikipedia →Verified nearby ·Rosa Bonheur sur Seine4 min
48.86380, 2.31370
2Grand Palais
Glass-and-steel exhibition hall built for the 1900 Expo. The nave is 240 m long with a 8,500 m² glass roof — the largest in Europe at the time. Reopens fully in 2025 after a long restoration.
The southern entrance (avenue Winston-Churchill) is the grand one. Even without a ticket you can usually walk into the entrance hall and look up. Opposite, on the same axis, is the Petit Palais.
From Wikipedia›
The Grand Palais des Champs-Élysées, commonly known as the Grand Palais, is a historic site, exhibition hall and museum complex located in the 8th arrondissement of Paris between the Champs-Élysées and the Seine, France, on Avenue Winston-Churchill. Construction of the Grand Palais began in 1897 following the demolition of the Palais de l'Industrie to prepare for the Universal Exposition of 1900. That exposition also produced the adjacent Petit Palais and Pont Alexandre III.
Read more on Wikipedia →48.86620, 2.31200
3Petit Palais
1900 Expo's smaller sibling, but free. Beaux-Arts vaults, a gold-domed entrance, and a serene interior courtyard with a café. The fine-arts collection is excellent and almost never crowded.
Permanent collections are free. Skip straight to the inner courtyard café — there's a small pool with goldfish, mosaic floors, and almost no one knows about it. Best free coffee-and-quiet in the 8th.
From Wikipedia›
The Petit Palais is an art museum in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France.
Read more on Wikipedia →48.86570, 2.31490
4Opéra Garnier
Commissioned by Napoleon III, opened 1875. Charles Garnier's design is the Belle-Époque template: every surface ornamented, every staircase performative. The phantom is fictional but the underground lake isn't — sort of.
Self-guided tickets (paid) let you wander the grand staircase, the auditorium, and the Chagall ceiling on your own. The Opéra's library on the second floor has a small free museum — easy to miss if you don't ask. Avoid Mondays — frequent rehearsal closures.
From Wikipedia›
The Palais Garnier, also known as Opéra Garnier, is a historic 1,979-seat opera house at the Place de l'Opéra in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, France. It was built for the Paris Opera from 1861 to 1875 at the behest of Emperor Napoleon III. Initially referred to as le nouvel Opéra de Paris, it soon became known as the Palais Garnier, "in acknowledgment of its extraordinary opulence" and the architect Charles Garnier's plans and designs, which are representative of the Napoleon III style. It was the primary theatre of the Paris Opera and its associated Paris Opera Ballet until 1989, when a new opera house, the Opéra Bastille, opened at the Place de la Bastille. The company now uses the Palais Garnier mainly for ballet. The theatre has been a monument historique of France since 1923.
Read more on Wikipedia →Verified nearby ·Musée du Parfum Fragonard2 minGaleries Lafayette dome & rooftop3 min
48.87200, 2.33160
- 5
Galeries Lafayette dome
The 33-metre Art Nouveau stained-glass dome inside the Haussmann store. Designed by Ferdinand Chanut and Jacques Gruber in 1912. Free to walk in, ride the lift to the rooftop terrace for the view.
Enter at 40 Boulevard Haussmann, walk to the centre of the store and look up. Take the escalators (not lifts) to the top floor; the rooftop terrace exit is signposted, and on a clear day you see Sacré-Cœur, the Opéra, and the Eiffel Tower in one panorama.
Verified nearby ·Galeries Lafayette dome & rooftop1 min
48.87360, 2.33200
- 6
Métro Abbesses entrance
Hector Guimard's 1900 cast-iron entrance. One of only two édicules with the original glass canopy still in place — the rest of his entrances had their roofs removed for being "too modern." The deepest station in the métro at 36 m.
Tap your ticket and ride the spiral staircase down rather than the lift — the walls are painted with murals on the way. Coming back up, take the lift; that's 174 steps the hard way. The other surviving original Guimard édicule is at Porte Dauphine.
Verified nearby ·Le Relais Gascon2 minBouillon Pigalle4 min
48.88430, 2.33800