Louvre Museum

Where to go and what to see in Paris – a 3-day itinerary from destination expert and travel writer Anna Brooke.

Where to go and what to see in Paris – a 6-day itinerary from destination expert and travel writer Anna Brooke.

Crammed with iconic buildings, world-class art and a culinary scene steeped in history, Paris is one of the world’s great capitals, overflowing with style, romance, and art de vivre. 

The largest museum of decorative arts in continental Europe, home to an inspirational and diverse collection of 1M+ items of furniture, ceramics, jewellery and more, dating from the Middle Ages through to the latest designers.

This vast Medieval palace was most famous as the ‘antechamber to the guillotine’ in the French Revolution. Three thousand prisoners were tried and convicted here, including France’s last queen Marie Antoinette.

A gloriously-converted Belle Epoque train station that is now a temple to Impressionist art dating from 1848 to 1914. The exceptional collection includes works by Monet, Manet, Degas, Cezanne, Gauguin and Van Gogh.

Europe’s largest collection of modern and contemporary art, housed in Richard Rogers and Renzo Piano’s iconic inside-out building.

Paris’ most exquisite Gothic monument was built by Louis IX in 1248 to house his collection of Passion relics, including Christ’s Crown of Thorns (now at Notre-Dame Cathedral). It has one of the most extensive 13th-century stained-glass collections anywhere in the world.

The birthplace of the rum baba in the 18th century, the city’s oldest patisserie still wows with its gateaux (cake) today.

The apartment where famous French poet and novelist Victor Hugo lived for 16 years, now a museum about his life and works.

A long-running, extravagant, colourful cabaret featuring dancers and courtesans has been thrilling Parisian audiences since 1889. See the incomparable Can Can – the enigmatic dance that’s its greatest claim to fame.

From New York to London, Paris to Berlin, here’s our round-up of the must-see art galleries and museums around the world that should be on everyone’s travel bucket list.