10 Paris Landmarks With Incredible Rooftop Views (Beyond the Eiffel Tower)
Most visitors to Paris put the Eiffel Tower on their list without a second thought, and it makes sense. It’s absolutely iconic, and the views from the top are great.
But there’s a catch that Paris regulars love to point out: you can’t actually see the Eiffel Tower from the Eiffel Tower. And it’s one of the most beautiful things about the Paris skyline, showing up in almost every great view of the city.
Paris has no shortage of other places to get high up, and some of them are far more interesting than they get credit for. A few are well-known landmarks that most people visit without realizing they can climb them, others are much more off the radar. Some are free, while others involve staircases that double as a workout.
This list covers ten of the best places to see Paris from above (and almost all of them give you incredible Eiffel Tower views along the way).
1. Towers of Notre-Dame
Let’s start this list out strong, with what I personally think is the best overall view in the city. And beyond great views, climbing the towers of Notre Dame is just a really fun experience from start to finish.
You start by winding up a narrow spiral stone staircase, stopping at a room about the history of the cathedral and the towers. Then, you’ll continue up a wooden double-helix staircase inside the tower to come out at the base of the south tower.
This is where you get your first great views, with the chimeras and gargoyles right in front of you, the Eiffel Tower in the distance, and the rooftops of the Latin Quarter spreading out below.
Then up to the very top of the south tower, where you can walk the entire square rooftop and get 360° views, looking over the rooftop and spire of the cathedral itself, Sacré-Cœur to the north, and all of Paris around you.
From there the route takes you down and across to see the great bells, then back down through the space between the two towers.
Look up and the two towers rise dramatically above you. Look out and you see Paris behind the columns. Look in and you can see the timber roof structure.
It’s a maze in the best sense: you’re constantly going up, across, down, and through, with something different to see at every turn.
The whole climb is 424 steps, but it’s broken up so it doesn’t feel too hard. While entrance to the cathedral is free, the towers require a paid ticket booked in advance. You can also use the Paris Museum Pass, but still need to reserve a time slot.
2. Domes of Sacré-Cœur
The terrace in front of Sacré-Cœur in Montmartre is always chock full of visitors, but only a few realize you can actually go up inside the domes.
Just before you enter the basilica, look for the sign pointing to the panoramic viewpoint, which leads you down and to the left of the church. From there you pay the entrance fee and start climbing 292 steps up a spiral staircase.
You’ll come out on the rooftop, where you walk a short pathway between the domes and spires (which is very cool). Then up one more short staircase and you’re inside the main dome, with a circular walkway that takes you all the way around.
The views here are just incredible. The whole of Paris stretches out beneath you as you look down over the white, gleaming domes of the basilica. The Eiffel Tower is visible far away in the distance— it almost looked like a child’s toy!
3. Tour Saint-Jacques
The Tour Saint-Jacques is a tall, ornate Gothic tower rising up in a small garden near the Hôtel de Ville, right in one of the busiest parts of central Paris. Most people walk straight past it without a second glance, which is a shame because it’s one of the more interesting spots in the city.
The tower is all that remains of a 16th-century church built by the local butchers’ guild and dedicated to Saint James. Standing 54 meters tall, it was once the second-highest structure in Paris after Notre-Dame. The rest of the church was demolished during the French Revolution, leaving just the bell tower behind.
It’s also the official starting point of the Via Turonensis, one of the four major Camino de Santiago pilgrimage routes that crosses France on the way to Santiago de Compostela in Spain.
Between May and November, you can visit the tower with a guided tour. The climb is 300 steps, with a stop inside along the way, and the views from the top are worth every single step.
You’re right in the middle of Paris, looking out over the rooftops and to so many monuments. You also get some really unique views, such as Hotel de Ville and the Pompidou Center, as well as a fantastic view of the Notre Dame towers.
It’s highly recommended to book in advance.
4. Musée d’Orsay
The Musée d’Orsay was built as a railway station in time for the 1900 World’s Fair, and the two enormous clock faces on the upper level were once the practical timekeepers for the trains running below.
Today, the clocks bookend the 5th floor galleries, which hold the most incredible concentration of Impressionist masterpieces anywhere in the world: Van Gogh, Monet, Renoir, Degas, and more, all within steps of each other.
One of the clocks is part of Café Campana, where you can sit and have a coffee or a meal with the clock face as your backdrop. The other opens onto a free-standing room where you can walk right up to the glass and look through.
And the view through those clock faces is fantastic. You’re looking directly out over the Seine, with the Louvre sitting right on the opposite bank and Sacré Coeur framed almost perfectly in the distance on its hill. It’s one of the more unusual ways to see Paris—the city fit into a perfect circle of glass, framed by the iron hands of a 19th-century train station clock.
5. Galeries Lafayette
Galeries Lafayette is the most famous department store in Paris, selling primarily luxury brands inside what is genuinely one of the most beautiful retail spaces in the world.
The flagship store on Boulevard Haussmann is centered around a spectacular Art Nouveau dome, with ironwork balconies rising to a stained glass ceiling, and it’s as much of a destination to visit as it is a place to shop. Anyone can walk in and look around for free.
Take the escalators all the way to the top and you’ll come out on the rooftop terrace, which is also free. The building directly in front of you is the Opéra Garnier, one of the most beautiful buildings (and a personal favorite) in Paris.
Looking out over the Haussmann rooftops, you can spot the Eiffel Tower in the distance, a bit far away from this vantage point, but it still makes for a beautiful panoramic view of Paris.
6. Printemps
While Galeries Lafayette is very popular, its next-door neighbor, Printemps, also a luxury department store, is way quieter and has a very similar view. Like at Galeries Lafayette, take the escalators all the way to the top and you’ll come out on the free rooftop terrace.
It’s much smaller, but calm and lovely, especially with small golden domes anchoring the ends of the terrace. You can see the Opera Garnier, although it’s off to the left, and you have the same beautiful view of Paris open in front of you.
There’s also Perruche, a rooftop bar and restaurant up here, if you want to sit down and take in the view over a drink or a meal.
7. Arab World Institute
Most people walking along the Seine in the Latin Quarter don’t think to go inside the Arab World Institute, which is exactly why the rooftop view up there is such a good find.
Take the elevator to the 9th floor, step outside, and you’re looking at a stretch of central Paris that no other viewpoint really captures: the back of Notre-Dame up close, the ÃŽle Saint-Louis, the Marais, and the Seine curving away in both directions.
It’s free, no ticket needed, and the terrace is almost always quiet. The building itself is pretty interesting, as the facade is an unusual grid of geometric steel and glass mashrabiyas that looks nothing like anything else in the neighborhood. There’s also a museum inside covering Arab art, history, and culture if you want to make a longer visit of it.
8. Arc de Triomphe
The Arc de Triomphe sits at the center of Place de l’Étoile (“étoile” meaning star), and when you get to the top, you understand exactly why. Twelve grand avenues radiate out from the monument in every direction, and looking down at them from above is quite the sight.
Napoleon commissioned the Arc in 1806 to honor France’s armies, though it wasn’t completed until 1836, long after he was gone. The climb to the top is a spiral staircase, and the views are phenomenal.
You’re looking straight down the Champs-Élysées toward the obelisk at Place de la Concorde and the Louvre beyond it: Paris’s historic axis laid out perfectly in front of you. Turn around and the same axis continues toward the La Défense business district in the distance.
And the Eiffel Tower from up here is one of my favorite views of it anywhere in the city, as you’re close enough to really take in the detail.
Important Tip: One of the biggest mistakes I see tourists make in Paris is trying to cross the road at ground level to reach the arch. There are no crosswalks, and it’s extremely dangerous to run across the roundabout. Use the underground pedestrian tunnel from the top of the Champs-Élysées or from Avenue de la Grande Armée on the opposite side.
9. Tour Montparnasse
The Tour Montparnasse is the lone skyscraper on the Left Bank, and Parisians generally think it’s a huge eyesore on the skyline. But they also say that the view from the top of the Montparnasse Tower is great because it’s the only spot in Paris where you can’t see the Montparnasse Tower. 😅 And the views up there really are stunning.
The 360° rooftop observation deck gives you one of the closest and most dramatic views of the Eiffel Tower anywhere in the city, with the Champ de Mars stretching out in front of it and the La Défense skyline visible behind. It really feels like you’re in a drone.
Tickets start at €18 online and an elevator takes you straight to the top.
Important Note: Unfortunately, the entire tower closed in March 2026 for several years of renovations, so it’ll be a while before this one is available to visit.
10. Centre Pompidou
The Centre Pompidou is certainly one of the most unique buildings in Paris. It was famously built inside out, with its structural systems, pipes, and mechanical elements all exposed on the exterior and color-coded by function. Blue for air, green for water, yellow for electricity, red for people movement.
Inside, it houses one of the largest collections of modern and contemporary art in Europe.
The glass tube escalator on the exterior, nicknamed “the caterpillar,” takes you up to the rooftop terrace where you can enjoy sweeping views over the Marais and central Paris. The terrace is free and open to the public without a museum ticket.
Important Note: However, the Pompidou closed in October 2025 for extensive renovations and is not expected to reopen until 2030. Unfortunately, you’ll have to wait a few years to enjoy this one as well.
