Views from the Eiffel Tower

One of the highlights of any first visit to Paris is climbing the Eiffel Tower. The world famous Iron Lady is one of the best viewpoints in Paris. From the tower you can see the Arc de Triomphe, the Grand Palais, the Louvre Museum, Notre Dame de Paris, and even the Sacre Coeur Basilica if the weather is nice.

There are signs at the top explaining the famous sights that can be seen from the top. But being honest with you, one should ask oneself which places can't be seen from the top of the tower, since, in reality, you will be able to see, with more or less clarity, almost every corner of Paris. But well, let's see what are the most significant places that can be seen from the Iron Lady.

The first monument you will see just in front and north of the Tower is the Arc de Triomphe, besides being one of the most important monuments of the city, its strategic location and its 50 meters high will make possible its visibility without any problem, even in bad weather. Of course, I recommend you see the monument from the second floor (115 meters high) as this way you will have a more direct view.

If you go up to the Tower during the day you can see the Arc de Triomphe surrounded by trees and bordered in part by the Seine River. And if you are at the Eiffel Tower at night you can appreciate the lights of the Arc and the parks around it. Given its remoteness it is difficult to see very well its forms, although it is easy to identify given its height.

To the northeast of the tower you will see the Grand Palais (the Grand Palace), a 45-meter high, 200-meter long building whose glass roof is the largest structure of its kind in Europe.

The stone facades, columns and friezes of the Grand Palais exhibit classical design features, while the intricate metalwork inside is in classic Art Nouveau style. The building is composed of three main areas: the Galeries Nationales, the Palais de la Découverte and the Nave.

It features an exhibition hall and a major museum complex built between the Champs Elysées and the Seine River in Paris. If you really appreciate architecture, you should look at this glamorous building.

The Louvre Museum is located just east of the Iron Lady at about 3.5 km straight ahead (5 km long), with a height of 21.64 meters on a square base of 35.42 meters on a side. Theglass pyramid of the museum, which is what you will really appreciate from the tower, is the main entrance to the gallery.

The Louvre is said to be the largest museum in the world. Whether true or not, it ranks as one of the most important Paris museums in Europe and the world. Originally this was the former residence of the kings of France. Today, the Louvre museum exhibits more than 38,000 pieces of art, and some of the Louvre's finest paintings are also the finest in the world.

Very subtly to the southeast of the Tower you can appreciate Les Invalides whose 107 meters high golden dome is striking from different parts of the city (Imagine from the Eiffel Tower).

The large complex of Les Invalides on the left bank is easily recognizable by its magnificent dome. Its decent height and its proximity in relation to the tower will allow you to appreciate this incredible palace from any floor of the building, although it would be best to do it from the second floor (115 meters). Undoubtedly one of the best buildings to see in Paris.

As a curious fact, it was originally built by Louis XIV to house homeless and wounded veterans of the king's army. Today, the Hôtel des Invalides is famous for housing the tomb of the French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte.

South of the Eiffel Tower and only 482 meters away you can see this brilliant and very famous park. You will be able to appreciate this field almost from any point of the Parisian building.

Although from the Tower it looks like just a green area, this open area has witnessed important events, such as different revolutionary acts or the massacre of 1791. If you visit Paris in spring, the park is a must-see, and it is surrounded by restaurants near the Eiffel Tower, in case you get a little hungry from so many spectacular views.

Notre-Dame is very east of the tower and with a height of 69 meters. Although its dimensions reach 130 meters long and 48 meters wide. Given its location should choose a good day to appreciate it as God commands from the tower. In any case I recommend that you climb to the top of the tower (276 meters) to appreciate this historic cathedral.

Dedicated to the Virgin Mary, Notre-Dame de Paris is one of the oldest Gothic cathedrals in the world and one of the best known. Its towers also serve as lookout points for incredible views of Paris.Over the past eight centuries, the cathedral building has been renovated and restored several times. The most significant renovation took place in 1845 and took twenty-five years to complete. During this restoration, the flying buttresses were replaced, the chapel was restored, statues were added and a new rose window was placed.

Pont Alexandre III located to the northeast, not far from the Grand Palais (hence you may see the two in the same plane), is another of the most important monuments to see from the top of the tower.

The bridge is made of a single span steel arch, an incredible engineering masterpiece of the time. The decoration of the bridge is simply spectacular thanks to its four 55-foot (17 m) columns, with golden winged horses on top at opposite ends of the structure. Beautiful black chandelier, cherubs and other decorative elements make this bridge an impressive construction, chosen by many as the backdrop for their wedding photos. Although it must be said that from the tower you will only appreciate some of these details.

As an informative fact Pont Alexandre III (Alexandre III Bridge) is the most fascinating bridge in Paris. The flyover, inaugurated for the 1900 Universal Exposition in Paris, is located between L'Hôtel des Invalides and the Grand and Petit Palais.

The basilica of Sacré Coeur (Sacré Coeur) is located far to the northeast of the tower. Despite its 130 meters high, it would be ideal to climb to the top to isolate the basilica from all other distractions that may cross that 6.6 km view.

If you are interested in seeing the basilica from the eiffel tower as clearly as possible, I recommend you to climb the tower only when the sky is completely clear. Who knows, you might even be able to see the basilica's bell, the largest in France weighing 18 tons.

Visible from many parts of Paris, the Sacré-Cœur basilica is the highlight of the Montmartre hill. With its Romanesque-Byzantine style, the church shares more resemblance with the Taj Mahal in India than with the Gothic cathedral of Notre-Dame.

Another point to see northeast of the Iron Lady is the famous Musée d'Orsay, a large structure 188 meters long by 75 meters wide and 32 meters high. Its proximity to the tower is a plus, as it will allow you to appreciate its dimensions and architectural details without squinting too much. Its location on the banks of the Seine River makes its observation from the tower even more spectacular.

The Museum is located in a former train station that opened in time for the Universal Exhibition of Paris in 1900, and only 783 meters from the Louvre Museum, both listed as two of the best museums in Paris in the world.

The Seine River, despite being a flow of water, it makes a lot of sense to see it from a considerable height, as you can see where it flows and what dimensions it has . And what better observatory for this than from the Eiffel Tower itself. Best of all is that from the top of the tower, and thanks to its dimensions, you can enjoy it at any time of day. If you are at the Eiffel Tower at night you can follow the route of the cruisesthat pass along the Seine, and if you climb the tower during the day, you can see more clearly how incredibly long it is and how it meanders through Paris.

Today it is one of the main tourist attractions and landmarks of Paris thanks to the fabulous bridges that cross it and thanks to the fact that it surrounds the two islets of Paris. The Seine River is a major river in the northwest of France and is actually the second longest river in France after the Loire River with an impressive length of 776 km, the mouth of the river is located in the English Channel between Le Havre in Haute Normandy and Honfeur in the Basse Normandie region.

• Second floor: From the second floor you can see the areas closest to the Tower very accurately, among these places include the Parc du Champ-de-Mars and the Musée de L'Homme.
• Second floor: This second floor if we can consider a viewpoint as such, Paris begins to unfold and you can see some of the most important monuments of the city as those mentioned in previous sections. It should be noted that this floor is the most visited.
• Top: The third floor is simply spectacular in terms of views, Paris seems to be silenced and you can observe Paris at your feet. It is here where you can estimate the extent of Paris and see some remote monuments such as the Sacre Coeur Basilica and the Montmartre area in general.

The height has a great influence on photography, as both the light and the degree of focus are very different from what we are used to.On the one hand, the light is quite an advantage, as there is no obstacle that can prevent your camera from capturing enough light, unless you are taking pictures at night. On the other hand, the focus is the weakest point since there is no close object to focus on, in case you want to focus on a specific area it will be convenient to take a good lens with you.

However, if your idea is to take panoramic photos then you have nothing to worry about, any camera position will do, depending on the frame you are looking for. However, I do not recommend taking pictures at night from the Eiffel Tower, as the light of the tower itself "dazzles your camera" and makes it difficult to capture images of the city in a clear way.