BizAims

Paris is undoubtedly world's number one tourist destination, with about 30 million visitors per year. 60% of all hotel customers come from other countries.

One third of them are American or British.

In 2005, 825 congresses were organized in Paris.

Each year 23.5 million visitors attend the city six most popular attractions.

In addition, hundreds of museums and monuments can be found in the big City of Lights.

The best places to visit in Paris are included in the list below.

1. Eiffel Tower

Undoubtedly the Eiffel Tower is one of the most recognizable monuments in the world, and it is the most popular monument in Europe. The lift takes visitors up for a great view on the city of Paris. In 2002 the Eiffel Tower attracted 6.2 million visitors. The data was provided according to the statistics of Paris Office of Tourism.

2. Louvre Museum

And again Paris strikes with one of the most famous art museums in the world, where visitors can admire works of famous artists, this includes the work of Leonardo da Vinci "Mona Lisa." The museum was established back in 1793, which make it one of Europe's oldest museums. According to statistics about 5.7 million tourists visited Louvre in 2002.

3. Centre Pompidou

The very creative building of the modern art funky museum Centre Pompidou includes various wonderful collections. In addition the museum offers a cinema, concerts and children's activities. Each year Centre Pompidou attracts about 5.5 million visitors.

4. Cite des Sciences at de l'Industrie

This is one of the largest and most popular science museums in the world. La Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie is located on an inspiring modern site found in northeastern Paris. The park known as Parc de la Villette represents a one of a kind area of culture and leisure in the capital of France. It offers a wide range of exhibitions and shows. The museum La cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie can be found at the top of the park. Yearly the museum attracts about 2.5 million visitors, providing exhibitions in biology, anatomy and many others.

5. Musee d'Orsay

This may not be a museum that is as huge as Louvre, but it still hold one of the leading places in the world regarding Impressionist collections. Musee d'Orsay is housed in a former rail station. Statistics say that each year the museum attracts about 2.1 million visitors.

6. Arc de Triomphe

In case visitors look forward to seeing one of the best views of the City of Lights they have to drop at Arc de Triomphe. This does not mean that the monument is as high as the Eiffel Tower, but due to the fact that Paris is somewhat flat, the view from this height is in fact better. Each year arch attracts about 1.4 million visitors.

Information on Infrastructures and Facilities

6,100 streets

13,260 crossroads

3,000 km: the total length of pavements

13 km of expressways are found on the right bank and 3.4 km on the left

33.7 km of inner ring road

4.4 km of Grands boulevards (located between the Place de la Madeleine and the Place de la Bastille)

9,884 benches, 107 clocks and 1,856 bus shelter

109 Wallace public drinking fountains

2,417 km sewers

30,000 litter bins

Paris is the city of culture. Visitors are offered:

374 cinema screens

730 movies a year and 3,432 days of film shoots

30 million yearly cinema-goers

134 museums, 143 theatres

242 floodlit sites, including hotels, churches, statues, fountains and national buildings

55 municipal libraries