Eiffel Tower

The Eiffel Tower is the rare icon that beats its own postcards, and timing is everything: ride up in the hour before sunset, watch the city turn gold from the summit, and be on the ground for the first after-dark sparkle. Booked right, it is the best two hours in Paris.

• The summit, champagne-bar altitude, with all of Paris laid flat below.
• The second floor, the best photographs of the Champ de Mars and Trocadéro axis.
• The glass floor, first level, looking straight down through the lattice.
• The sparkle, five minutes on the hour after dark, best from Trocadéro or the Champ de Mars lawns.

Book the summit lift online the moment dates open; the stairs-plus-lift ticket is the fallback that skips the longest queue. Security lines are shortest at opening and after 8pm.

Bir-Hakeim and Trocadéro are the classic métro approaches, Trocadéro for the reveal across the river. A Seine cruise leaves from the quay at its feet and makes the natural second act.