The Eiffel Tower was built in 1889 for the World Exposition marking the centennial of the French Revolution. Architect Gustave Eiffel, better known as the engineer behind the Statue of Liberty's iron skeleton, erected the 330-metre iron lattice tower in just over two years. Contemporaries hated it; posterity proved them wrong.
Buy tickets online in advance — the queues at the base are punishing in summer. The second floor offers the best views: high enough to take in the whole city, not so high that it becomes abstract. The top platform is spectacular but the ascent takes longer and the view is more vertiginous than beautiful. On a clear day you can see 70 kilometres in every direction.
At night the tower glitters for five minutes every hour on the hour until 1am — a recent addition that divides opinion but is undeniably impressive from a distance.