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Although the top of the Eiffel Tower can be seen above rooftops across the city, one of the best views of this Paris landmark is from the Seine. The Pont d’Iéna lies at the foot of the tower, bridging the river to link it to the Trocadéro Gardens. The tower, illuminated at night, is a highlight of a dinner cruise on the Seine.

The curved arms of the Palais de Chaillot encircling the Trocadéro Gardens can be seen from the Seine. In the centre of the gardens the magnificent fountains spout from the top of a long pool lined with statues, while two huge water cannons spray their charges back towards the river and the Eiffel Tower on the opposite bank.

A replica of the Statue of Liberty’s torch in New York was erected in 1987 by the International Herald Tribune to mark their centenary and honour the freedom fighters of the French Resistance during World War II. It is located on the right bank of the Pont de l’lma, the bridge over the tunnel where Diana, Princess of Wales, was killed in an automobile crash in 1997. The Liberty Flame has now become her unofficial memorial and is often draped with notes and flowers laid in her honour.

Gracing either side of the Pont Alexandre III are these two splendid exhibition halls, built for the Universal Exhibition in 1900. The iron Art Nouveau skeleton of the Grand Palais is topped by an enormous glass roof, which is most impressive when illuminated at night. The Petit Palais is smaller but similar in style, with a dome and many Classical features (see Petit Palais).

The most beautiful bridge in Paris is the Pont Alexandre III, a riot of Art Nouveau decoration including cherubs, wreaths, lamps and other elaborate statuary. Built for the Universal Exhibition of 1900, it leads to the Grand Palais and Petit Palais. There are wonderful views of the Invalides complex and the Champs-Elysées from the bridge.

An impressive view of the Eglise de Dôme in the Hôtel des Invalides complex can be had from the Pont Alexandre III. The golden dome beckons visitors down the long parkway lined with streetlamps and statues (see Hôtel des Invalides).

This grand museum stretches along the river from the Pont Royal to the Pont des Arts. The wing that can be seen from the Seine was largely built during the reigns of Henri IV and Louis XIII in the late 16th and early 17th centuries.

The view of this modern art gallery from the Right Bank of the Seine is one of its finest angles, showing off the arched terminals and grand façade of this former railway station. Architect Victor Laloux designed it specifically to harmonize with the Louvre and Tuileries Quarter across the river.

This huge and imposing building, which served as a notorious prison during the Revolution, commands the western end of the Ile de la Cité. Within its walls are some of the few remaining medieval features on the island, including the torture chamber, clock and twin towers which rise above the quai de l’Horloge.

The great cathedral is never more majestic than when viewed from the Left Bank of the Seine. It rises on the eastern edge of the Ile de la Cité above the remains of the ancient tribes who first settled Paris in the 3rd century BC.