Arc de Triomphe

What makes it special

Start on the Champs-Élysées face, where two sculpted groups face the avenue. On the right is François Rude's Departure of the Volunteers, better known as La Marseillaise; on the left is Jean-Pierre Cortot's Triumph of the Emperor.

Walk round to the Avenue de la Grande Armée face for the other pair of reliefs, Resistance on the right and Peace on the left. Above them, a long frieze runs round all four faces with the leading figures of the Revolution and the Empire.

Under the vaults, look up. The inner walls of the large and small arches are carved with the names of generals, and they are easy to miss if you only photograph the outside.

At the centre of the main arch, facing the Champs-Élysées, is the tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The flame above it has not gone out since it was first lit in 1923.

From the terrace on the roof, the view runs in a full circle over the city.

Visiting

One ticket, bought online and kept on your phone, lets you skip the queue at the ticket window, which can run long on a busy day. You come up from the tunnel under the arch, scan the ticket at security and go through a quick bag check.

The terrace is reached only by a narrow spiral staircase, with small landings where you can stop for breath. The lift is out of service until further notice, so if you cannot manage stairs, ask at the entrance before you buy.

Walk the whole terrace before you come down, then look round the base of the arch and the tomb. On ordinary days the flame is rekindled at 6.30pm in a short, silent ceremony, and you can watch it without a ticket. On commemoration days the timing can change, so check the date before you go.

Tips

Come in the morning or after dark if you want room on the terrace, which is busiest around sunset. On a summer evening, a climb at about nine is quieter.

Bags must be no bigger than forty by forty by twenty centimetres and the monument has no left-luggage store, so leave anything larger at your hotel. Selfie sticks, tripods, flags, scooters and glass bottles are refused at security, and pushchairs cannot go inside, though security will hold one for you at the entrance.

Young adults aged eighteen to twenty-five from the EU, and legal residents of France of the same age, may also get in free, so check the age rule when you book.