Arc de Triomphe

What it is

The Arc de Triomphe is Napoleon's victory monument and it took thirty years, by which time he was dead. It was commissioned in 1806 after Austerlitz, designed by Jean-François Chalgrin, started on 15 August 1806 and inaugurated on 28 July 1836.

It stands 49.54 m high, 44.82 m wide and 22.21 m deep, with a main vault 29.19 m high and 14.62 m across. It cost around 10 million francs, roughly €65–75 million in 2020 money.

The names of 158 battles are engraved on it — 30 on the attic and 96 under the arches — along with 660 military leaders, the underlined ones killed in action.

Checked 2026-08-23 · Source

What's inside

Four sculptural groups on the piers, a museum inside the attic, and a roof terrace.

The groups are The Departure of the Volunteers of 1792 by François Rude — the one everyone means when they say La Marseillaise — The Triumph of 1810 by Jean-Pierre Cortot, and The Resistance of 1814 and The Peace of 1815, both by Antoine Étex.

Under the arch is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, interred on 11 November 1920, with an eternal flame that burns continuously and a ceremony every year on 11 November. The inscription reads that here rests a French soldier who died for the Fatherland, 1914–1918.

The terrace is reached by 240 steps to the museum level and 40 more to the roof; lifts serve both.

Checked 2026-08-23 · Source

How long to spend

An hour, of which the climb is twenty minutes.

There is not a great deal to read inside — the museum level is small — and the terrace is the point. The view down the twelve avenues radiating from the Étoile is the best explanation of Haussmann's Paris available anywhere in the city.

Add half an hour if you walk down the Champs-Élysées afterwards, which is what most people do.

Checked 2026-08-23 · Source

Season and crowds

An hour before sunset. The terrace faces the Champs-Élysées one way and La Défense the other, and both are best with low sun.

The Arc is one of the few high viewpoints in Paris that includes the Eiffel Tower in the view, which the Eiffel Tower itself cannot.

On 11 November the tomb ceremony closes normal access for part of the day.

The terrace is open and windy. In winter it is cold in a way the ground is not.

Checked 2026-08-23 · Source

Tickets

The terrace is ticketed. The figure shown on this page is the one currently published; tickets are sold online and at the underpass entrance.

Standing beneath the arch at the tomb is free and does not need a ticket.

The Paris Museum Pass covers the Arc, which is worth weighing against the rest of your route.

Checked 2026-08-23 · Source

Getting there

The Place Charles de Gaulle, where the 8th, 16th and 17th arrondissements meet, at the top of the Champs-Élysées.

Charles de Gaulle–Étoile serves Métro lines 1, 2 and 6 and RER A, and the station exits feed the underpasses directly.

The Métro runs 16 lines across 321 stations, with stations 548 m apart on average — a two-stop journey is usually faster walked.

Checked 2026-08-23 · Source

What to watch out for

Do not cross the roundabout. Twelve avenues meet at the Étoile and the traffic has no lane markings and no priority anyone can explain. Two pedestrian underpasses, from the Champs-Élysées and from the Avenue de la Grande Armée, are the only legal and the only survivable approach.

The tomb is a war grave. Walking on it, sitting on the surround or photographing it as a backdrop is not acceptable, and the guard will say so.

The climb is 240 steps to the museum and 40 more to the roof, on a tight spiral. Lifts exist but are for those who need them and are not a general alternative.

The terrace has high parapets and mesh; long lenses will find them.

Checked 2026-08-23 · Source

Photography

From the terrace the twelve radiating avenues are the photograph, and they need a wide lens and low sun to read as a star rather than as a road junction.

The Eiffel Tower is visible from the terrace to the south-west, which makes this the more useful of the two towers to be standing on if the tower is what you want in the frame.

From the ground, the Rude group on the right-hand pier facing the Champs-Élysées is the best sculpture on the monument and is lit by afternoon sun.

The classic axial shot up the Champs-Élysées is taken from the central reservation, which means standing in traffic. It is not worth it; the pavement at the Rond-Point gives nearly the same line.

Checked 2026-08-23

Where it is

• 2 hours

  2 min walk · Paris 16e Arrondissement

  L'Arc

  • Notable
  • Nightlife venue
• 45 min

  2 min walk · Paris 17e Arrondissement

  Hôtel de Gunsburg

  • High · Heritage site
  • Historic monument
• 45 min

  2 min walk · Paris 8e Arrondissement

  Hôtel Landolfo-Carcano

  • High · Heritage site
  • Historic monument

External links

• Official site
• View on Wikidata