Sacré-Cœur
Montmartre's white basilica bleaches whiter with every rain.
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Paris's second most-visited monument after the Eiffel Tower. Perched about 200m above the Seine, it doubles as a free panorama over the whole city — and holds one of the world's largest mosaics plus France's biggest bell.
What to look for
- The stone: travertine from Souppes-sur-Loing that exudes calcite in the rain, so the facade whitens with age instead of darkening like most old churches.
- The apse mosaic, 'The Triumph of the Sacred Heart of Jesus' — 25,000 gilded ceramic pieces across 475 m2, among the largest on earth.
- The Savoyarde bell: 18,835 kg, France's largest, cast by Paccard in Annecy-le-Vieux in 1891, rung only for major feasts.
Métro Line 2 to Anvers; basilica open daily 06:00–22:30, dome climb 09:00–19:00 summer (to 18:00 winter).
Sacré-Cœur is one of 39 sights worth the detour in Paris, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Paris pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Paris
- Eiffel TowerThe 300-metre iron tower Parisian artists petitioned against before it was even finished.
- Louvre MuseumThe world's most-visited museum lives inside a 12th-century fortress that became a royal palace.
- Notre-Dame de ParisThe spire fell on live TV in April 2019; since December 2024 you can walk back inside.
- Musée d'OrsayVan Gogh and Monet hung inside a Beaux-Arts station built for the Paris–Orléans railway.
- Champs-ÉlyséesA single 1.9-km straight line runs from the Concorde obelisk to the Arc de Triomphe — Paris's ceremonial spine on the Axe historique.
- Place de la BastilleThe prison that lit a revolution is gone — and the mob that stormed it on 14 July 1789 came for gunpowder, not the seven forgotten men inside.