Paris for Photographers: 3 Days Timed to the Light

In Paris, the time you take a photo matters more than the place. The Trocadéro at 7:00 is a wide, empty terrace with the Eiffel Tower glowing pink; at 11:00 it is a wall of selfie sticks. The Sacré-Cœur steps at dawn belong to a few joggers; by noon they belong to tour groups. This route is built around the light: sunrise and the first hour of the day for the famous views, the middle of the day in covered passages and under the dome of a department store, and sunset from the two best high viewpoints in the city.

Day 1 is the Eiffel Tower: the Trocadéro and the Pont de Bir-Hakeim at sunrise, the tower framed by Haussmann buildings on the rue de l'Université, the gilded Pont Alexandre III, the Louvre pyramid at blue hour and the Arc de Triomphe at sunset. Day 2 starts in Montmartre at dawn, then moves under the glass dome of Galeries Lafayette and through the columns of the Palais-Royal. Day 3 is color and texture: the painted houses of the rue Crémieux, the mosaics of the covered passages, the islands, and the skyline from the top of the Montparnasse Tower as the tower lights up.

The arrival day is for checking sunrise and sunset times and scouting the area near your hotel. One combined ticket covers both high viewpoints on this route. The days can go in any order and nothing on them is closed on a particular weekday.

We earn a commission when you book through partner links on this page. It never changes the price you pay. See our affiliate disclosure.

This route at a glance

Tickets to book before you fly

One booking covers both rooftops; everything else on this route is free and on the street. The price shown is where the combined ticket starts, per person.

Arrival evening: scouting and blue hour

Check the sunrise and sunset times for your dates and set alarms for Day 1 and Day 2. Then go out at blue hour, the twenty minutes after sunset when the sky turns deep blue and the city lights come on, to the nearest bridge over the Seine. Blue hour is the best light in Paris for river shots, and you will want to know your camera settings for it before Day 1.

Scout the walk from your hotel to the nearest metro station that runs early. The first trains leave around 5:30, which is early enough for sunrise in every season.

• Tripods are tolerated in streets and parks; they are banned inside most museums and at the Eiffel Tower.
• Drones are forbidden over Paris without authorization.
• Charge the batteries tonight: Day 1 starts before sunrise.

Day 1: The Eiffel Tower at sunrise, the bridges and the Arc at sunset

Be on the Trocadéro esplanade twenty minutes before sunrise. The tower faces south-east, so the first light catches its side as the sky turns from blue to pink; the esplanade is nearly empty, and the fountains of the gardens below make a foreground. Then walk down to the Pont de Bir-Hakeim, whose iron colonnade frames the tower from below, and the Allée des Cygnes, the narrow island beneath it.

Mid-morning, walk to the corner of the rue de l'Université and the avenue Rapp, where the tower appears at the end of a street of Haussmann buildings, one of the most photographed and least crowded views of it. Continue along the river to the Pont Alexandre III, whose gilded statues are best in the low light of late morning. Break for lunch and rest in the middle of the day, when the light is flat.

In the late afternoon, walk to the Louvre and photograph the glass pyramid as the sky turns blue and the lights inside come on. Then ride line 1 to the Arc de Triomphe and climb to the roof thirty minutes before sunset: the Champs-Élysées runs straight to the Louvre, and the Eiffel Tower stands at the end of the avenue d'Iéna.

Stops in order

1. Sunrise · Trocadéro Gardens: esplanade, twenty minutes before sunrise
   Paris
2. +45 min · Pont de Bir-Hakeim: iron colonnade framing the tower
   Pont de Bir Hakeim, 75016, Paris
3. 10:00 · Rue de l'Université (Eiffel Tower view): the tower at the end of the street
   Rue de l'Université at Avenue Rapp, 75007, Paris
4. 11:00 · Pont Alexandre III: gilded statues in low light
   Promenade des Berges de la Seine - Port des Invalides, 75007, Paris
5. Blue hour · Louvre Museum: the pyramid lit from inside
   Pont du Carrousel, 75001, Paris
6. Sunset · Arc de Triomphe: rooftop, the Champs-Élysées and the tower
   Tunnel de l'Étoile, 75008, Paris

The numbers for this day

💡 Pro Tip

Shoot the pyramid from the Passage Richelieu

The arcade between the rue de Rivoli and the Cour Napoléon frames the pyramid through glass windows onto the sculpture courts. At blue hour it gives you the lit pyramid through a frame that very few people use.

Pro tip by: Alesia Vakula

Travel expert and itinerary planning specialist

If it rains: Rain gives you reflections: the Trocadéro esplanade and the Louvre courtyards become mirrors. Shoot from under the arcades and keep the Arc for a clearer evening.

Day 2: Montmartre at dawn, a glass dome and the Palais-Royal columns

Climb Montmartre at dawn. The Sacré-Cœur faces south, and from the steps the city below catches the first light and the basilica glows white above you. Then walk the empty streets behind it: the rue de l'Abreuvoir, which runs downhill to La Maison Rose, the pink café that is the most photographed corner of the hill, and the Wall of Love in the Square Jehan Rictus before the first visitors arrive.

Mid-morning, ride down to Galeries Lafayette. The Art Nouveau glass dome over the central hall is spectacular from the ground floor and from the glass walkway that projects under it; the free eighth-floor terrace gives you the Opéra Garnier's green roof and the Eiffel Tower on the horizon.

In the afternoon, walk to the Palais-Royal. In the courtyard, Daniel Buren's black-and-white striped columns, of every height, make one of the most graphic compositions in Paris, and the garden behind them, with its lines of clipped lime trees, is perfect in the low light of the late afternoon.

Stops in order

1. Sunrise · Sacré-Cœur: the steps and the city below
   Rue du Chevalier de la Barre, 75018, Paris
2. +45 min · La Maison Rose: the pink café from the rue de l'Abreuvoir
   Rue de l'Abreuvoir, 75018, Paris
3. 8:30 · Wall of Love: before the crowds
   Square Jehan Rictus, Place des Abbesses, 75018 Paris
4. 11:00 · Galeries Lafayette: the dome and the free rooftop
   40 Boulevard Haussmann, 75009, Paris
5. 12:30 · Palais Garnier: the facade from the Place de l'Opéra
   Place Jacques Rouché, 75009, Paris
6. 16:30 · Palais-Royal Garden: Buren columns and the garden
   Passage du Perron, 75001, Paris

The numbers for this day

💡 Pro Tip

Photograph La Maison Rose from uphill

Stand at the top of the rue de l'Abreuvoir and shoot down: the street curves to the pink house with the Sacré-Cœur dome behind you out of frame and the rooftops of Paris beyond. Most people shoot it from the corner and lose the street.

Pro tip by: Alesia Vakula

Travel expert and itinerary planning specialist

If it rains: Galeries Lafayette is the best place in Paris for a wet morning; the rooftop may close in bad weather, but the dome does not.

Day 3: Color and texture: the rue Crémieux, the passages and the Montparnasse skyline

Start at 8:00 on the rue Crémieux, a short cobbled street of houses painted in pastel colors near the Gare de Lyon. It is a residential street, and the people who live there ask photographers to be quick, quiet and respectful; early in the morning, you will have it almost alone.

Spend the middle of the day in the covered passages between the Louvre and the Grands Boulevards: the mosaic floors and glass roofs of the Galerie Vivienne, the rotunda of the Galerie Colbert, the shopfronts of the Passage des Panoramas. The soft light under the glass is ideal when the sun outside is harsh. Then walk down to the river for the Pont des Arts and the Île Saint-Louis in the afternoon.

At sunset, ride to the Montparnasse Tower, take the lift to the 56th floor and climb to the roof terrace. It is the only viewpoint in central Paris with the Eiffel Tower in the frame, and as the light goes the tower lights up and, at the start of the hour, sparkles. Stay for blue hour.

Stops in order

1. 8:00 · Rue Crémieux: quick, quiet, early
   Rue Crémieux, 75012, Paris
2. 11:00 · Galerie Vivienne: mosaics and glass roof
   Rue des Petits Champs, 75001, Paris
3. 12:30 · Passage des Panoramas: old shopfronts, lunch
   Passage des Panoramas, 75002, Paris
4. 15:30 · Pont des Arts: the Institut de France and the islands
   Promenade Marceline Loridan-Ivens, 75006, Paris
5. 16:30 · Île Saint-Louis: quays and bridges
   Rue Saint-Louis en l'Île, 75004, Paris
6. Sunset · Montparnasse Tower: the skyline with the Eiffel Tower, stay for blue hour
   Rue du Départ, 75015, Paris

The numbers for this day

💡 Pro Tip

Bring a microfiber cloth to Montparnasse

The roof has glass panels around the edge, and fingerprints show in every sunset photo. A quick wipe of the glass in front of your lens makes the difference between a sharp skyline and a smudged one.

Pro tip by: Alesia Vakula

Travel expert and itinerary planning specialist

If it rains: The passages are under glass; in rain, the Montparnasse view can be dramatic if the cloud is high, so check the forecast at midday.

Departure morning: one last sunrise

If your flight is late, use the last morning for the sunrise you missed: the Pont Neuf and the tip of the Île de la Cité face east and catch the first light on the river, the Louvre and the bridges.

Back up your photos before you leave, to the cloud or a second card; losing a camera on the way home is the one disaster you can prevent.

• The Pont Neuf is a short walk from the RER at Châtelet and Saint-Michel.
• Pack batteries in hand luggage, not in the hold.
• Allow plenty of time for an international flight.

Which day goes where

The three days can run in any order. Use this table to keep every sight off its closing day.

The best photo spots in Paris and when to shoot them

Each location on this route has a best time. The table sums them up, so you can rearrange the days around the weather without losing the light.

💡 Pro Tip

Plan around the sparkle

The hourly light show on the tower lasts five minutes and starts exactly on the hour. Be in position by five to the hour, with your exposure set, and you get one clean, long shot instead of a hurried one.

Pro tip by: Alesia Vakula

Travel expert and itinerary planning specialist

Photography rules in Paris

• The Eiffel Tower's evening lighting is protected by copyright for commercial use; personal photos are fine.
• Tripods are not allowed inside most museums or on the Eiffel Tower, and need a permit for professional shoots in parks.
• Drones are forbidden over Paris without a permit from the authorities.
• People have a right to their image in France; ask before taking close-up portraits of strangers.
• Residential streets such as the rue Crémieux: keep it short and quiet.

More 3-day routes

• Romantic 3 days in Paris: the same light, with someone in the photos.
• Hidden Paris: passages, villages and quiet corners to shoot.
• Paris after dark: night photography and the city lit up.
• Paris in spring: blossom and the softest light of the year.
• The best time for 3 days in Paris: sunrise and sunset by month.
• 4 days in Paris: a spare day for bad weather.
• All the 3-day routes, by theme