The Eiffel Tower by Night and the Seine After Dark

They say a trip to Paris begins and ends at the Eiffel Tower, and it really is a place you'll want to visit more than once. Day and night show two very different faces, so see it once in daylight and once after dark.

Gustave Eiffel built the tower in 1889 as the entrance to the World's Fair, tall enough that the fairgrounds could be seen at a glance from above. It was made with iron, a brand-new material at the time, in an open lattice structure. As a result, it can look like a bare skeleton, showing the cold, unvarnished feel of iron. Today we're used to iron-frame structures and to experimental sculptures in contemporary art, so the tower doesn't seem strange. But imagine how alien and unsettling it must have looked rising above the buildings of its day. No wonder many Parisians called it a "hideous lump of iron." In daylight, with its framework fully exposed, some people may still see just a lump of iron. At night, however, the tower takes on a completely different beauty. When it sparkles for five minutes every hour after sunset, you can't help but exclaim.

The best place to see the tower at night is the terrace of the Palais de Chaillot, from where you can take in the whole tower at once. The palace is near the Trocadéro metro station, on the opposite bank of the Seine from the tower, yet it frames the huge structure so well that it has become a favorite viewpoint.

Night in Paris isn't only about the Eiffel Tower. For a romantic evening, follow the Seine, and the top recommendation is a Bateaux-Mouches cruise around Paris. You can board at the dock near the Pont de l'Alma, about a 15-minute walk from the Palais de Chaillot.