Paris Digest
Paris city guide since 1997
The Champs-Elysées are one of the most famous avenues in the world. Fashion flagship stores, car showrooms, movie theaters, restaurants, clubs attracts day and night Parisians and tourists to this lively Paris district. Places to visit in Paris.
70 meters wide, the Champs-Elysées are one of the largest avenues in the city. They run for 1910 meters in a straight line up hill from Place de la Concorde to Arc de Triomphe flagship monument. They were commissioned in 1667 by Louis XIV, also known as Sun King, who also commissioned the famous Versailles Palace, to extend westwards the perspective of the Louvre, his first royal palace. Detailed Champs-Elysées facts.
This famous avenue is, with Avenue Montaigne and Faubourg Saint-Honore close-by, the heart of the top Paris shopping district. Many famous French and international brands have established there a large showroom or flagship store. Fashion and cars are specially well represented. As a result, the Champs-Elysées are one of the most expensive avenues in the world, making it unaffordable to small and new brands.
The fastest way to visit the Champs-Elysées is on a guided tour. The night tour is specially great with the illuminations (information). As an alternative, walk up the avenue shopping area from Franklin Roosevelt metro station (line 1) to Charles de Gaulle station (line 1). The walk takes 30 minutes, excluding shopping stops. In two hours, do the Paris triomphal way walk from the Louvre to Arc de Triomphe through Champs Elysees.
If you come to Paris for city life and shopping, it is a good idea to book a hotel near Champs-Elysées, a palace district.
Paris metro: Champs-Elysées Clemenceau (line 1 and 13), Franklin Roosevelt (line 1 and 9), George V (line 1) and Etoile (line 1, 6, 2) metro stations.
Explore Champs-Elysées with Champs-Elysées map.
The avenue is often painted or photographed with the Arc de Triomphe in the background, a classical Paris view.
The flower seller on Champs-Elysées
(Louis-Marie de Schryver)
Champs-Elysées and Lido
(Edouard-Leon Cortes)
