bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Agence France-Presse

The Paris Olympics have been designed to showcase the City of Light in all its splendour, with many events set to take place at some of its most iconic locations.
These five sites – including one outside the French capital – are among those likely to wow ticket-holders, and a global TV audience of billions, during the 17-day sporting extravaganza that starts on July 26:
1 The Eiffel Tower
The most famous of the Paris landmarks, the Eiffel Tower, will welcome one of the most popular Olympic events – beach volleyball.

The action will take place in a temporary venue near the foot of the “Iron Lady”.
The Champ de Mars park at the foot of the tower will host judo and wrestling.

Reviled by Parisians when it was unveiled in 1889 for the Paris Exhibition world’s fair by engineer Gustave Eiffel, the Eiffel Tower has since become the capital’s crown jewel.
Besides being one of the world’s top tourist attractions, pulling in seven million visitors a year, it is also a working telecoms tower, used for radio and TV transmissions.
Winners at the Paris Games will all go home with a small part of the iron colossus. Each medal will contain an 18 gram crumb of original iron, removed during various renovations, melted down and reforged.
2 The Grand Palais

Fencing and taekwondo battles will take place in the opulent setting of the Grand Palais art gallery, a glass-and-steel masterpiece created for the 1900 Paris Exposition.
Its distinctive feature is its beautiful glass domed roof, the largest of its kind in Europe, which covers a cavernous exhibition space of 13,500 square metres (150,000 sq ft).
During World War I, the Grand Palais put its art collection in storage and converted its galleries into a military hospital where soldiers were patched up before returning to the trenches.
In the 21st century, the airy nave has hosted giant installations commissioned from some of the world’s leading artists.
It has also been flooded to make the biggest ice rink in the world.
3 Place de la Concorde

The vast paved square at the foot of the Champs-Elysees avenue, where heads rolled (literally) after the French Revolution, will serve as an urban sports hub.
Skateboarding, 3x3 basketball, BMX freestyle and, in its first Games appearance, breakdancing, will all take place in the square, which is just across the Seine river from the Invalides war museum where Napoleon is buried.
The square’s harmonious name conceals a bloody past – King Louis XVI and his wife Marie Antoinette were among hundreds of people who were guillotined there in 1793 during the Reign of Terror that followed the 1789 French Revolution.
The largest square in Paris is defined by its huge gold obelisk, one of a pair erected by pharaoh Ramses II outside the temple in Luxor, Egypt, which was gifted to Paris in 1830.
4 Versailles Palace

Dressage and showjumping will take place in the royal park of Versailles Palace, some 20km (12 miles) from central Paris, which will also feature on the marathon circuit and host the cross-country and pentathlon events.
Originally a hunting lodge, “Sun King” Louis XIV in the 17th century transformed Versailles into the home of French royalty, where he lived with around 10,000 staff – enough to fill a town.
The vast palace gardens include a mile-long (1.5km-long) canal that once hosted his extravagant parties, complete with sailing gondolas.
Since 1979 it has been a Unesco World Heritage site and is also a firm favourite on the Paris tourist trail.
5 Marseilles

Not all events will be held in the capital.
Sailing contests will take place in the Mediterranean city of Marseilles, France’s boisterous, big-hearted second city, the home of the Olympique Marseille football team.
More than 300 sailors from across the world will battle it out in the sapphire blue waters of the Mediterranean east of the city, where a new marina has been built on the Corniche coastal road – one of France’s most scenic drives.
It is unlikely they will have Marseilles’ mighty mistral wind in their sails, however – it usually blows in winter and spring.
Marseilles, which will also host 10 football matches, was where the Olympic torch relay began in France on May 8.


Singapore wants to host more mega-events in 2025, boosting regional growth, amid neighbour envy

Tourists experience life as a Japanese student, from cleaning classrooms to sports day

Hong Kong retail sales fall for ninth straight month, with 7.3% drop in November

Hong Kong visitor tally over festive period up 7.5%, but offset by departures

Tourism

5 iconic sites hosting 2024 Paris Olympics events, from the Eiffel Tower to Marseilles

The Eiffel Tower, at the foot of which beach volleyball will take place, is just one of the iconic locations in Paris and elsewhere in France that will host sporting events during the 2024 Olympics. Photo: AFP

Visitors queue to enter the Eiffel Tower, where the Paris Olympics beach volleyball event will be held. Photo: AFP

A tourist poses for a photograph with the Eiffel Tower, adorned with the Olympic rings, in the background. Photo: AFP

The Grand Palais’ distinctive feature is its beautiful glass domed roof. It will host the Olympic fencing and taekwondo competitions. Photo: AFP

The Maritime Fountain, with the Luxor Obelisk in the background, at the Place de la Concorde, hub for urban sports at the Paris Olympics. Photo: Shutterstock

The grounds of Versailles Palace, which will host dressage and showjumping events at the Paris Olympics. Photo: AFP

The Mediterranean waters of Marseilles will be where sailing events take place during the Games. Photo: AFP

On Corsica road trip rugged scenery, hilltop towns, traces of Napoleon, aggressive drivers

Ote village, in Corsica, France. Photo: Tim Pile

The village of Ota clings to a hillside in Corsica, one of the stops on our correspondent’s road trip around Corsica. The French island, birthplace of Napoleon, has jagged mountains and beautiful beaches; if only the locals didn’t drive so aggressively. Photo: Tim Pile

Pull over and step out of your car to admire Corsica’s spectacular mountain scenery. Photo: Tim Pile

Herds of goats are one of the hazards for drivers in Corsica to negotiate. Photo: Tim Pile

Hikers on a trail in Corsica. Many explore the island’s hills on foot. Photo: Tim Pile

Ota in Corsica sits amid sublime scenery. Photo: Tim Pile

The Gorges de la Spelunca features arched bridges dating back to the Middle Ages and Genoese occupation of the island. Photo: Tim Pile

Vandalised signs riddled with bullet holes are not an uncommon sight on Corsica, where there is an independence movement. Photo: Tim Pile

A section of coast near Ajaccio, in western Corsica. Photo: Tim Pile

Maison Bonaparte, the house Napoleon grew up in, is one of Corsica’s most popular attractions. Photo: Tim Pile

Tourists view the mountain town of Sartène. Photo: Tim Pile

Sartène dates back to the 16th century. Photo: Tim Pile

Bonifacio, Corsica’s southernmost town. Photo: Tim Pile

Destination dupes – Albania for Greece, Zanzibar for Bora Bora – cheaper and just as good

Lesley Williamson (pictured in La Rochelle, France) prefers regional cities to capitals. Photo: Lesley Williamson

Ksamil Island in Albania, as attractive as a Greek island but much cheaper and less crowded, is an example of a “destination dupe” - somewhere similar to a popular holiday destination but without the crowds and high prices. Photo: Shutterstock

For Niki Costa (right) and Tiffany Schiro (left), cost is important, but dupe travel is also about exploring lesser known places. Photo: Niki Costa and Tiffany Schiro

The author of Here Not There: 100 Unexpected Travel Destinations, Andrew Nelson feels that the post-pandemic travel frenzy has led to a yearning for quieter, less crowded destinations and experiences. Photo: Andrew Nelson

A cheaper alternative to going to see the Northern Lights in Norway could be watching the Southern Lights in Tasmania, Australia (above). Photo: Shutterstock

Less crowded than Amsterdam: traditional Dutch buildings line a canal in Utrecht (above), the Netherlands. Photo: Shutterstock

5 quieter Paris tourist spots to avoid the 2024 Olympics crowds, from a Notre-Dame alternative to The Grand Mosque

The Grand Mosque of Paris is one of the city’s lesser-known attractions. We look at this and other alternative tourist spots for visitors to the French capital looking to avoid the crowds during the 2024 Summer Olympics. Photo: Ronan O’Connell

The Grand Mosque of Paris is inspired by North African architecture. Photo: Ronan O’Connell

The Grand Mosque of Paris’ towering minaret. Photo: Ronan O’Connell

A piece on show at the Quai Branly Museum, which focuses on non-Western art. Photo: Ronan O’Connell

The Quai Branly Museum contains a collection of over 3,000 items. Photo: Ronan O’Connell

At Candora Paris, customers can create their own fragrance. Photo: Ronan O’Connell

Candora Paris owner Emmanuel Frossard teaches tourists how to blend fragrances. Photo: Ronan O’Connell

The stately facade of the BnF Library Richelieu. Photo: Ronan O’Connell

The BnF Library Richelieu is an architectural marvel. Photo: Ronan O’Connell

The interior of the Saint-Nicolas-des-Champs Church, which is a gothic masterpiece. Photo: Ronan O’Connell

Lifestyle

Travel & Leisure

Sport

Other Sport

These sightseeing spots in Paris and elsewhere will host some of the 2024 Olympics events, and are likely to leave visitors wide-eyed


As well as stadiums and arenas, these five tourist hotspots around Paris and elsewhere in France will host events for the 2024 Olympics, and should add to the wow factor of the Games.


Paris 2024 Olympic Games

France

Paris