Best View of Paris from above

At the plaza in front of Sacre Coeur in Montmartre, and best of all, it is free.

Or atop the Eiffel Tower or Montparnasse Tower - both cost $, but many favor Montparnasse for being less crowded, and also giving one a great view of the Eiffel Tower and Montmartre, too...

My favorite is the view from the Arc de Triomphe.

Montparnasse tower is overlooked.

Definitely the Tour de Montparnasse……360 degree view of Paris from the top.
If the weather is iffy, the staff at the desk at ground level will call the staff at the top to check the visibility before you buy a ticket!

IMHO the best is still the top of or the second floor of the Eiffel Tower.

An interesting high perch and free is the terrace of the Institute du Monde Arabe; you. can take the elevator to the terrace and get a good view of the back of Notre Dame and the city.

Galleries Lafayette has a terrace and a bar with a good view -- also for free (unless you buy a drink of course)

The terrace above the steps to Sacre Coeur has a fair view.

And of course the hideous Tour Montparnasse. I think it is 19 Euro for the terrace.

Not the best but nevertheless nice enough are the views from Parc St. Cloud and the Observatory Terrace in Meudon, well known for it’s old telescope buildings.

As my Parisian friends used to say, the best view is from the Tour Montparnasse, as it is the only way to avoid seeing the Tour M itself. It is indeed hideous!

In Chicago we have one big condo building built on the lake side of Lake Shore Drive. we were on the drive yesterday and my husband commented. 'That is our Montparnasse Tower; after people saw what a bad idea that was all further construction on the lake front was banned.' The Montparnasse Tower was the first step in Pompidou's plan to destroy the beauty of Paris with 'development'. Once people realized how hideous it was and how much skyscrapers would ruin the city, remaining high rise construction was pushed to la Defense and Paris spared. He did manage to take out Les Halles.

When we went to Paris, we went to the top of Notre Dame, Arc de Triumph, Eifel Tower, and Sacre Coeur. Did not do Montparnasse Tower ( I guess we didn't know that was an option!) I think we liked the Sacre Coeur view the best, followed by Eifel Tower (I took photos from the very top, though many responders say the lower floor is actually better).

In the early nineties there were plans building a 425 tall tower in La Défense with the name Tour sans Fins (Tower without ends, the s not a mistake). Would have been a good place for a view but never realized because of the economic crisis at the time.

The rooftop deck at Galerie Lafayette is indeed a good option, and free, but only if you’re visiting the store anyway. The problem is, it’s directly behind the Opera House and that blocks quite a bit of the view.

I'm a Tour Montparnasse fan because it's less crowded than ET, less windswept, includes the ET in the view, and, yes, you can't see it when you're on top of it. Maybe that was Pompidou's idea.....

Rick mentions a hotel near the Arc that is supposed to have a good view. Both Printemps and G Lafayette have free rooftops for viewing, they get quite crowded at holiday time.

I saved the Arc de Triomphe for a picture perfect weather day, arrived at opening time and of course the workers there were on strike.
Welcome to France!

LOL. We discovered Chateau Vincennes this last fall (I always thought it didn't look very interesting, I was wrong). We discovered it when we arrived at the Pompidou for a special exhibit and the museum staff was on strike; so we hoped on the metro and visited the Chateau -- it was great. Got a really nice cardboard model you build yourself for our 6 year old grandson who loved putting it together -- very high quality kit.

It's a toss up between the Eiffel Tower and the Montparnasse Tower. Mainly because from the top of the Eiffel Tower you can't see the Eiffel Tower. Problem is you can then see the Montparnasse Tower...

All you who are trashing the Montparnasse Tower are so funny. Because it's so true!