With two miles of facade in the heart of Paris, the magnificent Louvre Museum is the largest art museum in the world. Erected as a fortress at what was the edge of town in the 12th century (its foundations can be toured in the basement), it was revamped as a royal residence in the 16th century. The Louvre remained the repository of the royal art collection even after Louis XIV moved the court to Versailles and opened as a museum in 1793. A renovation in the 1980s and '90s included the addition of I.M. Pei's then-controversial, now-iconic glass pyramid.
But this rich history is not what draws long lines of visitors; it's the approximately 35,000 works of art - from ancient times through the 19th century - displayed in more than 600,000 square feet of space. The Louvre is the home of several of the most famous artworks in the world, including the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo.
Little wonder, then, that last year the museum tallied more than 10.2 million visitors. Considering its size and crowds, chances are you'll visit only a fraction of its 400-plus rooms and steal only a peek at the Mona Lisa. To truly experience the Louvre, you need comfortable shoes, ample patience and more than one day.
For a more serene art-filled experience, walk about 15 minutes North and East to Boulevard Haussmann to explore a smaller, lesser-known cultural gem: the Musée Jacquemart-André.