Palais de Chaillot and the esplanade

Worth seeing when you're there

• The view: from the esplanade the whole Tower fits in one frame, on purpose.
• The gilded figures and the inscriptions in gold letters on the wings.
• The two wings themselves, by Carlu, Azéma and Boileau, wrapped around what was left of the 1878 palace.
• The museums: the Musée de l'Homme, the naval museum and the Cité de l'architecture, with its full-size casts of cathedral portals.

A little history

The hill once carried the 1878 Palais du Trocadéro, all towers and Moorish arches. For the 1937 Exposition its central hall and towers came down and the architects wrapped the remains in pale stone. On 10 December 1948 the United Nations met here and adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which is why the terrace is the Esplanade des Droits de l'Homme. From 1952 to 1959 the palace was NATO's first headquarters.

Getting there, hours, cost

Metro Trocadéro (lines 6 and 9) opens onto the square behind the palace. The esplanade is public at all hours; the museums inside have their own hours and tickets.

Open

Esplanade: always

Closed

Museums: check each one

Cost

Esplanade free; museums ticketed

Note

Busiest in the afternoon; come early.

Hours change. Recheck official sources close to your date. Navigate here · Trail map

Nearby: eat, see, rest

• Cité de l'architecture Museum · 1 min on foot
• Musée de l'Homme Museum · 1 min on foot
• Café de l'Homme Restaurant, Tower-view terrace · 1 min on foot
• Musée national de la Marine Museum · 1 min on foot

More on the trail map and in The Eiffel Tower to Trocadéro walk.