Montparnasse Tower

The tower was completed in 1973 at two hundred and ten metres, and the reaction was strong enough that building high-rises in central Paris was prohibited two years later, which is why it still stands alone. The observation deck on the fifty-sixth floor and the open terrace on the roof give a three hundred and sixty degree view, and the standard remark, repeated often enough to be a cliche, is that this is the best view in Paris because it is the only one without the Montparnasse Tower in it. The lift reaches the deck in thirty-eight seconds. A renovation has been proposed repeatedly to soften the facade.

What you actually see

• The open roof terrace - a full circle view without glass.
• The Eiffel Tower - visible in full, unlike from the Eiffel itself.
• The city grid - Haussmann's boulevards read clearly from height.
• The lift - thirty-eight seconds to the fifty-sixth floor.

When to go

Year-round; sunset is the popular hour and queues build for it. The roof terrace closes in high wind or rain. Clear winter days give the sharpest long views.

Honest expectations

The building itself is widely disliked and the surrounding district is unattractive. The roof terrace closes without notice in bad weather. Sunset slots queue heavily.

Nearby

Montparnasse cemetery lies south; Saint-Germain is northeast.