Forget the Tuileries Ditch Paris’s most famous garden in favor of the little-known Promenade Plantee, an elevated avenue atop a viaduct, enhanced by trellises of climbing roses and lavender beds (12th arrondissement).
Skip the Louvre Resist the crowd-pulling Mona Lisa with a visit to the serene sculpture garden of the Musee Rodin ($6; www.musee-rodin.fr), or for contemporary art, go to the Palais de Tokyo ($7.30; palaisdetokyo.com).
Be late See the major sites by night. The Louvre ($10) stays open until 9:45 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays. The Eiffel Tower ($13.50) closes at midnight, and the Arc de Triomphe ($8.50) at 11 p. m.
Go to new heights For a daytime view of the city, quit Notre Dame and look down on the action from the ninth-floor terrace of the Institut du Monde Arabe (Place Mohammed V).
