Paris 2024: the 10 most iconic venues at the Olympic Games

Eiffel Tower and Champ de Mars

Beach volleyball enthusiasts will enjoy the most picturesque views of the Games in a 12,000-seat temporary outdoor stadium at the foot of Paris’s most famous landmark, the Eiffel Tower. Portions of its parts have been melted down and reforged into the Olympic medals, each containing an 18-gram piece of original Eiffel Tower iron. Between the Eiffel Tower and the stately École Militaire lies the Champ de Mars. Once a parade ground for 18th century army cadets, it will host judo and wrestling (freestyle and Greco-Roman) inside the newly constructed Champ de Mars Arena.

Pont Alexandre III

With its gold-winged statues representing industry, commerce, science, and the arts, the bridge will set the stage for marathon swimming, individual time trials in road cycling and the triathlon. Pont Alexandre III was built for the Paris Exhibition in 1900, a global fair celebrating the previous century’s achievements and promoting development into the next, to allow visitors to cross the Seine. The bridge links two other Paris 2024 venues, the Grand Palais and Invalides.

Place de la Concorde

Just a stone’s throw from Pont Alexandre III, Paris will transform La Concorde into an open-air arena for urban sports. This city’s largest square connects the Champs-Elysées with the Jardins des Tuileries and the Louvre. It’s also where Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, the last monarchs of the country, were guillotined in 1793. For Paris 2024 La Concorde will host the newest addition to the Olympic programme, breaking, alongside skateboarding (street and park), sport climbing, 3x3 basketball, and BMX freestyle.

Grand Palais

Also unveiled during the exhibition in 1900, the Grand Palais is a jewel of Parisian splendour with its majestic barrel-vaulted glass roof, the largest of its kind in Europe, supported by 6,000 tonnes of steel painted in verdant hues. Fencing and taekwondo will occur beneath. Closed since 2021 for extensive restoration, the Grand Palais will reopen to the public in 2025.

Les Invalides

The Hôtel des Invalides, a historic complex tracing France’s military heritage, was established during Louis XIV’s reign in 1687. A pilgrimage destination for military aficionados, it boasts a storied past, its illustrious golden dome dominating the skyline amid the serene formal gardens surrounding the converted military hospital turned museum. Olympic archers will draw their bows here, competing in the shadow of Napoleon’s final resting place. His tomb, a masterpiece of craftsmanship, features a red porphyry sarcophagus encasing a series of nested caskets crafted from mahogany, ebony, iron, and lead.

Palace of Versailles

Once the bastion of French royalty, the palace is among Paris’s most revered tourist destinations. Amid Versailles’s opulent halls, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette hosted grand feasts before their fall during the French Revolution. Established as a national museum in 1837 and designated a Unesco world heritage site in 1979, Versailles remains a symbol of opulence with a mirror pool and sculpted basins graced by Neptune’s, Apollo’s and Latona’s fountains in its manicured gardens. A temporary outdoor arena will host dressage, eventing, show jumping, and modern pentathlon events.

Stade de France

The country’s national stadium holds a special place in French sports history. Inaugurated in 1998, its first goal was scored by Zinedine Zidane, who later that year led France to their first World Cup victory by scoring two goals against Brazil in the final. With an 80,000-seat capacity, it has hosted numerous sporting events, including the 2003 World Athletics Championships, matches during the 2016 European Championships, and the Champions League finals in 2000, 2006 and 2022. It also hosted matches during the 2023 Rugby World Cup. It will host the rugby 7s competitions and the athletics with a newly designed purple track and will continue to be a centrepiece of French sports culture this summer.

Paris Aquatic Centre

The state-of-the-art facility is the only permanent competition venue built for the 2024 Games. The aquatic centre features four pools and an impressive curved roof – the largest concave timber frame in the world – which filters light, collects rainwater and captures solar energy, making it one of France’s biggest urban solar farms. With a footbridge over the motorway to connect it to the Stade de France, the aquatics centre will be converted from a 5,000-seat venue during the Games to a 2,500-seat facility for community events in Saint-Denis, a district keen to expand its local sports culture long after the summer’s showpiece event.

Stade Roland Garros

Roland Garros will welcome boxing alongside tennis this summer. Nestled on the edge of the Bois de Boulogne, the complex, which hosts the French Open every year, will be only the second grand slam venue to stage an Olympic event, after the All England Club in London in 1908 and 2012. Hosting the tennis at the Olympics on clay is a rarity, last seen at the 1992 Games in Barcelona. It has 18 courts, and recent upgrades include a revolutionary retractable roof over Court Philippe-Chatrier, and a 5,000-seat Court Simonne-Mathieu integrated into the Jardin des Serres d’Auteuil gardens. Philippe-Chatrier will host the tennis finals, key matches and boxing finals in the second week.

Yves-du-Manoir Stadium

Hosting the Olympic Games twice is a privilege granted to few venues. First opened in 1907 and renovated for the 1924 Games, Stade Yves-du-Manoir served as the primary arena for athletics, cycling, equestrian events, gymnastics, tennis, football, rugby, and parts of the modern pentathlon. It will take on a more low-key role this year, hosting the hockey competitions. This makes it the only venue in France to stage events for two separate Olympic Games, solidifying its place in Paris’s Olympic legacy.