Finding the Eiffel Tower in Your Flight Sim
Flight sim navigation has gotten complicated with all the coordinate systems, scenery packs, and discovery flight options flying around. As someone who’s spent way too many hours flying virtual VFR tours of Paris, I learned everything there is to know about locating landmarks in your simulator and making the most of what modern photogrammetry rendering offers. Today, I’ll share the exact coordinates for the Eiffel Tower and how to get the best experience from your virtual visit.
The Coordinates You Need
The Eiffel Tower sits at 48.8584° N latitude, 2.2945° E longitude. Punch that into your GPS or flight management system, and you’ll be heading straight for one of the most recognizable landmarks in any flight simulator. In MSFS 2020 and MSFS 2024, the tower is rendered in remarkable detail thanks to photogrammetry—worth a low pass if the virtual authorities aren’t watching too closely.
The tower sits on the Champ de Mars, a large public park near the Seine River in Paris’s 7th arrondissement. For approach planning, you’ll want to be aware of the surrounding airspace and the proximity to several airports including Paris-Orly (LFPO) to the south and Paris-Le Bourget (LFPB) to the northeast. Paris-Charles de Gaulle (LFPG) is farther out but its airspace affects high-altitude approaches.
Probably Should Have Led With This Section, Honestly
Understanding these coordinates matters because the Eiffel Tower serves as a visual reference point for the entire Paris metropolitan area. When flying VFR in flight simulators—or planning routes that pass through French airspace—having landmark coordinates memorized (or saved in your flight plan) helps tremendously with orientation and situational awareness.
The tower’s central location at 48.8584° N, 2.2945° E places it in the heart of the city. This centrality makes it visible from most approach angles and useful for identifying your position relative to airports, the Seine River, and other landmarks. That’s what makes the Eiffel Tower endearing to us flight simmers who enjoy visual navigation—it’s basically the world’s most useful 300-meter waypoint marker.
From various altitudes and positions around Paris, the tower emerges as part of the skyline in ways that help you orient yourself. Flying northeast? The tower behind your left wing means you’re heading away from central Paris. Approaching from the west along the Seine? You’ll see it rising ahead long before you reach the city center.
Historical Context for Sim Pilots
Gustave Eiffel built the tower for the 1889 World’s Fair, and the location wasn’t random. The site on the Champ de Mars was chosen for visibility and accessibility—qualities that still matter today for both real and virtual pilots looking to spot it from the air. The tower was designed to be seen from everywhere in Paris, and from the air, it delivers on that promise.
At 330 meters tall (including antennas), the Eiffel Tower was the world’s tallest structure for 41 years. In flight simulation terms, that’s a significant obstacle if you’re flying low approaches to nearby airports or attempting any kind of urban sightseeing. Most modern sims model the tower accurately enough that you’ll want to maintain proper altitude clearance—hitting it ends your flight just as abruptly as hitting anything else.
Best Approaches for Sightseeing
For virtual photographers and sightseers, the coordinates offer endless opportunities depending on your approach direction and time of day settings:
From the northwest, you’ll get the classic shot with the tower framed against the city stretching behind it. The morning lighting in MSFS casts a beautiful glow that’s worth capturing with the built-in camera tools.
From the Seine River (following it southwest from central Paris), you’ll see the tower rising above the Trocadéro gardens. This is probably the most iconic angle, replicated in thousands of photographs and postcards. It works just as well from 1,500 feet AGL.
At virtual night, the tower’s lighting effects are worth the flight. The Eiffel Tower sparkles on the hour every hour in real life, and modern sims capture this reasonably well. Virtual Paris after dark is something special, and the tower serves as the centerpiece.
Planning Your Virtual Visit
Getting to 48.8584° N, 2.2945° E is straightforward in any modern flight simulator. Set the coordinates as a waypoint, choose an aircraft appropriate for sightseeing (slow and maneuverable beats fast for this kind of flying), and plan your altitude to give yourself good views without clipping the tower itself.
Popular starting points include:
Paris-Orly (LFPO) – About 14 km south of the tower. Quick hop in a GA aircraft, easy pattern work before heading north toward the city.
Paris-Le Bourget (LFPB) – Historic airport northeast of the city with real aviation significance. Scenic route following the Seine toward the tower.
Versailles-Saint-Cyr (LFPZ) – Small grass field southwest of Paris. Beautiful approach that takes you over the Palace of Versailles before reaching the city.
Toussus-le-Noble (LFPN) – Another small field with easy access to Parisian airspace for sightseeing.
Beyond the Coordinates
The Eiffel Tower transcends its GPS position. It represents both a practical navigation waypoint and a reminder of why many of us fly simulators in the first place—to see the world from perspectives we couldn’t otherwise experience, to visit places we might never reach in real life, and to practice skills that make us better pilots whether virtual or otherwise.
Whether you’re practicing your navigation, working on your visual flying skills, or just enjoying the best virtual tourism modern simulators can offer, the coordinates 48.8584° N, 2.2945° E mark a destination worth visiting. Set your heading, maintain your altitude, watch for other traffic in busy Parisian airspace, and enjoy one of aviation’s most scenic landmarks from the best seat in any house—the cockpit.
