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Île-de-France · France
Paris
Paris is small enough to walk and dense enough that walking is the point. The great museums will still be there; the pleasure is the hour spent getting to them.
Stays from €122 a night
The place
What Paris is actually like
Central Paris fits inside a ring road you can cycle in ninety minutes, and the twenty arrondissements spiral out from the Louvre like a snail shell. That compactness is the city's defining feature: almost everything worth seeing is a walk or one Métro stop from almost everything else.
The Right Bank holds the grand set pieces — the Louvre, the Opéra, the Marais, Montmartre. The Left Bank is quieter and more residential, with Saint-Germain, the Latin Quarter and the best bookshops. Neither is better; the eleventh and the tenth, east of the centre, are where the city's current energy actually is.
Food has moved decisively in the last decade. The bistronomie movement put serious cooking into small rooms at sane prices, and the natural wine scene around Oberkampf and Ménilmontant is the most interesting in Europe. The classic institutions are still worth it — but they are no longer the whole story.
Timing
When to visit
Honest seasonality — including the months we would not recommend.
- Busiest
Apr – Jun
Best overall
Long light evenings, gardens at their best, terraces open. Book early.
- Balanced
Jul – Aug
Hot and emptied out
Parisians leave and many small restaurants close for August. Museums are busy, streets are not.
- Balanced
Sep – Oct
The insider choice
The city comes back to life, weather holds, and rates drop from the summer peak.
- Quietest
Nov – Mar
Grey and cheap
Short damp days, but the best hotel value and museums you can actually move around in.
Neighbourhoods
Where to stay in Paris
Each area suits a different trip. Pick the one that matches yours.
Le Marais (3e/4e)
Medieval streets, the best independent shopping, central to everything
- First visits
- Walking
- Nightlife
Saint-Germain (6e)
Elegant, literary, expensive — the Left Bank at its most composed
- Couples
- Luxury
- Cafés
Canal Saint-Martin (10e)
Where young Paris actually eats and drinks, ten minutes from Gare du Nord
- Value
- Food
- Repeat visits
Montmartre (18e)
Village on a hill with real quiet above the tourist streets
- Views
- Romance
- Character
Stays
Popular hotels in Paris
Live prices from our accommodation partners for a sample three-night stay.
Things to do
What to do in Paris
- Musée d'Orsay before the Louvre — smaller, better lit, and the collection is extraordinary
- Walk the Coulée verte, the elevated park that predates New York's High Line
- Sainte-Chapelle on a bright morning, when the windows do what they were built to do
- Marché d'Aligre on a Sunday, then oysters at Le Baron Rouge next door
- Père Lachaise, which is a park as much as a cemetery
- A day at Versailles, arriving at opening or after 3pm
Eating and drinking
- Bistronomie in the 11e — Septime, Clamato and their many descendants
- A proper boulangerie baguette de tradition, still warm, eaten on the walk home
- Natural wine bars around Oberkampf and Belleville
- Sunday market lunch: rotisserie chicken, a slab of Comté, and one very good tomato
Book ahead
Tours, tickets and day trips
Practicalities
Things worth knowing
Buy museum tickets with a timed slot
The Louvre, Orsay and Sainte-Chapelle all sell timed entry online. The queue difference is often over an hour.
Learn "Bonjour"
Entering a shop or restaurant without greeting the room first reads as rude in a way that shapes the whole interaction. It is the single highest-return French phrase.
Avoid restaurants with photographs on the menu
Almost without exception, and especially within sight of a monument.
The Métro beats taxis
Traffic is dreadful and the network is dense. Nothing central is more than about 400 metres from a station.
Orientation
Paris at a glance
Questions
Paris FAQ
How many days do you need in Paris?
Four nights covers the major museums and two or three neighbourhoods without rushing. A week lets you add Versailles or Giverny and still have unstructured days, which is when Paris is at its best.
Is the Paris Museum Pass worth it?
Only if you plan on three or more major sites in consecutive days. It no longer skips the security queue at the Louvre, which was historically its main advantage.
Which airport is better, CDG or Orly?
Orly is closer and simpler but serves fewer long-haul routes. From CDG, the RER B reaches central Paris in about 35 minutes and is usually faster than a taxi.
Is Paris walkable?
Exceptionally. Central Paris is around 10 km across, and the most rewarding way to see it is on foot with the Métro for longer hops.
Elsewhere
