Paris travel guide
Where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Things to do in Paris, planned over three days
Best time to visit Paris
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Best window with autumn: mild weather, gardens in bloom, terraces in full use and long June daylight.
July is full throttle and can top 35C with little air conditioning. August brings annual closures at many independents.
Connoisseur pick: restaurants reopen, light is golden, crowds thin after mid September, but Fashion Week spikes hotel rates.
Cold, dark and cheap, with emptiest museums and lowest hotel rates outside Christmas, New Year and fashion weeks.
What's on
- Paris Marathon April
Closes the Seine quays and fills central hotels that weekend.
- Roland-Garros Late May to early June
French Open at Stade Roland-Garros. Early rounds are the attainable ticket, finals weekend spikes west side hotel prices.
- Fête de la Musique 21 June
The whole city becomes a free street concert, wonderful and with no sleep before 2am anywhere central.
- Bastille Day fireworks 14 July
National day fireworks, with the Tour de France finish and Paris Plages also in July.
- Rock en Seine Late August
Paris's main rock and pop festival at Domaine national de Saint-Cloud, just west of the city.
- Paris Fashion Week Late September to early October
Sends hotel rates to their annual peak.
- Nuit Blanche Early June
A free all night trail of art installations and performances across the city, from early evening to dawn.
Worth the trip for
Best things to do in Paris
Musée d'Orsay
Impressionist and Post-Impressionist masters in a Beaux-Arts station you can finish in a few hours.
Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris
Reopened medieval cathedral at the heart of Paris, free to enter with an optional timed reservation.
Sainte-Chapelle
Thirteenth century royal chapel whose walls are almost entirely stained glass, best on a bright morning.
Musée de l'Orangerie
Two oval rooms of Monet Water Lilies plus a tight modern collection, calm and done in about 90 minutes.
Musée du Louvre
Vast museum that rewards a timed ticket, one chosen wing and a late opening rather than a noon walk in.
Eiffel Tower
Best from Champ de Mars or Trocadéro at dusk, watching it sparkle on the hour after dark.
Palais Garnier
Napoleon III opera house with marble staircase and Chagall ceiling, and Paris's best dress up ballet night.
Basilique du Sacré-Cœur de Montmartre
Free basilica and city view reached early via the quiet back streets before the crowds take over.
Where to stay in Paris
Le Marais
first trip, all-round base
Historic, central and walkable to Notre-Dame and the Louvre, with Sundays shopping when much of Paris shuts.
Saint-Germain-des-Prés
couples and classic Left Bank Paris
Literary cafés, antique shops and Luxembourg Gardens at the door, quieter and more polished than the Marais.
Bastille / Oberkampf
food trips, repeat visitors and value
Where Parisians eat and drink now, with hotel rates a clear step below the centre for comparable quality.
South Pigalle / Grands Boulevards
groups and nightlife-first trips
Central and superbly connected, full of cocktail bars and theatres in the streets south of the boulevard.
Invalides / Eiffel Tower
quiet, families and a splurge
Residential and orderly with the Rodin and Orsay nearby, but dull at night so sleep here and eat elsewhere.
Canal Saint-Martin / République
local-feeling alternative
Young café and canal Paris with good value and an excellent Métro hub at République.
Think twice about
- Gare du Nord and Gare de l'Est area
Run down streets, visible street homelessness, pickpockets and scams at the station mouths, unpleasant after dark.
- Barbès, La Chapelle and Stalingrad
Open drug use and encampments under the elevated Métro have been a persistent reported problem. Visit by day, base elsewhere.
- Boulevard de Clichy at Pigalle and Blanche
Sex shops, tourist bars and drunk crowds draw catcalling, aggressive touts and pickpockets, especially uneasy for solo travellers at night.
- Châtelet-Les Halles
Superb transport hub but a chaotic, crowded late night scene at street level, tiring to sleep on top of.
Best restaurants in Paris
Septime
One star seasonal tasting menus near Bastille, with reservations opening exactly 21 days ahead.
Clamato
Septime no reservations seafood sibling next door, arrive at opening for a table.
Bistrot Paul Bert
The classic bistro perfected, with a reference steak au poivre, serious wine list and proper soufflé.
Clown Bar
Belle Époque tiled room serving inventive small plates with a deep natural wine cellar.
Le Servan
Sisters bistro mixing French technique with Manila and Hong Kong flashes on a short market menu.
Double Dragon
Le Servan sibling on the same street doing the spicier, more casual version of the cooking.
Mokonuts
Tiny café near Aligre market with a superb weekday market lunch, famous cookies and natural wine.
L'Ami Jean
High energy Basque leaning bistro near the tower with huge portions and a shared rice pudding.
Best bars in Paris
Septime La Cave
Septime's wine bar sibling for natural wine and small plates, the fallback when the main restaurant is full.
Outdoor things to do in Paris
Vélib'
City bike share for short hops along the Seine or the Canal Saint-Martin locks, the best value hour in Paris.
Berges de Seine
Flat river banks and gated gardens for early runs between the Eiffel Tower and Île Saint-Louis.
Gardens of Versailles
Bike the Grand Canal, Trianons and Hamlet with a market picnic, then do the palace on its timed ticket.
Fondation Monet in Giverny
Monet house and gardens reached by train to Vernon then a flat 5 km bike ride, arriving at opening. Open only from April to 1 November.
Reims
Champagne day by TGV to Reims for cathedral and a booked cellar tour, cheaper than the guided version.
Forest of Fontainebleau
World class sandstone bouldering in colour coded circuits, best in spring and autumn and never on wet rock.
Le Golf National
Albatros course hosted the 2018 Ryder Cup and 2024 Olympic golf, a deliberate championship splurge.
Bois de Boulogne
Row the Lac Inférieur, cycle or run the lake and woodland loops in daylight and leave at dusk.
Best hotels in Paris
Pavillon de la Reine
Hidden behind an arch on Place des Vosges with courtyard garden and spa, the Marais splurge.
Hôtel Caron de Beaumarchais
Eighteenth century themed family hotel in the thick of the Marais at rates well below the palace tier.
Hôtel Lutetia
The only palace grade grand hotel on the Left Bank, Art Deco with a major spa.
Hôtel Saint Germain
Quiet family run classic on Rue du Bac between Saint-Germain and Invalides.
Hôtel Boutet Bastille - MGallery
Converted chocolate factory and bank by Bastille with pool and terraces, the 11th design splurge.
Le Petit Oberkampf Hôtel & Spa
31 individually designed rooms on a lively street with a private bookable spa and hammam.
Hôtel Amour
Garden courtyard scene hotel with Pigalle nightlife at the door, best in a courtyard room.
Hôtel Grand Amour
Bigger, livelier sister to Hôtel Amour with a restaurant bar, well placed for the canal.
Is Paris expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | €99 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | €265 a person |
| Splurge | €600 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Musée d'Orsay: a few days ahead
- Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris: a few days ahead
- Sainte-Chapelle: a few days ahead
- Musée de l'Orangerie: a few days ahead
- Musée du Louvre: weeks ahead
- Eiffel Tower: weeks ahead
- Palais Garnier: weeks ahead
- Fondation Louis Vuitton: weeks ahead
- Septime reservations open exactly 21 days ahead and go in minutes. Set the alarm.
- Eiffel Tower summit and Catacombs: official sites only, days to weeks ahead in season.
- Louvre, Sainte-Chapelle, Orsay and Versailles need timed tickets online. Notre-Dame is free but take the free timed slot.
- Good bistros book 1 to 2 weeks out for dinner, Paul Bert by phone only. Lunch is the walk in loophole.
- Museum closing days: Louvre and Orangerie Tuesday, Orsay, Rodin, Picasso and Catacombs Monday.
- Centre Pompidou is closed until 2030 for renovation.
Is Paris safe?
- Petty theft is the real risk, concentrated at the Eiffel Tower, Sacré-Cœur steps, Louvre plaza, Châtelet and Gare du Nord.
- Walk past the petition clipboard, the dropped gold ring, the friendship bracelet tie on and the cups and balls game without engaging.
- Phones off café tables at the terrace edge, bags zipped and worn in front in crowds.
- Start every interaction with bonjour. It measurably changes the service you get.
Paris travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Restaurants within sight of a major sight, with touts, photo menus in six languages or frozen food at triple prices. Walk two streets away.
- Moulin Rouge dinner show packages are overcrowded and overpriced, and the dinner is the worst part.
- Seine dinner cruises: take the cruise, skip the dinner, and eat properly before or after.
- Champs-Élysées as a destination: walk it once, buy nothing, eat nothing.
- Third party skip the line resellers for the Eiffel Tower and Catacombs at big markups over official tickets.
Getting around Paris: public transport and more
- Walk first: central Paris is compact and the walks are the trip.
- Métro and RER are dense and phone or card based, a ride is €2.55 and the airport run is a separate ticket of about €14.
- Use Bonjour RATP or Citymapper, and Vélib bikes for the flat centre and the canal.
- Do not rent a car for Paris itself. Taxis and ride hails are for late nights and luggage.
- On the RER B from Charles de Gaulle keep bags zipped and in front of you.
Who Paris suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Good |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | Good |
Make Paris your trip
Swearby drafts the days from places people swear by. Swap any stop, then invite the crew by text, even friends without the app. Vote on dates, track costs as you go, and everyone gets one number at the end.
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