Paris

Why go

Step out of the metro at Saint-Paul and within ten minutes you pass a 17th-century square, the falafel queue on rue des Rosiers, an Art Nouveau synagogue and three bakeries, each with its own version of the croissant. The centre is dense and mostly flat, so your best days are spent on foot, with one booked museum as an anchor.

The small rituals cost little: a coffee at the zinc counter, or a Thursday evening at the Musée d'Orsay, when tickets drop to €12 after 6pm. Buy a cup of Berthillon sorbet and eat it on the quay of the Île Saint-Louis as the light goes.

This is a good year to come back. Notre-Dame is open again after the 2019 fire, and its towers reopened in September 2025. The metro runs on one flat fare. The trade-off is planning: the big museums run on timed tickets, the Louvre charges visitors from outside the European Economic Area €32, and non-EU travellers now give fingerprints at the border.

The lay of the land

The Seine splits Paris in two. The Right Bank (rive droite), to the north, holds the Louvre, the grand boulevards, the Marais and Montmartre. The Left Bank (rive gauche), to the south, has the Latin Quarter, Saint-Germain-des-Prés and the Eiffel Tower. Between them sit two islands: the Île de la Cité, with Notre-Dame and Sainte-Chapelle, and the residential Île Saint-Louis.

The 20 arrondissements spiral clockwise from the centre like a snail shell, from the 1st around the Louvre to the 20th in the east. The last two digits of a postcode give the arrondissement, so 75004 is the 4th.

Paris itself is compact. About 2.05 million people live in roughly 105 square kilometres inside the Boulevard Périphérique ring road, according to INSEE's January 2026 estimate, and almost everything a first-time visitor wants lies within an hour's walk of Notre-Dame. Metro line 1 is a useful spine, running beneath the Rue de Rivoli and the Champs-Élysées from Bastille past the Louvre to the Arc de Triomphe. On streets that run away from the Seine, house numbers start at the river end.

When to go

Paris has a mild, damp climate with no dry season. At Météo-France's Parc Montsouris station, average highs run from about 8 °C in January to 26 °C in July and August (1991–2020 normals). May is the wettest month on average, at 69 mm; February and September are the driest.

The best months are late April to June and September to mid-October, when days are long and mild and the terraces fill up. June brings two free, city-wide nights out: Nuit Blanche, the all-night art event, now held in early June (6 June in 2026), and the Fête de la Musique on 21 June. On the third weekend of September, the European Heritage Days open buildings that stay closed the rest of the year.

July and August are hot and crowded at the big sights, and Montsouris has recorded 42.6 °C in July. In August many Parisians leave, and some bistros and bakeries close for two or three weeks. Bastille Day on 14 July ends with fireworks at the Eiffel Tower, and in 2026 the city's free swimming spots in the Seine ran from 4 July to 30 August.

November to February is grey and short on daylight, with highs of 8–11 °C, but hotels are cheapest and queues shortest. This autumn, the Louvre requires a reservation for every visitor from 17 October to 1 November 2026, and Versailles switches to cheaper low-season prices on 1 November.

What it costs

Paris is dear for beds and cheap for small pleasures. A central 3-star double typically costs €170–260 a night, plus a tourist tax (taxe de séjour) of €5.53 per person per night at 3-star level in 2026. Hostel dorm beds run €35–60.

Food is where you control the budget. An espresso at the counter costs around €1.50–2.50, and cafés post higher prices for tables and the terrace. A jambon-beurre and a pastry from a bakery comes in under €10, and many bistros serve a fixed-price lunch (the formule) for far less than dinner. Tap water by the carafe (une carafe d'eau) is free.

Transport is good value: €2.55 takes you anywhere in the region by metro, RER or suburban train, including Versailles and Disneyland Paris. Museums are the big line item, at €32 for the Louvre (non-EEA adults), €16 for Orsay booked online and €22 for Sainte-Chapelle. Under-18s enter most national museums free. The Paris Museum Pass (€85 for two days, €105 for four, €125 for six) pays off only at three or more paid sites a day, and it excludes the Eiffel Tower.

Food and drink prices here are typical ranges compiled from menus and price surveys, not official figures. Transport, museum and tax prices come from the operators and were checked on 12 October 2026.

Getting there and around

Most long-haul flights land at Charles de Gaulle (CDG). The RER B reaches Gare du Nord in about 25 minutes and Châtelet in about 40, for €14. Until 11 December 2026, maintenance works close the line between Châtelet and the airport from 22:45 on weeknights and some weekends, with replacement buses from Gare du Nord, so check before a late arrival. Taxis from CDG charge a flat €56 to the Right Bank or €65 to the Left Bank.

Orly (ORY) is now on metro line 14, about 26 minutes from Châtelet on the same €14 ticket; taxis charge €36 to the Left Bank and €45 to the Right Bank. Some low-cost airlines use Beauvais (BVA), whose shuttle coach to Porte Maillot takes 75 to 105 minutes and costs €17.90 online. Eurostar trains from London, Brussels and Amsterdam arrive at Gare du Nord.

Inside the city the metro is quick and runs until after 1am most nights, but in the centre walking is often faster for one or two stops. Buses are slower and show you more. Vélib' shared bikes cost €3 a ride for up to 45 minutes, and protected lanes on the Rue de Rivoli and the quays make cycling easy. Taxis show a green roof light when free. Ignore anyone offering a ride inside airport or station halls.

Where to stay

For a first visit, pay for location. The Marais (3rd and 4th) puts you within walking distance of Notre-Dame, the Louvre and Place des Vosges, with Sunday shopping and food until late. Saint-Germain-des-Prés (6th) is quieter and pricier, with Left Bank cafés and the Luxembourg Gardens. The Latin Quarter (5th) costs a little less and sits close to everything.

For value and a neighbourhood feel, look north and east. Canal Saint-Martin (10th) has good bars, cheaper rooms and Gare du Nord within walking distance for Eurostar travellers. Oberkampf (11th) is where many Parisians go out, and Belleville next door is one of the city's Chinatowns, full of cheap Chinese and Vietnamese restaurants. Montmartre (18th) trades convenience for village lanes and hills.

Skip rooms right by Gare du Nord and Gare de l'Est: they can be noisy, and the streets around them feel rough late at night. The Champs-Élysées area costs a lot for what you get and goes quiet in the evening. In summer, ask if your room has air-conditioning, because many older hotels lack it and top-floor rooms under the zinc roofs get hot.

What to do

Build each day around one booked anchor and a long walk.

The Louvre is too big for one visit, so pick a wing. Denon holds the Mona Lisa and the big Italian and French paintings, Sully covers ancient Egypt and the medieval foundations, and Richelieu has the Napoleon III apartments and quieter Northern European galleries. The Galerie d'Apollon, closed after the jewel theft of October 2025, reopened on 22 July 2026 without the crown jewels on display.

On the Île de la Cité, Notre-Dame is free. Book the optional free time slot on the cathedral's website or come early on a weekday. The towers cost €16 with a timed ticket sold online only, and the climb is 424 steps. Nearby, the upper chapel of Sainte-Chapelle is almost entirely stained glass. Go on a sunny morning, book a 30-minute slot (€22) and allow for the security check shared with the Palais de Justice.

The Musée d'Orsay holds the great Impressionist collection in a Beaux-Arts railway station; it stays open until 21:45 on Thursdays and closes on Mondays. The Eiffel Tower is best at dusk, when it sparkles for five minutes at the top of each hour, and the summit by lift costs €36.70. Montmartre is a morning walk, up from Abbesses to Sacré-Cœur and down the quieter western slope along rue Lepic. An hour-long Seine cruise explains how the city fits together.

For a day trip, the Palace of Versailles is one RER C ride away on a €2.55 ticket. The Passport ticket covers the palace, Trianon and gardens for €35 in high season (to 31 October) and €25 from 1 November, with €3 off for EEA visitors. Morning slots sell out first, and the palace closes on Mondays. Claude Monet's house and garden at Giverny open daily until 1 November 2026, the centenary year of his death. Take a train from Saint-Lazare to Vernon-Giverny, then a shuttle bus or a hired bike.

Eat and drink

Lunch runs from about noon to 2pm, dinner rarely starts before 7:30pm, and many restaurants close on Sundays, Mondays or both, plus a few weeks in August. Book popular bistros a few days ahead.

Bouillons are the exception. Bouillon Chartier on the Grands Boulevards has served cheap French classics since 1896, opens every day and takes no reservations, so you queue.

Start the day at a bakery. Du Pain et des Idées, near the Canal Saint-Martin, opens on weekdays only and is known for its pain des amis. Stohrer on rue Montorgueil has baked since 1730 and is famous for its baba au rhum. For steak-frites, Le Relais de l'Entrecôte in Saint-Germain serves one fixed menu with no bookings. Au Pied de Cochon at Les Halles is the classic address for onion soup gratinée. L'As du Fallafel on rue des Rosiers has filled pitas since 1979 and closes on Friday evening and Saturday. Berthillon on the Île Saint-Louis has made ice cream and sorbet since 1954.

The Marché des Enfants Rouges, the city's oldest covered market, doubles as a lunch counter and closes on Mondays. Wine bars (bars à vins) are the best-value way to drink well.

Etiquette matters. Say "bonjour" when you walk into any shop, bar or restaurant, and keep your voice down. Service is included, so a tip is a small extra for good service. The bill arrives only when you ask for it.

Practicalities

Money and cards. Contactless payment works almost everywhere, but carry a little cash. Use ATMs at banks; Smartraveller warns of card skimming in tourist areas. When a terminal offers your home currency, choose euros.

Data. EU SIM cards roam at home rates. An unlimited 10-day France eSIM from Airalo cost US$29 on 12 October 2026.

Water and power. Tap water is safe, and the green Wallace fountains dispense it free. Plugs are types C and E, at 230 V.

Safety. The US rates France at Level 2 (exercise increased caution) for terrorism and unrest, so expect armed patrols and bag checks. Petty theft is the everyday risk, including phones snatched from café terrace tables.

Etiquette and law. Greet before you ask, and dress modestly in churches. Covering your face in public is illegal, with fines of up to €150.

LGBTQ+ travellers. Same-sex marriage has been legal in France since 2013, and the Marais has long been the centre of gay nightlife. The Pride march takes place in late June.

Accessibility. Much of the metro is stairs only. Line 14 has lifts at every station, buses have ramps, and the Louvre admits disabled visitors and one companion free.

Phrases. Bonjour (hello), merci (thank you), excusez-moi (excuse me), l'addition, s'il vous plaît (the bill, please), une carafe d'eau (a jug of tap water).

What nobody tells you

The Mona Lisa is a crowd event. You queue to stand behind a barrier several metres from a small painting behind glass. Turn around: the opposite wall holds Veronese's Wedding Feast at Cana, the largest painting in the Louvre, and almost nobody is looking at it.

A timed ticket does not mean no queue. You still clear security at the Louvre, Notre-Dame and Sainte-Chapelle, and in peak season those lines can be long.

The Centre Pompidou is closed. It shut completely at the end of September 2025 for a renovation scheduled to run until 2030, so ignore older guides that send you there.

Expect strikes. They usually hit certain lines or days, and the operators publish service forecasts the evening before, so check the RATP and SNCF apps before a flight or a Eurostar. Leave any demonstration where police deploy tear gas or water cannon.

August can disappoint. The bakery you read about may be shut for its summer break, and old buildings trap the heat.

Gare du Nord, where Eurostar and the RER B arrive, is a known pickpocket hotspot. Know where you are going before you leave the platform, and refuse help from strangers at the ticket machines.

Learn "bonjour" and use it every time. It is the cheapest upgrade in Paris.