Le Marais, Ménilmontant & Belleville
Paris' history museum, spanning Gallo-Roman times onwards, rambles over a pair of remarkable hôtels particuliers (private mansions), the 1560-built Hôtel…
Must-see attractions in Paris
St-Germain & Les Invalides
The 18th-century royal mint, Monnaie de Paris, houses the Musée du 11 Conti, an interactive museum exploring the history of French coinage from antiquity…
Latin Quarter
The National Museum of the Middle Ages is undergoing renovations through at least mid-2021. It will close completely for a minimum six months starting in…
St-Germain & Les Invalides
In 1646 work started on the twin-towered Church of St Sulpicius, lined inside with 21 side chapels, and it took six architects 150 years to finish. It's…
Paris
Built to house the Garde-Meuble de la Couronne (royal furnishings), the Hôtel de la Marine is one of two grand-scale palaces (along with the Hôtel de…
Paris
Much less touristy and congested than other Parisian villages such as Montmartre or Mouffetard, La Butte aux Cailles extends on a gently sloping hill…
Paris
In the southeastern corner of Paris, Bois de Vincennes encompasses some 995 hectares. Originally royal hunting grounds, the woodland was annexed by the…
Montmartre & Northern Paris
Marked by a neoclassical rotunda at its main bd Courcelles entrance, beautiful Parc Monceau sprawls over 8.2 lush hectares. It was laid out by Louis…
Paris
Monet’s extraordinary cycle of eight enormous Decorations des Nymphéas (Water Lilies) occupies two huge oval rooms purpose-built in 1927 on the artist's…
Paris
An industrial area that once housed a postal sorting centre was transformed into a pop-up cultural space and will now operate year-round until at least…
St-Germain & Les Invalides
A breath of fresh air, this 2.5km-long expressway-turned-riverside-promenade on the Left Bank is a favourite spot in which to run, cycle, skate, climb …
Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie
Montmartre & Northern Paris
Paris' top museum for kids has a host of hands-on exhibits for children aged two and up, the special-effects cinema La Géode, a planetarium and a retired…
Le Marais, Ménilmontant & Belleville
Inaugurated in 1612 as place Royale and thus Paris' oldest square, place des Vosges is a strikingly elegant ensemble of 36 symmetrical houses with ground…
Paris
A little-known gem near Parc de Bercy, the Cinémathèque Française was originally created in 1936 by film archivist Henri Langlois. Devoted to the history…
Le Marais, Ménilmontant & Belleville
Following the success of the former expressway turned park on the Left Bank, this 4.5km stretch of Unesco-listed Right Bank is also now a car-free…
Musée Yves Saint Laurent Paris
Paris
Housed in the legendary designer's studios (1974–2002), this museum holds retrospectives of YSL's avant-garde designs, from early sketches to finished…
Montmartre & Northern Paris
Street art and post-graffiti now have their own dedicated space at this 'anti-museum', with works by Banksy, Bom.K, Miss Van, Swoon and Invader (who's…
Paris
On the corner of rue des Petits Carreaux (the northern extension of foodie street rue Montorgueil), this extraordinary mur végétal ('vertical garden')…
Musée National Eugène Delacroix
St-Germain & Les Invalides
In a courtyard off a tree-shaded square, this museum is housed in the romantic artist’s home and studio at the time of his death in 1863. It contains a…
Montmartre & Northern Paris
Silver birds flutter across the dazzling metal façade of Paris' futuristic Philharmonic, a striking piece of contemporary architecture within the Cité de…
Le Marais, Ménilmontant & Belleville
Between 1832 and 1848 the celebrated novelist and poet Victor Hugo lived in an apartment in Hôtel de Rohan-Guéménée, a townhouse overlooking one of Paris'…
Paris
Paris' little-known third island, the artificially created Île aux Cygnes, was formed in 1827 to protect the river port and measures just 850m by 11m. On…
Le Marais, Ménilmontant & Belleville
In 2018 the corporate foundation of French retailer Galeries Lafayette opened this unique multidisciplinary space for producing, experimenting with and…
St-Germain & Les Invalides
With its sparkling golden dome (1677–1735), the landmark church of Hôtel des Invalides is one of the finest religious edifices erected under Louis XIV and…
Latin Quarter
Paris’ central mosque, with a striking 26m-high minaret, was completed in 1926 in an ornate art deco Moorish style. You can visit the interior to admire…
St-Germain & Les Invalides
North of Hôtel des Invalides, in the Cour d’Honneur, is the Musée de l’Armée, which holds the nation’s largest collection on French military history.
Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle
Latin Quarter
Despite the name, the National Museum of Natural History is not a single building, but a collection of sites throughout France. Its historic home is in…
Paris
A royal palace in the 14th century, the Conciergerie later became a prison. During the Reign of Terror (1793–94) alleged enemies of the Revolution were…
Paris
Running southeast from the Eiffel Tower, the grassy Champ de Mars – an ideal summer picnic spot – was originally used as a parade ground for the cadets of…
Marché International de Rungis
Paris
Covering an area bigger than Monaco (234 hectares), Paris' wholesale markets are sectioned into vast halls for meat, cheese, fish, fruit and vegetables,…
Paris
Privately administered collections of applied arts and design, advertising and graphic design, and fashion and textiles are displayed in the Rohan Wing of…
Paris
No trip to Paris is complete without strolling this broad, tree-shaded avenue lined with luxury shops. Named for the Elysian Fields (‘heaven’ in Greek…
Le Marais, Ménilmontant & Belleville
Built in 1879 as a museum, this magnificent glass-roofed building with arched wrought-iron girders wasn't actually used as one until over a century later,…
Paris
Originally a 12th-century hunting lodge, this fortified royal residence on Paris' fringe was expanded several times throughout the centuries until it…
Paris
Paris’ oldest bridge, misguidingly named 'New Bridge', has linked the western end of Île de la Cité with both riverbanks since 1607, when the king, Henri…
Le Marais, Ménilmontant & Belleville
In the southwestern corner of place des Vosges, duck beneath the arch to find two beautifully decorated, late-Renaissance courtyards festooned with…
Chapelle Notre-Dame de la Médaille Miraculeuse
St-Germain & Les Invalides
Tucked away at the end of a courtyard across from Le Bon Marché department store, this extraordinary and beautiful chapel is a place of pilgrimage. In…
Latin Quarter
Founded in 1626 as a medicinal herb garden for Louis XIII, Paris’ 24-hectare botanic gardens – visually defined by the double alley of plane trees that…
Latin Quarter
The Church of Mount St Stephen, built between 1492 and 1655, contains Paris’ only surviving rood screen (1521–45), separating the chancel from the nave;…
Paris
This much-anticipated art museum occupies the Bourse de Commerce, an 18th-century rotunda that once held the city's grain market and stock exchange…
