Paris, the classic and the new

Grandeur and the modern spirit

Paris rewards the early riser. Take the first timed entry at the Louvre (it is closed on Tuesdays; book on ticket.louvre.fr), then walk out through the Tuileries to the Place de la Concorde while the gravel paths are still quiet. Across the river, Notre-Dame, reopened to visitors and worship in December 2024, is free to enter, with optional time slots on its own website. By the afternoon you can be in the Marais, among the mansions of the rue des Francs-Bourgeois and the arcades of the Place des Vosges, or by the Canal Saint-Martin, with its locks and iron footbridges.

The city’s newest addresses keep the conversation going between old and new. The Bourse de Commerce, a domed former exchange near Les Halles, now shows the Pinault Collection; the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain has moved to 2 place du Palais-Royal, opposite the Louvre; and the Centre Pompidou is closed for its transformation, which the Centre gives as 2025 to 2030, with its programme at partner venues meanwhile.

The Louvre and the Palais-Royal →   The Marais →

Traditions and seasonal style

Paris dresses with care rather than show. Spring and autumn are the most comfortable seasons for walking; summer brings long evenings, the Fête de la Musique on 21 June, held across France every year since 1982 (culture.gouv.fr), the national holiday on 14 July and, since 2025, supervised swimming in the Seine. In October Montmartre celebrates the harvest of its own small vineyard, the Clos Montmartre; in winter the department stores of the boulevard Haussmann dress their windows for Christmas.

Say “bonjour” as you walk into a shop or café, and dress respectfully in churches. An evening at the Palais Garnier or the Opéra Bastille is the occasion to dress up: the Opéra national de Paris has no strict dress code but asks for proper attire, and for gala evenings suggests a dark suit or a dress (operadeparis.fr).

Christmas in Paris →   Tickets for opera and concerts →

At the table: the café, the bouillon and the new kitchens

The day starts at a café: a coffee on the terrace of the Café de Flore or Les Deux Magots in Saint-Germain, a hot chocolate at Angelina facing the Tuileries, or a loaf from Poilâne on the rue du Cherche-Midi. The baguette de tradition française is defined by a decree of 1993: wheat flour, water, salt and yeast or sourdough, nothing more. Lunch can be a bouillon, the Parisian institution of good cooking at modest prices, at Bouillon Chartier on the rue du Faubourg-Montmartre, or one of the classic bistros, Benoit, Allard or Le Bistrot Paul Bert.

The new Paris cooks at both ends of the scale. Nine tables hold Three MICHELIN Stars in the 2026 guide, among them Arpège, Kei, Plénitude at Cheval Blanc Paris and Le Pré Catelan in the Bois de Boulogne; in the 11th, Septime and its seafood sibling Clamato show how far the neighbourhood bistro has come. For wine, take the train to Reims, where the Champagne hillsides, houses and cellars are listed by UNESCO.

Parisian Cuisine →   The best restaurants in Paris →   Reims and Champagne →

Gardens, forests and the river within reach

Paris is a city of gardens: the Luxembourg with its Medici Fountain and toy sailboats, the Jardin des Plantes and its glasshouses, the cliffs and temple of the Buttes-Chaumont. On its western edge the Bois de Boulogne has lakes to row on and the Jardin d’Acclimatation for children; and in summer you can swim in the Seine itself, at Bras Marie, Grenelle and Bercy.

Beyond the city, the Forest of Fontainebleau surrounds the palace that UNESCO has listed since 1981, south-east of Paris and reached by train from the Gare de Lyon. Monet’s water-lily garden at Giverny opens seasonally, and the Domaine de Chantilly sets its château, gardens and Great Stables in parkland north of the city. For the sea, the TGV runs south to the Riviera from the Gare de Lyon.

Fontainebleau →   Giverny →   Chantilly →

After dark, and what’s new

Paris goes out in layers. Begin with a drink at the Bar Hemingway inside the Ritz on the Place Vendôme, or at Harry’s New York Bar on the rue Daunou, which dates its story to 1911. Later, the cocktail bars of the upper Marais, Little Red Door on the rue Charlot and Candelaria behind its taquería, keep the night young, and in fine weather Le Perchoir opens its rooftops. For a revue, book direct with the Moulin Rouge, the Crazy Horse or the Paradis Latin; for electronic music, the Rex Club lies beneath the Grand Rex.

What’s new is underground and on the water: metro line 14 now runs to Orly Airport, the Grand Paris Express is opening its new lines around the capital in stages, and the Seine has become a summer swimming place again.

The best bars in Paris →   What’s new in Paris →

Beyond the usual circuit

Some of the most rewarding Paris lies just off the well-trodden path. Walk north from Galerie Vivienne through the covered passages on a rainy afternoon; visit Deyrolle, the cabinet of curiosities on the rue du Bac; see the Musée Jacquemart-André’s collection in its own mansion, or Monet’s paintings at the Musée Marmottan Monet by the Ranelagh gardens. In the east, the Atelier des Lumières projects art on the walls of a former foundry, and the Parc des Buttes-Chaumont rises above the 19th arrondissement.

The Canal Saint-Martin and the east →   Montmartre and Pigalle →

The rail frontier: London, Amsterdam and the south

Paris is the hub of France’s railways, with six termini, each facing its own part of the country and of Europe. The Eurostar leaves the Gare du Nord for London St Pancras, Brussels and Amsterdam; SNCF’s TGVs run from the Gare de Lyon to the Riviera and from the Gare de l’Est to Reims. Book on eurostar.com and sncf-connect.com, and check the timetable before you travel.

Paris by rail →   The ULTIMATE London City Guide →   The ULTIMATE Amsterdam City Guide →   The ULTIMATE French Riviera guide →   ULTIMATE Rail Journeys →

The films that captured Paris

Cinema was born here, or at least went public here: on 28 December 1895 the Lumière brothers held their first paying screening in the Salon indien of the Grand Café, on the boulevard des Capucines. The city has been on screen ever since. François Truffaut’s The 400 Blows (1959) follows a boy through the Paris of the late 1950s; Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless (1960) walks the Champs-Élysées; Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Amélie (2001) made Montmartre a place of pilgrimage; and Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris (2011) sends its hero back to the 1920s at the stroke of midnight.

Our advice: see a classic at La Cinémathèque française by the Parc de Bercy, or a new release in the Art Deco hall of Le Grand Rex.

La Cinémathèque française →   Le Grand Rex →

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