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Capital and largest city of France
Photo: Skyguy414 at English Wikipedia, Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
Paris, the cosmopolitan capital of France, has the reputation of being the most beautiful and romantic of all cities, brimming with historic associations and remaining vastly influential in the realms of culture, art, fashion, food and design.
1e: The geographical centre of Paris and a great starting point for travellers. The Musée du Louvre, the Jardin des Tuileries, Place Vendôme, Les Halles shopping centre, Palais Royal, Comédie-Française, théatre du Châtelet, Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, and the western half of Île de la Cité (Paris's largest island). 2e: The central business district of the city — the Bourse (the Paris Stock Exchange), Opéra-Comique, Théâtre des Variétés, Passage des Panoramas, Théâtre des Bouffes Parisiens and the former Bibliothèque Nationale are here. 3e: Archives Nationales, Musée Carnavalet, Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers, Hôtel de Soubise, the former Temple fortress, and the northern, quieter part of the Marais. 4e: Notre-Dame de Paris, the Hôtel de Ville (Paris city hall), Hôtel de Sully, Beaubourg, Rue des Rosiers and the Jewish Quarter, Le Marais, Bazar de l'Hôtel de Ville, Mémorial de la Shoah, Centre Georges Pompidou, l'atelier Brancusi, Place des Vosges, Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal, Saint-Jacques Tower and the Parisian island Île Saint-Louis as well as the eastern half of Île de la Cité.
5e: This is the eastern part of the Quartier latin (Latin Quarter). Jardin des Plantes, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Musée de Cluny, the Panthéon, La Sorbonne, Montagne Sainte-Geneviève, Église Saint-Séverin, La Grande Mosquée, Le Musée de l'AP-HP. 6e: This contains the western part of the Quartier latin. Jardin du Luxembourg as well as its Sénat, Place Saint-Michel, Église Saint-Sulpice and Saint-Germain-des-Prés. 7e: Tour Eiffel and its Parc du Champ de Mars, Les Invalides, Musée d'Orsay, Assemblée nationale and its subset administrations, École Militaire, Musée du quai Branly, and Parisian mega-store Le Bon Marché.
8e: Champs-Élysées, Arc de Triomphe, Place de la Concorde, le Palais de l'Élysée, Église de la Madeleine,Jacquemart-André Museum, Gare Saint-Lazare, Grand Palais, Petit Palais, and the western half of Boulevard Haussman. 9e: Opéra Garnier, Galeries Lafayette, Musée Grévin, Folies Bergère, and the eastern half of Boulevard Haussman.
10e: Canal Saint-Martin, Gare du Nord, Gare de l'Est, Porte Saint-Denis, Porte Saint-Martin, Passage Brady, Passage du Prado, and Église Saint-Vincent-de-Paul. 11e: The bars and restaurants of Rue Oberkampf, Bastille, Nation, New Jewish Quarter, Cirque d'Hiver, and Église Saint-Ambroise. 12e: Opéra Bastille, Bercy Park and Village, AccorHotels Arena, Promenade Plantée, Quartier d'Aligre, Gare de Lyon, Cimetière de Picpus, Viaduc des arts, the Bois de Vincennes, and the Zoo de Vincennes.
13e: Quartier Asiatique (Asian Quarter), Place d'Italie, La Butte-aux-Cailles, Bibliothèque Nationale de France (BNF), Gare d'Austerlitz, Manufacture des Gobelins, the Olympiades, the Tolbiac district, Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital. 14e: Cimetière du Montparnasse, Gare Montparnasse, La Santé Prison, Denfert-Rochereau, Parc Montsouris, Stade Charléty, Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris, and the public entrance to the catacombs. 15e: Tour Montparnasse, Porte de Versailles, Front de Seine, La Ruche, Parc André Citroën, Aquaboulevard and quartiers Saint-Lambert, Necker, Grenelle and Javel.
16e: Palais de Chaillot, Musée de l'Homme, the Bois de Boulogne, Cimetière de Passy, Parc des Princes, Musée Marmottan-Monet, Trocadéro, Maison de la Radio, and Avenue Foch. 17e: Palais des Congrès, Place de Clichy, Parc Monceau, Marché Poncelet, and Square des Batignolles.
18e: Montmartre, Pigalle, Barbès, Basilica of the Sacré Cœur, Église Saint-Jean-de-Montmartre, and Goutte d'Or can be found here. 19e: Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie, Parc de la Villette, Bassin de la Villette, Parc des Buttes-Chaumont, Cité de la Musique, Canal de l'Ourcq, and Canal Saint-Denis can be found here. 20e: Cimetière du Père-Lachaise, Parc de Belleville, and quartiers Belleville and Ménilmontant.
Although not officially part of Paris, this rapidly-growing business district lies just west of the city and is on many visitors' must-see lists for its modern skyscraper architecture and public art.
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All Vespa scooter rentals and Paris guided City tours include the collect and picked up from, your hotel in Paris.
No other monument better symbolizes Paris.
The Arc de Triomphe exudes grandeur and offers a central view of the city.
Widely regarded to be one of the most recognizable avenues in the world
Impressive Gothic cathedral that was the inspiration for Victor Hugo's novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
A church perched on top of the highest point in Paris. Behind the church is the artists' area, in front are spectacular views of the whole city.
Masterpiece of theatre architecture of the 19th century built by Charles Garnier and inaugurated in 1875 housing the Paris Opera since it was founded by Louis XIV.
Used to store the exhumed bones from the overflowing Paris cemetery. The bones of more than 6 million bodies lie here.
A modern office-building variant of the Arc de Triomphe.
Underneath, the final resting place for the great heroes of the French Republic including Voltaire, Victor Hugo, and Marie Skłodowska-Curie; above, a marvellous view of the city.
Unlike any cemetery in the world. Ornate grave stones, monuments set among tree lined lanes. See the graves of Jim Morrison, Oscar Wilde, and Frédéric Chopin, among many others.
Exquisite stained glass chapel. More beautiful interior than the gloomy Notre Dame Cathedral.
One of the finest museums in the world of art and culture. Home of the Mona Lisa and innumerable others. Enormous building and collection, plan at least two visits..
Incredible collection housed in a former railway station. Works by the great artists of the 19th century (1848-1914) including Monet's "Blue Water Lilies, Renoir's "Bal du moulin de la Galette", van Gogh's "Bedroom in Arles", Whistler's "The Artists Mother", etc.
Collection and archives dedicated to the sculptor Auguste Rodin, in a charming home with garden.
Contains the master's own collection.
Over 300 paintings of Claude Monet. Also, the works of Berthe Morisot, Edgar Degas, Édouard Manet and Pierre-Auguste Renoir. "Impression Soleil Levant" by Monet is on display.
[Jardin des Tuileries] Houses "The Water Lilies" (or "Nymphéas") - a 360 degree depiction of Monet's flower garden at Giverny. Also, impressionist and post-Impressionist paintings by Cézanne, Matisse, Modigliani, Picasso, Renoir, Rousseau, Soutine, Sisley and others.
Housed in the home of painter Eugène Delacroix.
The museum of modern art. The building and adjoining Stravinsky Fountain are attractions in themselves. Closed for renovation until 2030.
Very impressive museum of arms and armor from the Middle Ages to today. Also contains the tomb of Napoleon Bonaparte.
A medieval museum exhibiting the five "The Lady and the Unicorn" tapestries, housed in a part Roman, part medieval building.
Showcasing eight centuries of French savoir-faire.
Museum of Paris history; exhibitions are permanent and free. Renovated 2017–2021.
Science museum primarily for children.
Paris's Holocaust Memorial Museum, in the heart of the Marais on rue Geoffroy l'Asnier. Free Entry, weekly guided tours. Second Sunday of the month there is a free tour in English.
Private collection of French, Italian, and Dutch masterpieces in a typical 19th-century mansion.
One of the largest collections outside Asia of Southeast Asian, Indian, Afghan, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean art.
Roland Garros
One of the four tennis Grand Slam tournaments. It is scheduled for two weeks from the last Sunday in May. The event, on clay courts, features the world’s top-ranked tennis players.
France's national stadium has a capacity of 81,338, and hosts concerts and various events. Soccer clubs sometimes play here when their home stadium is unavailable.
La MEP
Important center for contemporary photography with a large exposition area having three or four major expositions per year dedicated to contemporary photography. Housed in an updated hôtel particulier built in 1706. There is a large library, auditorium and café. Their archive houses over twenty thousand works of art. Admission is free every Wednesday from 17:00 to 20:00.
Better Paris Photos offers instructional tours and workshops that combine hands-on learning of essential photographic techniques with guiding to, and commentary about, the most photogenic spots of Paris. Led by English-speaking photographers and instructors, these tours are open to all skill levels and interest.
In the Latin Quarter, Le Foodist is an cooking school that offers French Cooking, Pastry and Baking Classes, Wine Tastings initiations, Food Tours and Hosted Gastronomic Dinners. Led by French Chefs, courses are made in English, small classes, with the ambition of teaching both the technique and the history of traditional French recipes.
Offering both long-term professional programs as well as short term hourly sessions, Le Cordon Bleu is one of the most famous culinary schools located in the heart of Paris. Le Cordon Bleu is considered to be the guardian of French culinary technique through its culinary programs that continue to preserve and pass on the mastery and appreciation of the culinary arts that have been the cornerstone of French gastronomy for over 500 years.
La Cuisine Paris is an English-friendly culinary school located in the heart of Paris, right on the Seine that offers expert teaching of the essential techniques of cuisine française. Led by an international group of English-speaking chefs all trained in classic French cooking, these classes are open to all skill levels and tastes.
By train
Paris is well-connected to the rest of Europe by train. There are seven terminus stations in central Paris; they are not all in the same district, they are all connected to the Métro and RER networks.
By bus
While domestic bus lines were tightly regulated until 2015, they no longer are, and this has led to a heavily competitive and fast growing market. Companies that serve Paris are:
By car
Several autoroutes (expressway, motorway) link Paris with the rest of France: and to the north, and to the south, to the east and and to the west.
By boat
There are several excellent boat services which make use of the Seine. As well as providing easy, cheap transport to much of central Paris, excellent photo opportunities abound.
By taxi
If the sign is green, the cab is available, if it is red, the cab is busy, if it is off, the cab is not in service
By car
In a word: don't. It is generally a very bad idea to rent a car to visit Paris. Traffic is very dense during the day, and parking is, on average, exceedingly difficult and expensive.
By motorcycle
Paris is an incredibly open city, with its many "Grands Boulevards" and monuments with large open spaces around make it a city perfect to be explored and viewed by scooter or motorbike.
By bicycle
If you find yourself lost in the streets, a good idea is to find the nearest Hotel and ask the concierge for directions. Most speak English well." should suffice.
By foot
Walking in Paris is one of the great pleasures of visiting the City of Light.
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Paris (Orly, Val-de-Marne) · International · ORY
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