Paris has a range of accommodations, each with its own distinct quirks and attributes. Where you choose to stay and spend most of your time can largely affect your whole experience so it’s vital to choose well. Here’s a rundown of the best places to stay in Paris.
Eiffel Tower Area & Western Paris
Home to French bourgeoisie and affluent expats, this upscale neighborhood is where you can get up close and personal with the city’s symbolic tower as well as more contemporary architecture in the high-rise business district of La Défense just outside the périphérique (ring road) encircling central Paris.
Champs-Élysées & Grands Boulevards
The glamorous Avenue des Champs-Élysées is a truly lovely avenue visited each day by nearly 300,000 people, who come to admire its majestic monuments, enjoy a shopping spree, or get caught up in the excitement of the major festive events that are organized here.To its east are gourmet shops garlanding the Église de la Madeleine and the Grands Boulevards’ art nouveau department stores.
Louvre & Les Halles
Nestled in the 1st arrondissement is the world’s largest and possibly the most exquisite art museum, the Louvre. Nearby, the Forum des Halles shopping mall and the park have recently emerged from a much-needed makeover.
Montmartre & Northern Paris
Montmartre’s lofty views, wine-producing vines and hidden village squares have lured painters since the 19th century. Crowned by the Sacré-Cœur basilica, Montmartre is the city’s steepest quarter, and its slinking streets lined with crooked ivy-clad buildings retain a fairy-tale charm. The grittier neighborhoods of Pigalle and Canal St-Martin are hotbeds of creativity with a trove of hip drinking, dining and shopping addresses.
Le Marais, Ménilmontant & Belleville
Fashionable bars and restaurants, emerging designers’ boutiques, and thriving gay and Jewish communities all squeeze into Le Marais’ narrow medieval lanes. Neighboring Ménilmontant has some of the city’s most exciting nightlife, while hilly Belleville is vibrant and multicultural.
Bastille & Eastern Paris
Fabulous markets, intimate bistros and cutting-edge drinking and dancing venues make this neighborhood one of the best places to discover the Parisians’ Paris.
The Islands
Paris’s geographic and spiritual heart is here in the Seine. The larger of the two inner-city islands, the Île de la Cité, is dominated by the magnificent Notre Dame cathedral. Serene little Île St-Louis is graced with charming eateries and boutiques.
Latin Quarter
So named because international students communicated in Latin here until the French Revolution, it remains Paris’ hub of academic life. This lively area is also home to museums and churches, plus a beautiful art deco mosque and botanic gardens.
St-Germain & Les Invalides
Literary buffs, antique collectors and fashionistas flock to this legendary part of Paris, where the presence of writers such as Sartre, de Beauvoir and Hemingway still lingers in historic cafes.
Montparnasse & Southern Paris
Fabled Montparnasse has brasseries from its mid-20th-century heyday and re-energized backstreets buzz with local life. It is the premium arrondissement for edgy street art.
Want to travel to some other European Capital? HERE you go!
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