France

Paris

In short

Paris rewards anyone willing to walk away from the river. These five gems are the ones locals actually use: an abandoned freight railway turned wild corridor in the 15th, a Marais mansion stuffed with taxidermy and contemporary art, the highest park in the city with a free Eiffel Tower view, a six-day-a-week market with a barrel-wine bar attached, and a glass-domed reading room you can sit in all afternoon for nothing. All five are on the metro, four are free or under €15, and none of them involves queueing behind a coach party. Between them they cover a morning, an afternoon, a viewpoint and a meal — which is most of what a good Paris day needs.

Best time to visit

May–June and September–early October: long days, everything open, no August shutdown. Paris in August is warm and half-shuttered — family-run bistros close for weeks, and the entire BnF network shuts for its annual break (31 August–6 September in 2026). Winter is the underrated bet: the Belleville skyline is sharpest on cold bright days, museums are near-empty, and Le Baron Rouge only serves oysters between mid-September and late April. Whatever you do, don't plan a Monday around this list — the Musée de la Chasse, the Salle Ovale and Marché d'Aligre are all closed.

Getting around

Since January 2025 the whole Île-de-France region is a single flat fare, so distance no longer matters. A Metro-Train-RER ticket is €2.55 and covers two hours of transfers within the rail network; a Bus-Tram ticket is €2.05 for 90 minutes. There is still no contactless bank-card tap-in on the metro — you need a rechargeable Navigo Easy card (€2) or tickets loaded onto your phone via the Île-de-France Mobilités or Bonjour RATP app. More than five hops in a day? The Navigo Jour day pass is €12.30. Staying a full Monday-to-Sunday week? Navigo Semaine is €32.40 all zones, on a €5 Navigo Découverte card with a passport photo. Airports are excluded from the flat fare: CDG or Orly is a separate €14 ticket. Trains run from roughly 05:30 to just after midnight, about an hour later on Friday and Saturday — check the last-train board on the platform.

The hidden gems in Paris

Map