Paris France Hotels

Things to Do

Paris France Hotels - things to do and attractions

Paris France Hotels - things to do and attractions

Things to Do in Paris France: Paris France Hotels travel guide on the best things to do in Paris France. We’ve got all the best attractions listed with reviews. Have a look below for more details on Paris France Attractions, restaurants, nightlife, bars, clubs, events and shopping.

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Top things to do and Attractions in Paris France:

Before deciding on things to do – and when to come, please consider the weather in Paris! It is still great all year round – but here’s our tip. The Paris basin lies midway between coastal Brittany and mountainous Alsace and is affected by both climates. The Île de France region, of which Paris is the centre, records among the lowest annual precipitation (about 640mm) in the nation, but rainfall is erratic.

You are likely to be caught in a heavy spring shower or an autumn downpour as in a sudden summer cloudburst belive it or not in Paris. This is because Paris’ average yearly temperature is just under 12°C (2°C in January, 19°C in July), but the mercury sometimes drops below zero in winter and can climb into the 30s in the middle of summer.

One of the best value and most convenient ways to see the sights of Paris is with the Paris Museum Pass (previously known as Carte Musées et Monuments) 31, a pre-paid entry card that allows entry into over 70 museums and monuments around Paris and comes in 2-day (€32), 4-day (€48) and 6-day (€64) denominations (prices as of Jun 2010). Note these are consecutive days. The card allows you to jump otherwise sometimes lengthy queues and is available from participating museums, tourist offices, Fnac branches and all the main Métro and RER train stations. You will still need to pay to enter most special exhibitions. For best results and to avoid having to wait in the first long queue to purchase the Museum Pass, stop to purchase your pass at one of the smaller museums or sites covered, or at one of the non-museum purchase points. 32 The day you purchase the pass does not have to count as one of the days; you specify on the pass the first date of use, and the days covered are consecutive after that. 33 Do not write your start date until you are certain you will use the pass that day. Be careful to use the European date style as indicated on the card (day/month/year).

Note that most museums and galleries are closed on either Monday or Tuesday – check ahead to avoid disappointment! – and most ticket counters close 30-45 min before final closing. Louvre museum is closed on Tuesdays while Orsay museum is closed on Mondays, good to know when setting visit plans.

Also consider the ParisPass 34 also a pre paid entry card + queue jumping to 60 attractions including The Louvre, The Arc de Triomphe, as well as a river cruise and allows free metro & public transport travel. Also note a cheaper alternative with this new combined pass available since September 2008 is the Paris ComboPass® 35, which comes in Lite/Premium versions.

All national museums are open free of charge on the first Sunday of the month; note, however, that this may mean long lines and crowded exhibits. Keep away from Paris during Easter week. It’s really crowded. People have to queue up at the Eiffel tower for several hours. Entry to the permanent exhibitions at city-run museums is free at all times (admission is charged for temporary exhibitions).

These listings are just some highlights of things that you really should see if you can during your visit to Paris. The complete listings are found on each individual district page (follow the link in parenthesis).

Good listings of almost everything to do in Paris can be found in ‘Pariscope’ or ‘Officiel des spectacles’, weekly magazines listing all concerts, art exhibitions, films, stage plays and museums. Available from all kiosks.

Top Landmarks:

Paris France Hotels - Notre Dame in Paris

Paris France Hotels - Notre Dame in Paris

Many of the world’s most famous landmarks are in Paris, ranging from Notre Dame to the Eiffel Tower, here are our top picks and some guidance:

Notre Dame de Paris
Arc de Triomphe (8th)— The Arc de Triomphe still exudes a certain grandeur despite the crowds of tourists and the tacky souvenir shops.
Arènes de Lutece (5th)— Built during the 1st and 2nd centuries, this amphitheater could seat up to 17,000 people, hosting gladiator fights as well as less bloody entertainment.
Assemblée Nationale (7th)— Seats the French Parliament, and was designed by Giardini and Gabriel in 1728.
Catacombs (14th)— Used to store the exhumed bones from the overflowing Paris cemetery.
Chateau de Versailles (Versailles)— France’s most exquisite chateau, on the outskirts of the city. Was once the home to Louis XIV.
The Eiffel Tower (Tour Eiffel) (7th)— No other monument that better symbolizes Paris.
Grand Arche de la Défense (La Défense)— A modern office-building variant of the Arc de Triomphe. Has a viewing platform.
Notre Dame Cathedral (4th)— Impressive Gothic cathedral that was the inspiration for Victor Hugo’s novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
Opera Garnier (9th)— 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.
Pantheon (5th)— Underneath, the final resting place for the great heroes of the French Republic including Voltaire, Victor Hugo, and Marie Curie; above, a marvellous view of the city.
Père-Lachaise Cemetery (20th)— See the grave of Jim Morrison amongst many others.

Sacré Coeur
Sacré Coeur (18th)— 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.
Sainte Chapelle (1st)— Far more beautiful than the famous, but gloomy, Notre Dame.

Museums:

France is all about Museums and so is Paris, here’s our selection of the best:

Museums and galleries

All national museums et monuments are free for all every first sunday of the month.
Le Musée de l’AP-HP, (5th)— Paris’s medical history.

Pompidou
Le Musee des Arts Decoratifs, (1st)— Showcasing eight centuries of French savoir faire.
Carnavalet (3rd)— Museum of Paris history; exhibitions are permanent and free.
Centre Georges Pompidou , (4th)— The great museum of modern art, the building an attraction in itself.
Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie – La Villette, (19th)— Science museum for adults and children.
Cluny, (5th)— Paris’s medieval museum, housed in a part Roman, part medieval building.

l’Eglise du Dome, church of Les Invalides, site of Napoleon’s tomb
Delacroix— National museum housed in the home of painter Eugene Delacroix.
Mémorial de la Shoah, (4th)— 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.
Jacquemart-Andre Museum , (8th)— Private collection of French, Italian, Dutch masterpieces in a typical XIXth century mansion.
Picasso Museum, (3rd)— Contains the master’s own collections. Visitor should note this museum will be closed until 2012 due to renovations of the building.
Les Invalides, (7th)— Museum of arms and armor from the Middle Ages to today. Also contains the tombs of Napoleon Bonaparte and other French military figures.
The Louvre, (1st)— One of the finest museums in the world of art, art-history, and culture. Home of the Mona Lisa.

Musée de l’Orangerie, (1st)— Jardin des Tuileries Impressionist and post-Impressionist paintings by Paul Cézanne, Henri Matisse, Amedeo Modigliani, Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Henri Rousseau, Chaim Soutine, Alfred Sisley.
Musée d’Orsay, (7th)— Home to the great artists of the 19th century (1848-1914). Incredible collection of Impressionist art housed in an old railway station. Every room you go into seems to have another incredibly popular painting. Degas’ballerinas, Monet’s waterlillies, etc.
Musée Marmottan-Monet 36 (16th)rue Louis Boilly— Collection of works by Claude Monet, Berthe Morisot, Edgar Degas, Édouard Manet and Pierre-Auguste Renoir. “Impression Soleil Levant” by Monet is on display in this museum.
Musée National de la Marine, (16th)— From times of exploration to modern day vessels. Interesting but primarily in French.
Rodin Museum, (7th)— His personal collection and archives, in a charming hotel and sprawling garden.
Musée en Herbe (1st and 16th)— An art museum just for kids with hands-on exhibitions and workshops.

Some other fun things to do in Paris which we recommend:

Events

It seems like there’s almost always something happening in Paris, with the possible exceptions of the school holidays in August and February, when about half of Parisians are to be found not in Paris, but in the Alps or the South of France respectively. The busiest season is probably the fall, from a week or so after la rentrée scolaire or “back to school” to around Noël (Christmas) theatres, cinemas and concert halls book their fullest schedule of the year.

Even so, there are a couple of annual events in the winter, starting with a furniture and interior decorating trade fair called Maison & Object 37 in January.

In February le nouvel an chinois (Chinese New Year) is celebrated in Paris as it is in every city with a significant Chinese population. There are parades in the 3rd and 4th arrondissements and especially in Chinatown in the 13th south of Place d’Italie. Also in February is the Six Nations Rugby Tournament 38 which brings together France, England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Italy.

The first of two Fashion weeks occurs in March: Spring Fashion Week, giving designers a platform to present women’s prêt-à-porter (ready to wear) collections for the following winter.

The French Tennis Open 39 in which the world’s top players battle it out on a clay court runs during two weeks starting on the last Sunday in May. By the time its done in June, a whole range of festivities start up. Rendez-vous au Jardin is an open house for many Parisian gardens, giving you a chance to meet real Parisian gardeners and see their creations. The Fête de la Musique 40 celebrates the summer solstice (21st June) with this city-wide free musical knees-up. Finally on the 26th of June is the Gay Pride 41 parade, featuring probably the most sincere participation by the mayor’s office of any such parade on the globe.

The French national holiday Bastille Day on the 14th of July celebrates the storming of the infamous Bastille during the French Revolution. Paris hosts several spectacular events that day of which the best known is the Bastille Parade which is held on the Champs-Élysées at 10AM and broadcast to pretty much the rest of Europe by television. The entire street will be crowded with spectators so arrive early. The Bastille Day Fireworks is an exceptional treat for travelers lucky enough to be in town on Bastille Day. The Office du Tourisme et des Congress de Paris recommends gathering in or around the champs du Mars, the gardens of the Eiffel Tower.

Also in July, Cinema en Plein Air 42 is the annual outdoor cinema event that takes place at the Parc de la Villette, in the 9th on Europe’s largest inflatable screen. For most of the months of July and August, parts of both banks of the Seine are converted from expressway into an artificial beach for Paris Plage 43. Also in July the cycling race le Tour de France both starts and ends in Paris. Its route varies annually, however it always finishes on the last Sunday of July under the Arc de Triomphe.

On the last full weekend in August, a world-class music festival Rock en Seine 44 draws international rock and pop stars to barges on the Seine near moored off of the 8th.

During mid-September DJs and (usually young) fans from across Europe converge on Paris for five or six days of dancing etc. culminating in the Techno parade – a parade whose route traces roughly from Pl. de Bastille to the Sorbonne, and around the same time the festival Jazz à la Villette 45 brings some of the biggest names in contemporary jazz from around the world.

The Nuit Blanche 46 transforms most of central Paris into a moonlit theme-park for an artsy all-nighter on the first Saturday of October, and Fashion Week 47 returns shortly thereafter showing off Women’s Prêt-à-Porter collections for the following summer; as we’ve noted winter collections are presented in March.

The third Thursday in November marks the release of Le Beaujolais Nouveau 48 and the beginning of the Christmas season. This evening, the Christmas lights are lit in a ceremony on the Champs-Élysées, often in the presence of hundreds (if not thousands) of people and many dignitaries, including the president of France.

Unfortunately, there are no comprehensive event guides covering concerts, clubs, movies or special events. For theater, movies and exhibitions pick up the ‘Pariscope’ and ‘L’officiel du Spectacle’, available at newstands for €0.40. For (especially smaller, alternative) concerts pick up LYLO, a small, free booklet available in some bars and at FNAC. There is not any userfriendly online version of these guides.

Cafe Philo in English, Cafe de Flore, 172, Blvd St-Germain, 75006, 49. Cafe Philo in English meets on the first Wednesday of each month upstairs at the famous Cafe de Flore. Everyone is invited. You don’t have to be knowledgeable about philosophy. Meetings begin with a two round voting process to determine a topic. The topic is discussed for two hours. Free.

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