kbmtravel

Hi,

I am trying to decide which neighborhood to stay in in Paris (I've never been) and I'm looking for advice. When I was in Rome, I loved the Trastevere neighborhood and I would stay there if I ever went back. My question is, is there a certain neighborhood in Paris that has a similar atmosphere to Trastevere? We loved the shops, the laid back feeling, the cute casual little cafes and restaurants in Trastevere. Would Montmarre, Le Marais, or the Latin Quarter have a similar feel?

Thanks!

MmePerdu

I, too, love Trastevere and in Paris I love Montmartre. Part of it, I think, is the more casual atmosphere, meandering streets and I also feel more at home in a landscape that isn't flat. Trastevere has the hill right behind it as background and from there the walk up to the park at the top. Both have something of a separate feel from the city center, but close and easy to get to the center. I suspect you'll like Montmartre, the 18th.

RonZ

The trick in Montmartre is to be near a Metro station.

julies

RonZ is right. From Trastevere one can easily walk to most everywhere a tourist is interested in, but with Montmartre you will need to take the metro to get places most tourists will want to see.

yestravel

<i>"We loved the shops, the laid back feeling, the cute casual little cafes and restaurants in Trastevere. "</i>
I have never stayed in Montemarte, only visited. I think with the exception of the "the laid back feeling" you will find the rest pretty much everywhere in Paris. I agree about the need to metro it to see major sites in you stay in Montemarte. Paris is a very walkable city inthat it is pretty flat and easy to navigate so I prefer staying someplace that is closer to the major tourist sites. This would be esp true on a first visit to Paris.

MmePerdu

I disagree with all 3 takes on the location issue. I find Montmartre, in fact, easier to travel to and from, at least 5 Metro stops in and around, plus buses just at the bottom of the hill. Trastevere has no metro and few buses. And you can also walk, every bit as easily, although neither is the center of the city and, I find, one of the attractions of both. A walk from Montmartre is all downhill and there is the Metro to return. If you need to be adjacent to a Metro stop, I figure you wouldn't have liked Trastevere. I suspect the answers above are from people who haven't stayed in both neighborhoods.

StuDudley

I agree with most of the others about Montmartre - it is "too far removed" from the major sites. Plus, I really don't like spending time walking through the Pigalle section to get to a metro or bus (we take buses - not metros).

I would certainly not stay in the Latin Quarter - for many reasons. Try looking in the Marais - perhaps the closest to Trastevere in "look & feel", IMO.

Stu Dudley

StuDudley

>> A walk from Montmartre is all downhill<<

and a walk TO Montmartre is all uphill. We were on the Montmontrobus this past October - and traveling was slow. The 80 bus, however, took us from our apt in the 7th near the Eiffel tower - directly to Montmartre.

I don't recall getting to other sites from Trastevere being an issue at all. We stayed in Trastevere for a week. Buses were close by (we don't like to go "underground" - you can't see much out the windows.)

Stu Dudley

yestravel

Perhaps I wasn't clear -- from Montemarte one needs to take the metro/bus to get to most of the major sites in Paris. I prefer not taking a metro/bus and do walk fairly long distances in both Paris & Rome. I found it closer to walk to major sites in Rome from Trastevere than it would from Montemarte to major sites in Paris. That's my objection to Montemarte though I know many who love it.

I'm not a fan of many areas in the 5th. I do like parts of the 4th and 3rd. The 11th is also nice though a bit more of a walk, but doable. I would post options of where you might stay and people can be ore specific about thier locations.

Anyway, wherever you stay in Paris, its Paris and you'll love Paris!

MmePerdu

Most visitors to Paris stay in the flats, nothing wrong with that. But I will say, unless one has actually stayed in a neighborhood one is recommending or not recommending, I'm not sure it's worth much. Staying is a wholly different thing than riding a slow bus through it.

Not everyone would like staying off the beaten path in Trastevere and Montmartre isn't for everyone either. But having stayed in both neighborhoods, and lived in one of them, I know the feeling of being in both and stick by my recommendation.

kbmtravel

Wow, thank you for all of the replies! Originally I was thinking that Montmartre wouldn't be great because it's on a hill, so I started looking into hotels in Le Marais. However, in Rome, we never took the bus or metro anywhere and we wished we had because our feet hurt so badly. In Paris, we plan to rely on the metro/bus a lot more. So, maybe Montmartre would be a great place to stay after all. If I am going to stay in Le Marais, I still think we might use the metro.

kbmtravel

I found an apartment on Rue au Maire in Le Marais. It looks like it's close to 3 metro stations: Arts et Métiers, Réaumur, & Hôtel de Ville. Does this sound like a good location?

kbmtravel

I found an apartment on Rue au Maire in Le Marais. It looks like it's close to 3 metro stations: Arts et Métiers, Réaumur, & Hôtel de Ville. Does this sound like a good location?

kerouac

It is a good location if you don't mind being in the heart of the oldest Chinatown in Paris. Actually, the Chinatown is quite small compared to the newer Chinatowns of Paris.

MmePerdu

Saying Rue au Maire is "in" the Marais is a bit of a stretch. Like real estate agents in Los Angeles calling less desirable but close-by neighborhoods "Beverly Hills adjacent". This is in the 3rd, rather than the 4th, I believe, sort of "Marais adjacent". But it could be very nice. Take yourself on a walk around with Google Street View and see for yourself if you like the look of it. I suspect it's fine, if not maybe as atmospheric as the real Marais.

PalenQ

Check out the Rue Mouffetard area - may be more like Trastavere than Montmartre which at least the part up top is rather isolated but Montmartre covers a wide area down below the Sacre Coeur church but again Pigalle rather taints its quaintness but busy at night.

Rue Mouff as they call it has a lively street market and a neighborhood feeling though folks from all over flock to its restaurants: https://www.google.com/search?q=rue+...HXYfAZYQsAQIGw

MmePerdu

Just a note - the Mouffetard area is one I tried before hot-footing it back to Montmartre. Again, it isn't bad, but I found it dull.

Belinda

Montmartre is a great place to stay. I just spent a month in an apartment on Rue Caulaincourt. The 80 bus stopped right in front of my door. The 95 bus was just a couple of blocks away. Those two routes will get you most anywhere you want to go in Paris quite effieciently (except when all the world leaders are meeting for a climate summit!). I'm not a fan of the metro because I don't lke being underground, but the Lamark metro station was two blocks from my door. I love the neighborhood and within two blocks of my door you can find anything you would need; cafes, boulangeries, wine shop, butcher shop, market, cheese shop, chocolatiere....

PalenQ

How about the famous or infamous if you're not a Rick Steves' fan - Rue Cler - which meets all the criteria except being in a bit of an out of the easy to walk to many sites one:

https://www.google.com/search?q=rue+...w=1745&bih=868

Nikki

I stayed on the rue Chapon, which is two blocks away from rue au Maire, but it was quite a few years ago. This neighborhood in the northern Marais has become more and more trendy over the intervening years. I would stay there. When we stayed there, there were many wholesalers of leather goods, but I think they were moving out and other businesses moving in.