Paris
We’ve compiled the best of the best in Paris - browse our top choices for the top things to see or do during your stay.
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21. Choco-Story Paris: Le Musée Gourmand du Chocolat
Grands BoulevardsConsidering that a daily dose of chocolate is practically obligatory in Paris, it's hard to believe that this spot (opened in 2010) is the city's first museum dedicated to the sweet stuff. Exhibits on three floors tell the story of chocolate from the earliest traces of the "divine nectar" in Mayan and Aztec cultures, through to its introduction in Europe by the Spanish, who added milk and sugar to the spicy dark brew and launched a Continental craze. There are detailed explanations in English, with many for the kids. While the production of chocolate is a major topic, there is also a respectable collection of some 1,000 chocolate-related artifacts, such as terra-cotta Mayan sipping vessels (they blew into straws to create foam) and delicate chocolate pots in fine porcelain that were favored by the French royal court. Frequent chocolate-making demonstrations finish with a free tasting.
28 bd. de Bonne Nouvelle, Paris, Île-de-France, 75010, France01–42–29–68–60Sight Details
Rate Includes: €15; €18 with a cup of hot chocolate -
22. Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie
La VilletteOccupying a colorful three-story industrial space that recalls the Pompidou Center, this ambitious science museum in Parc de la Villette is packed with things to do—all of them accessible to English speakers. Scores of exhibits focus on subjects like space, transportation, and technology. Hands-on workshops keep the kids entertained, and the planetarium is invariably a hit. Temporary exhibitions, like a recent exploration of cinematic special effects, are always multilingual and usually interactive.
View Tours and Activities30 av. Corentin-Cariou, Paris, Île-de-France, 75019, France01–40–05–70–00Sight Details
Rate Includes: Permanent and temporary exhibitions and planetarium €12, Closed Mon. -
23. Fondation Cartier Pour l'Art Contemporain
MontparnasseThere's no shortage of museums in Paris, but this eye-catching gallery may be the city's premier place to view cutting-edge art. Funded by luxury giant Cartier, the foundation is at once an architectural landmark, a traveling corporate collection, and an exhibition space. Architect Jean Nouvel's 1993 building looks rather like a glass house of cards, layered seamlessly between the boulevard and the garden. The foundation regularly hosts Soirées Nomades (Nomadic Nights) featuring lectures, dance, music, film, or fashion on various evenings. Some are in English. Family tours and creative workshops for children ages 9 to 13 are also available as are free guided tours of exhibits at 6 pm on Tuesday through Friday, depending on space.
View Tours and Activities261 bd. Raspail, Paris, Île-de-France, 75014, France01–42–18–56–50Sight Details
Rate Includes: €11, Closed Mon. -
24. Grande Galerie de l'Évolution
Latin QuarterWith a parade of taxidermied animals ranging from the tiniest dung beetle to the tallest giraffe, this four-story natural history museum in the Jardin des Plantes will perk up otherwise museum-weary kids. The flagship of three natural history museums in the garden, this restored 1889 building has a ceiling that changes color to suggest storms, twilight, or the hot savanna sun. Other must-sees are the gigantic skeleton of a blue whale and the stuffed royal rhino (he came from the menagerie at Versailles, where he was a pet of Louis XV). Kids ages 6 to 12 enjoy La Galerie d'Enfants (The Children's Gallery): it has bilingual interactive exhibits about the natural world. A lab stocked with microscopes often offers free workshops, and most of the staff speaks some English. Hang on to your ticket—it will get you a discount at the other museums within the Jardin des Plantes.
36 rue Geoffroy-St-Hilaire, Paris, Île-de-France, 75005, France01–40–79–56–01Sight Details
Rate Includes: From €10, Closed Tues. -
25. Institut du Monde Arabe
Latin QuarterThis eye-catching metal-and-glass tower by architect Jean Nouvel cleverly uses metal diaphragms in the shape of square Arabic-style screens to work like a camera lens, opening and closing to control the flow of sunlight. The vast cultural center's layout is a reinterpretation of the traditional enclosed Arab courtyard. Inside, there are various spaces, among them a museum that explores the culture and religion of the 22 Arab League member nations. With the addition of elements from the Louvre's holdings and private donors, the museum's impressive collection includes four floors of Islamic art, artifacts, ceramics, and textiles. There is also a performance space, a sound-and-image center, a library, and a bookstore. Temporary exhibitions usually have information and an audio guide in English. Glass elevators whisk you to the ninth floor, where you can sip mint tea in the rooftop restaurant, Le Zyriab, while feasting on one of the best views in Paris.
View Tours and Activities1 rue des Fossés-St-Bernard, Paris, Île-de-France, 75005, France01–40–51–38–38Sight Details
Rate Includes: €8, Closed Mon. -
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26. Jardin Atlantique
MontparnasseBuilt above the tracks of Gare Montparnasse, this park nestled among tall modern buildings is named for its assortment of trees and plants typically found in coastal regions near the Atlantic Ocean. In the center of the park, what looks like a quirky piece of metallic sculpture is actually a meteorological center, with a battery of flickering lights reflecting temperature, wind speed, and monthly rainfall. It's not really worth a detour, but it's a good green space if you're already nearby.
1 pl. des Cinq-Martyrs-du-Lycee-Buffon, Paris, Île-de-France, 75014, FranceSight Details
Rate Includes: Free -
27. La Défense
Western ParisFirst conceived in 1958, this Modernist suburb just west of Paris was inspired by Le Corbusier's dream of tall buildings, pedestrian walkways, and sunken vehicle circulation. Built as an experiment to keep high-rises out of the historic downtown, the Parisian business hub has survived economic uncertainty to become the city's prime financial district. Today, 20,000 people live in the suburb, but 180,000 people work here and many more come to shop in its enormous mall. Arriving via métro Line 1, you'll get a view of the Seine, then emerge at a pedestrian plaza studded with some great public art, including César's giant thumb, Joan Miró's colorful figures, and one of Calder's great red "stabiles." The Grande Arche de La Défense dominates the area. It was designed as a controversial closure to the historic axis of Paris (an imaginary line that runs through the Arc de Triomphe, the Arc du Carrousel, and the Louvre Pyramide). Glass-bubble elevators in a metal-frame tower whisk you a heart-jolting 360 feet to the viewing platform.
View Tours and ActivitiesParvis de La Défense, Paris, Île-de-France, 92800, France01–40–90–52–20Sight Details
Rate Includes: Grande Arche €15 (€16 when an exhibition is on) -
28. Les Égouts
Eiffel TowerLeave it to the French to make even sewers seem romantic. Part exhibit but mostly, well, sewer, the 1,640-foot stretch of tunnels provides a fascinating—and not too smelly—look at the underbelly of Paris. You can stroll the so-called galleries of this city beneath the city, which comes complete with street signs mirroring those aboveground. Walkways flank tunnels of whooshing wastewater wide enough to allow narrow barges to dredge sand and sediment. Lighted panels, photos, and explanations in English detail the workings of the system. Immortalized as the escape routes of the Phantom of the Opera and Jean Valjean in Les Misérables, the 19th-century sewers have a florid real-life history. Since Napoléon ordered the underground network built to clean up the squalid streets, they have played a role in every war, secreting revolutionaries and spies and their stockpiles of weapons. Grenades from World War II were recovered not far from where the gift shop now sits. The display cases of stuffed toy rats and "Eau de Paris" glass carafes fold into the walls when the water rises after heavy rains. Buy your ticket at the kiosk on the Left Bank side of the Pont de l'Alma. Guided one-hour tours by friendly égoutiers (sewer workers) are available in French only; call or email ahead for details.
Paris, Île-de-France, 75007, France01–53–68–27–81Sight Details
Rate Includes: €9, Closed Mon. -
29. Marché St-Pierre
MontmartreThis self-described "fabric kingdom" has been selling Parisians their curtains for more than 60 years. With five floors, it actually stocks a lot more than draperies, including bolts of fine silk, feather boas, and spangled cushions. Among the regulars here are the designers who create the famous windows at Hermès. The Marché anchors a fabric district that extends to the neighboring streets; each shop is a bit different from the next.
2 rue Charles Nodier, Paris, Île-de-France, 75018, France01–42–06–92–25Sight Details
Rate Includes: Closed Sun. -
30. Monnaie de Paris
St-Germain-des-PrésLouis XVI transferred the royal Mint to this imposing mansion in the late 18th century. It was moved again (to Pessac, near Bordeaux) in 1973; however, weights and measures, medals, and limited-edition coins are still made here, and the site houses a museum devoted to currency. There is an extensive collection of coins and related artifacts, plus workshops where you can watch artisans in action as they mint, mold, sculpt, polish, and engrave using century-old techniques. Public spaces host cultural programs and temporary contemporary art exhibitions. Check the website for Wednesday and Saturday afternoon craft workshops for children. The museum is also home to the three-star Guy Savoy restaurant (reservations required: [email protected]) and the simpler Café Frappé par Bloom.
View Tours and Activities11 quai de Conti, Paris, Île-de-France, 75006, France01–40–46–56–66Sight Details
Rate Includes: €12, Closed Mon. -
31. Musée Bourdelle
MontparnasseAntoine Bourdelle was a life-long artist and prolific sculptor who worked with Auguste Rodin before breaking away to pursue his own style. He received commissions for prestigious projects, both small and monumental, many of which are documented in his cavernous, former workplace. This lesser-known museum has undergone a few renovations and extensions but still has preserved some of the artist's original spaces as well as the small garden with towering sculptures.
18 rue Antoine Bourdelle, Paris, Île-de-France, 75015, France01–49–54–73–73Sight Details
Rate Includes: Free, Closed Mon. -
32. Musée de la Musique
Eastern ParisParc de la Villette’s music museum contains four centuries' worth of instruments from around the world—about 1,000 in total, many of them exquisite works of art. Their sounds and stories are evoked on numerous video screens and via commentary you can follow on headphones (ask for a free audioguide in English). Leave time for the excellent temporary exhibitions, like a recent one on the life and music of French chanteuse Barbara. On the plaza adjacent to the museum, the outdoor terrace at Café des Concerts ( 01–42–49–74–74) is an inviting place to have a drink on a sunny day.
View Tours and Activities221 av. Jean Jaurès, Paris, Île-de-France, 75019, France01–44–84–44–84Sight Details
Rate Includes: From €10, Closed Mon. -
33. Musée de l’Homme
Eiffel TowerWhen President Jacques Chirac’s legacy project (the Musée du Quai Branly, dedicated to the world’s indigenous arts and cultures) pilfered half of this museum's pieces, few thought the rest of Paris’s storied anthropology museum would survive, but it has come roaring back to life. Focused now on “science and human societies,” the Musée de l’Homme has 33,368 square feet of sparkling exhibition space in the west wing of the Palais de Chaillot, where it displays more than 700,000 prehistoric artifacts and art objects. And it now does so using the most modern of museum tricks—including interactive displays, 3-D projections, and educational games—to help visitors understand the history of the human species. While you’re admiring the 25,000-year-old Venus of Lespugue or comparing the skull of Cro-Magnon man with that of René Descartes, don’t forget to look out the window: the view from the upper floors across to the Eiffel Tower and southern Paris is spectacular.
17 Pl. du Trocadéro, Paris, Île-de-France, 75116, France01–44–05–72–72Sight Details
Rate Includes: €13, Closed Tues. -
34. Musée des Arts et Métiers
Marais QuarterScience buffs should not miss this cavernous museum, Europe's oldest dedicated to invention and technology. It's a treasure trove of wonkiness with 80,000 instruments, machines, and gadgets—including 16th-century astrolabes, Pascal's first mechanical calculator, and film-camera prototypes by the Frères Lumière. You can watch video simulations of groundbreaking architectural achievements, like the cast-iron dome, or see how Jacquard's mechanical loom revolutionized clothmaking. Kids will love the flying machines (among them the first plane to cross the English Channel) and the impressive display of old automobiles in the high-ceilinged chapel of St-Martin-des-Champs. Also in the chapel is a copy of Foucault's Pendulum, which proved to the world in 1851 that the Earth rotated (demonstrations are staged daily at noon and 5). The building, erected between the 11th and 13th centuries, was a church and priory that was confiscated during the Revolution, and, after incarnations as a school and a weapons factory, became a museum in 1799. Most displays have information in English, but renting an English audioguide (€5) helps. If you're arriving via the métro, check out the platform of Line 11 in the Arts and Métiers station—one of the city's most elaborate—which is made to look like the inside of a Jules Verne–style machine, complete with copper-color metal walls, giant bolts, and faux gears.
View Tours and Activities60 rue Réaumur, Paris, Île-de-France, 75003, France01–53–01–82–75Sight Details
Rate Includes: €12, Closed Mon. -
35. Musée du Quai Branly
Eiffel TowerThis eye-catching museum overlooking the Seine was built by architect Jean Nouvel to house the state-owned collection of "non-Western" art, culled from the Musée National des Arts d'Afrique et d'Océanie and the Musée de l'Homme. Exhibits mix artifacts from antiquity to the modern age, such as funeral masks from Melanesia, Siberian shaman drums, Indonesian textiles, and African statuary. A corkscrew ramp leads from the lobby to a cavernous exhibition space, which is color coded to designate sections from Asia, Africa, and Oceania. The lighting is dim—sometimes too dim to read the information panels (which makes investing in the €5 audioguide a good idea). Renowned for his bold modern designs, Nouvel has said he wanted the museum to follow no rules; however, many critics gave his vision a thumbs-down when it was unveiled in 2006. The exterior resembles a massive, rust-color rectangle suspended on stilts, with geometric shapes cantilevered to the facade facing the Seine and louvered panels on the opposite side. The colors (dark reds, oranges, and yellows) are meant to evoke the tribal art within. A "living wall" composed of some 150 species of exotic plants grows on the exterior, which is surrounded by a wild jungle garden with swampy patches—an impressive sight after dark when scores of cylindrical colored lights are illuminated. The trendy Les Ombres restaurant on the museum's fifth floor (separate entrance) has prime views of the Eiffel Tower—and prices to match. The budget-conscious can enjoy the garden at Le Café Branly on the ground floor.
View Tours and Activities37 quai Branly, Paris, Île-de-France, 75007, France01–56–61–70–00Sight Details
Rate Includes: From €12 (free 1st Sun. of month), Ticket office closes 1 hr before museum. Closed Mon. -
36. Musée Grévin
Grands BoulevardsIf you like wax museums, this one founded in 1882 ranks among the best. Pay the steep entry price and ascend a grand Phantom of the Opera–like staircase into the Palais des Mirages, a mirrored salon from the 1900 Paris Exposition that transforms into a hokey light-and-sound show the kids will love. (It was a childhood favorite of designer Jean-Paul Gaultier, who is in the collection, of course.) From there, get set for a cavalcade of nearly 300 statues, from Elvis to Ernest Hemingway, Picasso to the late Queen Elizabeth. Every king of France is here, along with Mick Jagger and George Clooney, plus scores of French singers and celebrities.
View Tours and Activities10 bd. Montmartre, Paris, Île-de-France, 75009, France01–47–70–85–05Sight Details
Rate Includes: From €26 -
37. Palais de Chaillot
Eiffel TowerThis honey-colored Art Deco cultural center on Place du Trocadéro was built in the 1930s to replace a Moorish-style building constructed for the 1878 World's Fair. Its esplanade is a top draw for camera-toting visitors intent on snapping the perfect shot of the Eiffel Tower. In the building to the left is the Cité de l'Architecture et du Patrimoine—billed as the largest architectural museum in the world—and the Theâtre National de Chaillot, which occasionally stages plays in English. Also here is the Institut Français d'Architecture, an organization and school. The twin building to the right contains the Musée de l’Homme, a thoroughly modern anthropology museum. Sculptures and fountains adorn the garden leading to the Seine.
View Tours and ActivitiesParis, Île-de-France, 75016, France -
38. Palais de la Porte Dorée
Bois de VincennesIf you're bound for the Bois de Vincennes, pay a visit to the Palais de la Porte Dorée. Built for the 1931 Colonial Exhibition, it's one of the best examples of Art Deco architecture in Paris. The ornate facade features bas-relief sculptures representing France's erstwhile empire. Inside, the elaborate marble, ornate metalwork, frescoes, and original lighting are all beautifully maintained. Entry to the ground floor is free. On either end are furnished salons, one representing Asia, the other Africa (a Gucci commercial was filmed in the latter); peek into the central room, called the Forum, where restored Africa-inspired mosaics line the walls. The upper floors are occupied by the Musée Nationale de l'Historie de l'Immigration, a fascinating modern museum tracing the history of immigration in France through photographs, artworks, and first-person accounts. It's also home to blockbuster exhibits, like the recent show on king-of-the-stiletto Christian Louboutin. The basement contains L'Aquarium Tropical, a favorite among generations of Parisians, who all visited as kids, with a pair of rare albino alligators, plus 300 species of exotic marine life. Be sure to check out the Palais's excellent program of temporary exhibitions.
View Tours and Activities293 av. Daumesnil, Paris, Île-de-France, 75012, France01–53–59–58–60Sight Details
Rate Includes: Ground floor free; museum €8; aquarium €8; combined ticket €12, Closed Mon. -
39. Parc de la Villette
La VilletteThis former abattoir (slaughterhouse) is now an ultramodern, 130-acre park. With lawns and play areas, an excellent science museum, a music complex, and a cinema, it's the perfect place to entertain kids. You could easily spend a whole day here. The park itself was designed in the 1980s by postmodern architecture star Bernard Tschumi, who melded industrial elements, children's games (don't miss the dragon slide), ample green spaces, and funky sculptures along the canal into one vast yet unified playground. Loved by picnickers, the lawns also attract rehearsing samba bands and pickup soccer players. In summer there are outdoor festivals and a free open-air cinema, where people gather at dusk to watch movies on a huge inflatable screen. In cold weather you can visit an authentic submarine and the Espace Chapiteaux (a circus tent featuring contemporary acrobatic theater performances) before hitting the museums. The hands-on one at the Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie is a favorite stop for families and a must for science fans; its 3-D Omnimax cinema (La Géode) is housed in a giant mirrored ball. Arts-oriented visitors of all ages will marvel at the excellent, instrument-filled Musée de la Musique. The park has even more in store for music lovers in the form of the Philharmonie de Paris, a striking 2,400-seat concert hall designed by Jean Nouvel. All that's left of the slaughterhouse that once stood here is La Grande Halle, a magnificent iron-and-glass building currently used for exhibitions, performances, and trade shows.
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40. Parc des Buttes-Chaumont
BellevilleIf you're tired of perfectly manicured Parisian parks with lawns that are off-limits to your weary feet, this place is for you. Built in 1863 on abandoned gypsum quarries and a former gallows, it was northern Paris's first park, part of Napoléon III's planned greening of the city (the emperor had spent years in exile in London, where he fell in love with the public parks). Today the lovely 61-acre hilltop expanse in the untouristy 19e arrondissement has grassy fields, shady walkways, waterfalls, and a picturesque lake dotted with swans. Rising from the lake is a rocky cliff you can climb to find a mini Greek-style temple and a commanding view of Sacré-Coeur Basilica. A favorite of families, the park also has pony rides and an open-air puppet theater—Guignol de Paris (€5; shows at 3:30 pm and 4:45 pm Wednesday and Saturday, and at 11:15 am, 3:30 pm, and 4:45 pm on Sunday, year-round)—not far from the entrance at the Buttes-Chaumont métro stop. When you've worked up an appetite, grab a snack at the Rosa Bonheur café ( www.rosabonheur.fr), or reserve a table for weekend lunch at Le Pavillon du Lac restaurant.
View Tours and ActivitiesEntrances on Rue Botzaris or Rue Manin, Paris, Île-de-France, 75019, France
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