10 Things to Do in Paris

1. Watch the sunset from the roof of the Printemps.

I found this idea on several Pinterest pages and was immediately interested. I didn’t expect to do it, however, because there’s endless amazing things to do in Paris. It wasn’t until we went to the Paris Opera to look around and realized we could only get so far without paying that we started looking at other nearby options. Le Printemps happens to be about a 5 minute walk from the Paris Opera. Le Printemps is a a huge store full of designer products and fancy tea houses and restaurants. The two most noteworthy restaurants are the ones on the 6th floor and the terrace. The one on the sixth floor has a beautiful blue glass ceiling with golden lighting for a very fancy feel. The prices there seemed a bit pricey, but it is definitely worth peeking in at the ornate ceiling.

The restaurant on the terrace, on the other hand, was much more reasonable. The first page of the menu lists out things to order “to share.” This may not seem like a big deal because you can usually order anything to split, but French people take their food seriously. I’ve found that ordering something to split or even just ordering water instead of a drink will earn you a scoff or eye roll. This restaurant was completely different. They not only allowed us to split a single 12€ dessert, but they also gave us free water in larger glasses than anywhere else and sat us right by the edge to get a phenomenal view of the city. If you’re not in the mood for something to eat or drink, you’re still welcome on the terrace. There is a smaller section before walking through the garden of the restaurant where you can peek over the balcony to glimpse the city from above. In all honesty, I’d say this view might even be better than the view from the Eiffel Tower or Arc-de-Triomphe because you can actually see the Eiffel Tower from it and you aren’t as high up, so you see more details of the city. It doesn’t hurt that it’s free ;) the view from the Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe are also great, but this is a good substitute for budget travelers and a good addition for all trips to Paris.

2. Wander through the cute downtown Marais.

When you ask pretty much any French person what to do in Paris, you will hear about le Marais. This area has a lot of history as the old Jewish neighborhood and now the artsy quarter. It’s within walking distance of Sacre-Cœur, the Bastille, and the park, Place des Vosges, which makes for a great day of exploring. It’s also less touristy than some of the other arrondissements in Paris, which can offer a very needed change of pace. We also tasted some of the best macarons here, so keep your eye out!

3. Pause for a croissant at Boris Lumé near Sacré-Cœur.

This tiny boulangerie might not look like much, but the line out the door and a single bite into one of its croissants will tell a very different story. I ordered a simple butter croissant, and it was possibly the best one I’ve ever had. It was one of the melt-in-your-mouth ones that can only be understood by tasting it yourself. If that doesn’t convince you enough to go there, there’s even a TV show based on this bakery. In other words, just go and thank me later.

4. See the Eiffel Tower at night.

This was my second trip to Paris, so I’ve already had the wind knocked out of me from seeing the Eiffel Tower for the first time. I wasn’t expecting to be awestruck yet again, but I most definitely was. The reason why: it came into view out of nowhere while on the metro at night — a golden glow amidst the dark sky. The Eiffel Tower has a certain magic to it, but it is even more enchanting when it surprises you, and that’s exactly what happened on the metro. We were just standing around, dancing to the musicians playing accordion on the metro as we rode through tunnels when we suddenly popped out of the tunnel and caught our first glimpse of the Eiffel Tower. Now, I believe that moment would be pretty special regardless of the time of day, but the Eiffel Tower is really something else at night. Not to mention, the twinkling lights that turn on for five minutes every hour ado to its magic at night.

5. Eat pizza along the Seine.

This little pizza shop is one of Paris’s best “hidden” gems. When you get to the carousel by the Eiffel Tower, walk down the stairs to the Seine and you’ll find a pizza place and a crepe place. my family found this place last time we were in Paris and ended up eating dinner here three out of the seven days we spent in Paris. It might seem a little crazy to eat so much pizza in Paris of all places, but you’ll understand why when you try it out. The pizza is delicious and incredibly reasonably priced, especially for somewhere with such a great location. the lights and river give it a great ambiance. On my most recent visit, we sat here for over an hour, enjoying the sights and watching the Eiffel Tower twinkle twice. My family is coming to France to visit soon, and the one thing my younger sister needs to do during her day in Paris is go to this pizza shop. Do yourself a favor, and try it out.

6. Pretend to be royalty at the Château de Vincennes.

This place truly is a hidden gem to the fullest extent. Before my most recent Paris trip, I’d never heard of this castle and, apparently, no one else had either. Since I’d already seen what I wanted to in the Louvre during my last visit, I opted out of going again. Instead, I dropped my friends off at the Louvre and went out to find new spots. This was my first stop. While the Louvre had an enormous line and was extremely crowded, le Château de Vincennes had no line whatsoever. In fact, I’d guess there were only five other people there. The whole time I was there, I just kept wondering how I’d never heard of it and why no one else was there. Honestly, this castle was prettier than many of the touristy ones, and I had it all to myself. There was an option to pay to explore the inside of the castle and chapel, but I opted to just admire the architecture from the outside. With all the colorful doors and gates, I had more than enough to love. Since I didn’t go into the museum part, this was not a particularly long stop for me, and it was out of the way from most other attractions. Nevertheless, I’d recommend checking it out. When else can you get a castle all to yourself?

7. Find great bargains at the Marché aux Puces in Saint-Ouen.

This recommendation is a little harder to give because I never technically made it there, but I hope to next time I go to Paris. When I was looking into unique things to do in Paris, one article said that you could go to the world’s largest flea market. I’m all for walking through markets, so going to the largest one sounded pretty exciting. Unfortunately, there are two markets with very similar names in opposite sides of Paris. One is the marché aux puces, located in Saint-Ouen, and be other is called Marché aux Puces de Saint-Ouen. I went to the second and can confirm that it is most definitely not the world’s largest flea market. It was still fun to walk around, and it let us find extra warm layers for only 3€ On a cold, drizzly day. If you have time in your Paris trip, try out the other market, and you’ll be able to say you went to the world’s largest flea market!

8. Buy metro tickets in bulk.

If you’re like me and trying to see as much of Paris as possible in a short time, you probably won’t be able to walk between all of the places. Odds are, some of them will be on opposite sides of the city, or you’ll find yourself too tired for another 30 minute walk to your next site. That’s where the metro comes in. It’s well organized and very helpful, but it also comes with a high price tag. At 1.90€ per ticket, a weekend full of sight seeing can become quite expensive. Since I stuck to mostly free attractions, my biggest expense in Paris came from metro tickets. I never knew how many I would end up using, so I kept buying individual tickets. The only way to get even a slight discount was to buy 10 or a day pass. In hindsight, buying the booklet of 10 would’ve been a much better deal. Save yourself the hassle and the money by buying the 10-ticket deal right from the start. They’ll come in handy.

9. Bring your student card (if applicable).

Europe does a great job of encouraging students to become well-traveled and educated people with a true sense of European identity. One way they do this is by giving students discounts almost everywhere. Whenever you have to pay for admission to anything in Europe, pull out your student card, and you’ll probably get a discount or free admission. My friends, for example, got into the Louvre for free with their student cards.

10. Buy your Arc de Triomphe tickets online.

If you end up going to the Arc de Triomphe and want to go up, you will need to find stairs going underground like the metro but with Arc de Triomphe signs. Once you find that, look on the sign, and you will find a QR code for buying tickets online. When you keep walking, you will quickly notice the line to buy tickets is ridiculously long. At the end of the line is a sign with the prices for various age groups or nationalities. The QR code will be on that sign also. If you want to skip the line to fit in more activities in Paris, buying your tickets online is a great option. Then, you only have to wait in the second line to go through security and then up the stairs to the top. The downside of buying the tickets this way is that discounted tickets are not available online. If I am remembering correctly, the student price was 10 euros while the regular price was 12 euros. It was only 2 euros different, so we decided to skip the line and buy the tickets online. One girl in our group, however, had a passport from the EU and was eligible for a free ticket. She had to wait in the line, even though she did not have to pay. How you choose to buy your tickets is your choice, but, in this situation, the time was more valuable than the money to me.