The alternative guide to Paris: How to enjoy the city like a local

With hundreds of art galleries, chic cafés and architectural marvels on every corner, it stands to reason that there’s far more to the City of Light than the usual tourist-filled spots. Alessia Armenise shares her favourites

Paris is best experienced away from the tourist hotspots (Getty Images)

Paris is one of those cities that never ceases to amaze. It doesn’t matter if you’ve spent 24 hours or 10 years there, there’s always something new to see, try and learn.

This is when the French capital comes into its own: when you swerve the tourist traps and explore like a local, opting for the lesser-known side of the city and seeking out novel experiences. Even though you’ll find that Parisians have no problem queueing for hours for a good brunch or an exceptional exhibition, you’d be hard-pressed to find them trying to steal a glimpse at the Mona Lisa or waiting to drink a hot chocolate at Angelina.

Whether you’re a Francophile who thinks they’ve seen everything Paris has to offer or a first-timer who wants to avoid queues so they can experience the city like a local, here are some options to explore the French capital in a different way, far from the madding crowd.

Read more on Paris travel:

• How to do the French capital like Emily in Paris
• The family travel guide to Paris
• Best hotels in Paris

Swap Notre-Dame for Église de Saint-Eustache

The Église de Saint-Eustache has all the Gothic drama of Notre-Dame (Getty Images)

Even if you wanted to spend hours in a queue to visit Notre-Dame, the famous church doesn’t reopen until April 2024 due to renovations. But Paris is full of gorgeous – and queueless – Gothic buildings to explore. One of the most beautiful is the Église de Saint-Eustache, located in the heart of the city – the historic neighbourhood of the Halles. This is a working church serving the community, which means that some hours of the day will be dedicated to mass, events and their renowned music festivals, so it’s worth checking their website before visiting. The structure of this church dates back to 1213 and is very similar to the more famous Notre-Dame, with the biggest difference being that its doors are always open (and there are rarely tourists inside).

Swap the Sacré Cœur Basilica for Saint-Sulpice

Saint Sulpice holds tours in English (Getty Images)

Located almost on the opposite side of Paris, the Paroisse Saint-Sulpice is a rewarding alternative to the busy Sacré Cœur Basilica. Located in the elegant neighbourhood of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, minutes from the Luxembourg Gardens, the church is a beautiful blend of Gothic architecture and classical Corinthian ornaments due to its reconstruction in 1645. You can visit the church and the crypt – tours in English are organised on the first and third Sunday of the month – admire the frescos by Eugene Delacroix or soak up the beauty of the building while sipping an espresso at the Café de la Mairie, just opposite the square Saint-Sulpice.

Swap Montmartre for Place de la Contrescarpe

Montmartre, with its artists and cafés, is one of the most magical places in Paris. But wouldn’t it be even better if you could enjoy the same atmosphere, the same cafés and even the same artists without the crowds? Tucked away in the 5th arrondissement, between the Pantheon and the Grand Mosque of Paris, Place de la Contrescarpe offers you everything Montmartre does, minus the crowds. Of course, this neighbourhood is buzzing with bars, cafés and restaurants so it’s still busy, but the ratio of tourists to locals is a lot more balanced, and the atmosphere is unmatched.

Place de la Contrescarpe is full of arty, boho buzz (Getty Images)

Swap the Louvre for small museums

The Louvre is a one-of-a-kind museum that needs to be visited at least once, but if you are only in Paris for a weekend you might not want to spend a whole day in the queue to see the Mona Lisa. There are plenty of exquisite museums in Paris that are well worth a few hours of your time but don’t attract quite as many tourists. If you love Monet, you can’t miss the Musée Marmottan Monet and the Musée de L’Orangerie, while the Musée Gustave Moreau gives a fabulous glimpse into a lesser-known artist’s life and work. For the literature enthusiasts, the Maison de Balzac and Maison de Victor Hugo are a must-see. But there are also the Musée Jacquemart-André, the museum-atelier Zadkine and plenty of other small museums that deserve to be explored.

Swap Café de Flore for Café d’Auteur

The Café de Flore is undoubtedly a Parisian institution, but the experience itself is far from enjoyable. Not only is the queue hours long, but the drinks are overpriced and mediocre at best. The 6th arrondissement where Café de Flore is located is full of both traditional and modern cafés where you can enjoy a much better cup of coffee. If we’re sticking to tradition, Café d’Auteur is the place to go for good coffee, roasted in-house, while those looking for a more modern café concept should try Bonjour Jacob and Ten Belles.

Swap Père Lachaise for the Montparnasse Cemetery

Montparnasse Cemetery has plenty of its own famous names (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris is the most visited necropolis in the world, so it’s easy to imagine how busy it can get, especially around the most famous graves such as Jim Morrison’s, Marcel Proust’s and Oscar Wilde’s. If you’re not looking to pay homage to a specific figure but are interested in visiting a site with similar architecture, look no further than the Montparnasse cemetery in the 14th arrondissement. In Montparnasse, you’ll find the burial places of some French icons like Serge Gainsbourg, Simone Veil, Simone De Beauvoir and Charles Baudelaire.

Swap the Centre Pompidou for Perrotin art gallery

Paris is a fantastic city for modern and contemporary art lovers. The Centre Pompidou might be the most famous museum for taking in modern works, but there are plenty of other options too, from the Palais de Tokyo and the Museum of Modern Art to the Fondation Luis Vuitton and the Fondation Cartier. These museums are all wonderful, but locals’ favourite places to get a contemporary art fix are the hundreds of galleries located all over the city. The famous Galerie Perrotin, for example, is located in an 18th-century hôtel particulier in the Marais and offers free guided tours, while, on the left bank, the Galerie Vallois is an institution.

Travel essentials

Getting there

Travelling flight-free

Eurostar travels daily from London’s St Pancras station, getting to Paris Gare du Nord in 2h37m.

Travelling by air

Multiple airlines fly from the UK to Paris. From London, British Airways, Air France, easyJet and Vueling have daily flights to Paris. From Manchester and Edinburgh, Ryanair, easyJet and Air France operate direct flights. EasyJet also operates direct flights from Bristol, while from Birmingham you can fly on both Vueling and Air France.

Staying there

​​Hotel Le Grand Mazarin just opened its doors in the heart of the Marais. This five-star hotel boasts 61 rooms and suites, a bar, a winter garden, a cabaret, an indoor swimming pool and a restaurant, Boubalé, led by Michelin-starred Israeli chef Assaf Granit.

Hotel Academie des Arts is a 20-room boutique hotel close to Saint-Germain-des-Prés and the Luxembourg Gardens. The hotel has a workshop space for artists to draw and paint and a bohemian café that embodies the creative spirit of its neighbourhood.

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Read more of our best Paris hotel reviews