Known as the “city with a 100 villagesâ€, Paris is divided in 20 districts (known as arrondissements).
Chances are that you’ll spend most of your stay within a few areas, the ten we’ve listed in the following pages.
The Paris subway being exceptionally fast and clean, it may be your preferred means of transport while in the City of Light, and all hotels in the center of the city are at a walking distance to a subway station.
Since it is impossible to define where the “real†Paris is, the best is to choose your destination according to what you’ll want to do and which ambiance you want to experience during your trip.
Recommended Areas in Paris according to your desired ambiance:
| Right Bank | Monuments | Museums | Shopping | Business | Parisian Life | Hotel costs |
| Louvre – Les Halles – La Bourse | Best | Best | Good | Good | Poor | High |
| Opéra – Madeleine | Good | Good | Best | Good | Poor | High |
| Le Marais – Ile St Louis | Good | Good | Good | Poor | Good | Avg |
| Champs Elysées-Etoile | Good | Poor | Good | Best | Poor | High |
| Trocadéro | Good | Good | Good | Good | Avg | High |
| Montmartre | Good | Poor | Poor | Poor | Good | Low |
| Left Bank | Monuments | Museums | Shopping | Business | Parisian Life | Hotel costs |
| Latin Quarter | Good | Poor | Poor | Poor | Good | Low |
| St Germain | Poor | Good | Good | Poor | Best | High |
| Invalides (Eiffel/Orsay) | Good | Good | Poor | Good | Poor | Avg |
| Montparnasse – Cité Universitaire | Poor | Poor | Poor | Poor | Good | Best |
The Star System
Rules of Thumb
- The closer you are to the center of Paris (Concorde-Louvre-Saint Germain) the more expensive the hotels are.
- Hotel rooms in Paris are smaller than those in the US.
- Hotels are more expensive on the Right Bank (Champs Elysees, Opera, Louvre) than on the Left Bank (SaintGermain, Latin Quarter, Invalides) where rooms are typically smaller.
- Among European capitals, Paris is among the most affordable.
- There’s been a great deal of renovation of hotels in Paris in the recent years and most of the hotels thatwe recommend have all the modern amenities (except for A/C due to the short hot season needed only in July/August).
- Not all hotels have restaurants/room service but don’t forget, you’ll be in Paris, the city that boasts morerestaurants than any other!
- Most hotels offer continental breakfast (with croissant and café crème!) which are usually not included in the room rate.
- The city tax is generally not included in the hotel rates but don’t exceed $5 per person per night.