Paris
France
- Cityscape
- Boulevards and brasseries
- City life
- Born to be bon vivants
Paris is a dream project for pedestrians, with endless secrets hidden away from all the wonderful clichés.
Hold hands in a fleamarket, hunt down fashion and foodie delicacies in the Marais, pay tribute to boutique pioneer Colette, then, when you’ve filled your boutique boots, head to Belleville or Oberkampf for a shot of gritty realism.
Pictured: Murano Urban Resort
Boutique hotels in Paris
Our round-up of the hippest hideaways and boutique hotels in Paris
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Getting there
Planes, trains, automobiles, or maybe even helicopter – we tell you the best way to go.
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Worth getting out of bed for
Highlights the best Paris has to offer, from art and culture to fun-packed activities; we've even found the most inspiring place to enjoy the views from.
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Eating, drinking & dancing
We've tracked down the best cafés for people-watching, the bars with the coolest cocktails, the most accomplished restaurants and the liveliest local nightlife in Paris. All you have to do is make sure you've packed your favourite threads…
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Smith Maps
Here is the map of Paris; each Mr & Mrs Smith hotel is marked by a flag; click it for more details.
moreLocal knowledge
- Taxis
- Can be hailed in the street if you’re more than 100 metres from a rank (these are all over Paris and have phones if no taxi is waiting). From about €8 you can get a multi-trip ticket (Paris Visite) for Métro, buses and trams.
- Tipping culture
- In bars, leave small change amounting to about ten per cent. Restaurants usually state service compris; but it is polite to leave change.
- Packing tips
- Sunglasses, silk scarf, cigarette-holder. Map – the taxi drivers can be uncertain sometimes.
- Recommended reads
- Les Fleurs du Mal by Charles Baudelaire; A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens; A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway; Paris: Capital of the World by P L R Higonnet; Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell; Perfume by Patrick Süskind. Three to Kill by Jean-Patrick Manchette; The Shoe Queen by Anna Davis.
- Cuisine
- Still-walking steak; croque monsieur; chèvre salad.
- Currency
- Euro.
- Dialing codes
- France: 33. Paris: 1.
- Do go/don't go
- Paris grinds to a halt in August, the national holiday. We love springtime, when the blossom is out.