Discover Paris’s 200 best Smart Adventurer spots for your trip

Le Square des Peupliers

Discover Le Square des Peupliers, a hidden residential lane in Paris's 13th arrondissement. Take a quiet, leafy stroll past modest houses and greenery, far from the city's busier streets.

Musée Jean-Jacques Henner

★ 4.4 · 722 reviews

Step into the former townhouse of painter Jean-Jacques Henner. Wander four quiet floors of period architecture, taking in his portraits and nude studies away from the city's busier crowds.

La Petite Ceinture

Discover La Petite Ceinture, Paris's forgotten railway turned urban wild. Wander overgrown tracks, spot old station remnants, and enjoy a quiet, green escape far from the usual tourist crowds.

Musée Zadkine

★ 4.3 · 1,347 reviews

Step into Ossip Zadkine's former home and studio tucked away in Montparnasse. Wander freely through galleries of his sculptures and graphic works, then stroll the garden dotted with statues, plus temporary exhibitions and guided tours.

Library-Museum of the Opera

★ 4.6 · 114 reviews

Step into the Library-Museum of the Opera, tucked within the grandeur of the Palais Garnier. Browse archival collections, costumes, and set designs tracing opera's history, then explore rotating exhibitions in this quiet, scholarly setting.

Balzac House

★ 4.3 · 1,925 reviews

Step into the quiet Passy home where Honoré de Balzac once lived and wrote. Browse manuscripts, portraits and personal objects in the free permanent collection, then relax in the garden or café away from the crowds.

L'Oasis d'Aboukir

★ 4.6 · 91 reviews

Discover L'Oasis d'Aboukir, a soaring vertical garden tucked into Paris's 2nd arrondissement. Look up and spot hundreds of plant species thriving in Patrick Blanc's soil-free hydroponic design, all free to view.

Le Baratin

★ 4.3 · 756 reviews

Discover Le Baratin, a neighborhood bistro tucked into Belleville's authentic side. Sit down to a handwritten blackboard menu and enjoy a good-value lunch set in a casual, lowkey Parisian setting.

Musée Bourdelle

★ 4.7 · 4,003 reviews

Step into Antoine Bourdelle's former studios and garden in the heart of Montparnasse. Wander among his sculptures, drawings, and photographs across the ateliers and contemporary wing, then relax at Le Rhodia café.

Gentlemen 1919 speakeasy

★ 4.8 · 1,085 reviews

Slip through a barbershop's back door into Gentlemen 1919, a hidden Prohibition-era speakeasy in Paris's 8e. Sip refined cocktails in dim, intimate rooms, then unwind with a curated cigar in the felted smoking lounge.

Musée de la Légion d'Honneur

★ 4.5 · 728 reviews

Step into the Hôtel de Salm beside the Musée d'Orsay to explore the story of the Légion d'honneur. See decorations, medals, and artefacts tracing French and international orders of chivalry back through centuries of history.

Discover how to make cheese

★ 4.9 · 850 reviews

Step into the Living Cheese Museum for a hands-on dairy workshop unlike any other in Paris. Follow a cheese master through making your own tomme fraîche and artisanal butter, then taste your creations with a glass of wine.

1905 Paris Speakeasy

★ 4.6 · 441 reviews

Step into 1905, a hidden speakeasy tucked above Aux Vins des Pyrénées in the Marais. Sip cocktails in the smoking room or on the secret terrace, and catch live jazz on Fridays in this reservation-free, discreetly festive hideaway.

La Campagne à Paris

★ 4.8 · 189 reviews

Discover La Campagne à Paris, a secret slice of countryside tucked into the 20th arrondissement. Wander quiet streets lined with low brick cottages and gardens, far from the crowds of typical Paris sightseeing.

Musée Cognacq-Jay

★ 4.4 · 1,933 reviews

Step into the Hôtel Donon, a Marais mansion turned treasure box of 18th-century art. Wander period paintings, furniture and decorative pieces gathered by Ernest Cognacq and Marie-Louise Jay, including a Canaletto view of Venice's Grand Canal, then unwind at the on-site café.

Le Passage du Grand Cerf

Step into Le Passage du Grand Cerf, a light-filled 19th-century arcade tucked away from Paris's busy streets. Browse independent boutiques selling jewelry, home decor, and fashion beneath the tall iron-framed glass roof.

Musée de la Vie Romantique

★ 4.3 · 4,029 reviews

Step into painter Ary Scheffer's former home, tucked away in the 9th arrondissement. Wander period rooms filled with Romantic-era furnishings and art, then unwind with tea or a snack at Rose Bakery in the leafy courtyard garden.

Nicolas Flamel's House

★ 4.8 · 29 reviews

Step back in time at Nicolas Flamel's House, the oldest stone house still standing in Paris. Examine the inscribed 1407 facade on Rue de Montmorency, once built to shelter the poor by the scribe whose legend later inspired Harry Potter.

Musée de l'Histoire de France

★ 4.5 · 3,345 reviews

Step into the Hôtel de Soubise, an ornate 18th-century mansion in the Marais housing France's national archives. Browse rotating thematic exhibitions drawn from millions of digitized documents, or join a guided tour of the historic building, including sessions in French sign language.

Etienne du Mont

★ 4.7 · 3,246 reviews

Step into Saint-Étienne-du-Mont, a Latin Quarter church unlike any other in Paris. See the shrine holding Sainte Geneviève's relics and pay respects at the tombs of Pascal and Racine.

Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature

★ 4.5 · 2,546 reviews

Step into a historic Marais mansion turned curiosity cabinet. Wander eccentrically decorated rooms filled with taxidermy, hunting-themed art, and contemporary installations that reveal humanity's strange bond with the natural world.

Paris' dark history guided tour

★ 4.6 · 700 reviews

Step into the shadows of Paris on an evening walking tour of its darkest chapters. Follow your guide past the Square of the Innocents and areas near the Louvre, hearing eerie tales of plague, murder, and revolution.

Rehab Paris speakeasy

★ 4.3 · 370 reviews

Slip through a mirrored door near the Louvre and descend a metal spiral staircase into Rehab, a hidden speakeasy below the Normandy Le Chantier hotel. Settle into the dim, intimate room and order from the "Remedy" cocktail menu, each drink crafted to match your mood.

Butte Bergeyre

★ 4.4 · 494 reviews

Discover Butte Bergeyre, a quiet hilltop micro-neighborhood tucked above Parc des Buttes-Chaumont. Wander its calm streets past a small community vineyard and catch a surprising, unobstructed view of the Eiffel Tower.

Mouzaïa District

Discover the Mouzaïa District, a village-like pocket of Paris hidden in the 19th arrondissement. Wander quiet private lanes lined with cottages and gardens, built over old gypsum quarries far from the usual tourist routes.

Notre-Dame-du-Travail Church

★ 4.7 · 753 reviews

Step into Notre-Dame-du-Travail, a hidden gem tucked into Montparnasse. See its unusual interior of exposed iron girders and steel trusses, built to honor the working-class neighborhood it was made for.

Maison La Roche

★ 4.4 · 481 reviews

Step into Maison La Roche, one of Le Corbusier's earliest built statements of modernist design. Wander through the pilotis, ribbon windows, and open floor plans that once housed a private art collection, now preserved as a museum in the 16th arrondissement.

Silencio

★ 2.2 · 966 reviews

Step into Silencio, the Sentier hideaway shaped by David Lynch's own hand. Wander through his moody, themed rooms and soak up the surreal design, but check current entry terms first since access is limited and the cover charge draws mixed reviews.

Musée Cernuschi

★ 4.6 · 2,659 reviews

Discover Musée Cernuschi, Paris's dedicated home for Asian art near Parc Monceau. Wander through Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese collections, from a striking Buddha room to carved Japanese dragons and delicate ceramics and glassware.

Les Antiquaires

★ 4.6 · 12,285 reviews

Discover Les Antiquaires, a polished bistrot just steps from Musée d'Orsay. Settle into leather banquettes or the quiet terrace for fine bistro cooking at fair prices, from morning until late.