A couple face the Eiffel Tower in Paris in February

How to spend an amazing Valentines Day in Paris

By Ian Packham

If Paris is a day in the year, it’s surely Valentine's Day. Few other cities can match its reputation for romance, with imagery of the Eiffel Tower inevitably tied with thoughts of marriage proposals and romantic candle-lit dinners.

Thankfully, Valentine's Day in Paris isn’t all hype over substance – the City of Love hardly ever disappoints. And that’s despite the high expectations of Parisians and visitors alike. But to make the most of the big day, nothing should be left to chance. Follow our guide to what’s hot and what’s not for the perfect way to spend La Saint Valentin.

Morning

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There’s probably no better way to start Valentine's Day in Paris than by waking up next to your significant other. Treat them to one of Paris’s top hotels, and you’ve also got the possibility of admirable views across the city, and maybe even the Eiffel Tower, once the lazy February dawn has roused itself into being.

Cement your union in the most modern – and Instagrammable – of ways, by taking a selfie beside the millions of padlocks that have been attached to the Pont des Arts. Otherwise known as ‘love lock bridge’, it’s an act few can resist.

You’re now well located to marvel at the marble statuary forming a key component of the collection of the Louvre, or better yet, take in the bridges of Paris from an alternative view by joining a romantic Seine cruise with Bateaux Parisiens.

Lunchtime hours

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Such a trip will put you in prime position to scale the Eiffel Tower. Climbing its 674 steps to the second stage is sure to generate the appetite you’ll need to fully enjoy the Michelin-starred cuisine at Restaurant Jules Verne. Alternatively, keep your powder dry for the top, where the views extend for miles and a champagne bar does a brisk trade.

If you’d rather save Paris’s ‘Iron Lady’ for sunset, head straight to Montmartre. Views from the Basilica of the Sacré-Coeur may play second fiddle to those from the top of the Eiffel Tower, but as the highest natural point in the city, they are still sublime.

What’s more, as Paris’s traditional enclave of artists and bohemians, romance seems to seep from every cobblestone lane, as you’ll discover on any walk around Montmartre. Stop by the 612 individual blue tiles of Le Mur des Je t’aime (the Wall of I Love Yous) or catch a classic Hollywood love story at a matinee screening at Pathé Wepler movie theater.

Afternoon

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Drifting south and east, make your way towards a museum like no other in Paris – the Gourmet Chocolate Museum Choco-Story. As you might expect from a museum dedicated to the world of all things chocolate, there’s plenty of opportunities to sample what you see being made before your very eyes.

Then make a date with the city’s artistic institutions. Wander through the elegant side streets of the second arrondissement and it won’t be long until you find yourself face to face with the 16th-Century exterior of the Louvre, possibly the world’s most famous gallery. The 35,000 objects on display include the unmissable Venus de Milo.

If you ticked this off earlier on in the day, you can instead swing by the Place de la Concorde on route to the Rodin Museum. Not only can you take in The Kiss here, but enjoy time in the tranquil and extensive gardens which envelop it.

Early evening

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Any restaurant with even the slightest chance of an Eiffel Tower view is sure to be booked up months ahead of time in Paris on Valentine's Day. However, Paris has such a reputation for romance, you probably won’t need any help from the ‘Iron Lady’ to maintain the mood.

With most Parisians opting to dine between 8PM and 11PM, you’ve got the chance to sneak in for an early feast should you choose, although the atmosphere may be a little lacking at this time of the evening.

You might prefer to spend the earlier part of the evening with a daiquiri at Bar Hemingway at the Ritz, or with a sidecar at Harry’s New York Bar. Laying its claim to being the oldest cocktail bar in Europe, there’s an atmospheric piano bar in the basement.

But if speakeasy-style bars are somehow not your forte, another option with plenty of romance attached would be a snuggle up together beneath a blanket as you tour Paris by horse and cart to see its landmarks lit up after dark.

Late evening

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No blankets are needed for nights at the Moulin Rouge and the other well-known cabaret club names back in Montmartre. An extraordinary display of talent at any time of year, these clubs go all out on Valentine's Day.

They put on special nights incorporating all the glitz and glamor you would expect, alongside a fine dining experience, tinkling champagne glasses and the chance to slow dance on their hallowed stages between courses.

In addition, the opera houses of Paris are also at full strength on Valentine's Day. So why not dress up in all your finery and experience the magnificent tones of its opera stars or prima ballerinas, two artforms where the meaning is transmitted through the emotion rather than the language?

Here’s to a successful Valentine's Day in Paris!

Spending February 14 in Paris can create a huge amount of expectation. After all, it’s the most romantic day of the year in the most romantic city in the world. If you’re lucky enough to find yourself in the City of Love for Valentine's Day, you’re sure to want to make an extra special effort for your partner in crime.

But that doesn’t have to mean splashing the cash unnecessarily. Spend your money on what matters by saving on admission to many of Paris’s top attractions. Explore with Go City and you can do just that, without losing any of the flexibility you’ll want for those lingering romantic walks or café visits.

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Two women walking along the Seine in Paris.
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Best walks in Paris

“A walk about Paris will provide lessons in history, beauty, and in the point of life”. So said Thomas Jefferson, third President of the USA and ambassador to his beloved France from 1785-1789.
Stuart Bak
A couple relaxing in the Jardin des Tuileries
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Relaxing Things to do in Paris

What could be more idyllic than a restful break in the City of Love, with its multitude of parks and gardens, tranquil canals and cute pavement cafés, perfect for watching the world go by? Check out our guide to the 10 most relaxing things to do in Paris... Picnic by the Eiffel Tower Paris is a paradise for picnic-lovers, with over 400 delightful green spaces across the city in which to throw down a blanket and unpack your hamper. Pick up a fresh baguette, some fromage et charcuterie and a chilled bottle of Chablis and make for the Champs de Mars, a huge expanse of grassy parkland that’s straddled by the Eiffel Tower. Balmy summer evenings are perfect for this, as dusk falls and thousands of golden bulbs flicker on to illuminate the Paris icon. Come for the romance; stay for the spectacular light show that makes the tower sparkle like a diamond every hour on the hour until 1AM. Go Boating in the Bois du Boulogne Over twice the size of Central Park, Bois du Boulogne is one of the biggest parks in Paris. Its location a little off the beaten track in the 16th arrondissement also makes it one of the least busy. Rowboats are available to rent on the Lac Inferieur (Lower Lake), meaning you can while away a pleasant hour or two bobbing gently on its tranquil waters. Afterwards, take a stroll through the forest to smell the (many) roses in the beautiful Parc de Bagatelle botanical garden. If you’re lucky you might also encounter the park’s resident peacocks and elusive red squirrels along the way. Browse for Books in the Latin Quarter The Latin Quarter’s narrow, winding lanes are a far cry from some of Paris’s more hectic boulevards, and it’s here you’ll discover the semi-legendary English-language bookstore Shakespeare and Company, a labyrinthine treasure trove for literature lovers, where thousands of books pack into higgledy-piggledy shelves and teeter in corners. From here, you’re a stone’s throw to the Bouquinistes of Paris, where hundreds of booksellers line the left bank of the Seine, offering some 300,000 books (give or take). Creaking antiquarian tomes, literary classics, graphic novels, childrens’ books, poetry, art... it’s all here, and then some! Have a Hammam Stunning, intricate mosaics and an epic 33-meter-high minaret are not the only reasons to pay a visit to the Grande Mosquée de Paris in the Latin Quarter. There’s also a beautiful byzantine-style hammam with a marble steam room and babbling fountain. Book an exfoliating scrub or vigorous massage for a near-religious experience and complete your transition to a zen-like state by lingering for baklava and mint tea in the leafy courtyard. For religious reasons, there are separate times for men and women to visit the hammam. Enjoy Pizza and Beer by the Canal Dodge the tourist trail and get yourself down to Canal Saint-Martin, where cute cafés, bistros and craft-beer bars line a peaceful stretch of water that’s dotted with tree-shaded quays, garden squares, cobbled walkways and highly Instagrammable Venetian-style bridges. Eagle-eyed fans of French cinema may recognise the canal from Amélie, the quirky 2001 rom-com set in and around some of Paris’s most picturesque locations. Grab some pizza and beer from one of the boho takeaway joints and find a spot to sit down and skim stones across the water at sunset, just like the movie’s titular heroine. Walk the Coulée Verte Nothing soothes the soul like a bit of greenery and this central Paris walkway – literally ‘the Green Corridor’ – is no exception. A disused railway line that runs across a viaduct in the heart of Paris, it has been converted into a peaceful elevated walking route that’s alive with lush vegetation and foliage. Enjoy views of the Paris skyline from your verdant vantage point and refill your bottle with sparkling water (yes, really!) at the free fountain in Jardin de Reuilly, one of just a handful of its kind dotted around Paris. Play Pétanque One of France’s greatest and most relaxing pastimes, pétanque is a sport that’s beloved of hipsters and old-timers alike. You can have a go at this ancient boule-throwing contest in any number of locations around the city. We recommend Place de la Nation or stunning Luxembourg Gardens, where other gentle pursuits on offer include giant chess and sailing antique toy boats on the ornamental lake. Watch a Sunset (or Sunrise!) Sunset in Paris is truly something else. As the sky turns a dusky pink and lights flicker on across the city, it can feel like there’s magic in the air. Little wonder that this time of day (and its early morning counterpart) provided such inspiration for the likes of Monet. Take a cruise along the Seine to see iconic Paris landmarks including the Louvre and Pont Alexandre III illuminated from the water. Or head for the high ground: the view from the observation deck atop Montparnasse Tower is magnifique, while the atmosphere around Montmartre – as the light fades over the Sacré-Cœur and the colorful carousel below wheels into motion – is hard to beat. Visit a Garden You’re never very far from a park or garden in Paris, so it’s easy to take time out from the hubbub of the city streets and pause to smell the roses – literally. Handily located between the Louvre and Place de la Concorde, the 17th-century Jardin des Tuileries is a peaceful formal garden with two ponds, statues by the likes of Rodin and Giacometti, and plentiful seating. You can also put your feet up in the sculpture garden at the Rodin Museum, where ornamental ponds, perfectly manicured box hedges and a variety of famous pieces by the celebrated sculptor, make for a relaxing place to while away an hour or two. People-Watch at a Café For Parisians, the act of sitting at a pavement café, slowly sipping espressos and peering at passers-by over dark glasses, is something of an art form. Pull up a chair, order a croissant or three and join the locals in a spot of people-watching. Your server won’t bring the check until you ask for it, so you have all the time in the world to sit back, relax and watch what some would say is the best show in town. Save on relaxing things to do in Paris Save on admission to Paris attractions with Go City. Check out @GoCity on Instagram and Facebook for the latest top tips and attraction info.
Stuart Bak
The Louvre Museum in Paris
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Best Art Galleries in Paris

The birthplace of Impressionism, Paris is a veritable paradise for artists and art lovers. It’s a city that has inspired and produced a disproportionate number of household names over the centuries – think Matisse, Modigliani, Manet and Toulouse-Lautrec. It’s no surprise then that Paris is where you’ll find some of the world’s finest galleries and museums as well as, of course, arguably the most recognizable (and certainly the most visited) painting on the planet. Read on to be inspired by our selection of some of the best art galleries in Paris. The Big Hitters The Louvre Museum Of course, no visit to Paris would be complete without passing through the Louvre’s iconic glass pyramid and entering its multi-level labyrinth of galleries, corridors, stairways and escalators. With nearly 40,000 works of art on display at any given time, covering painting, sculpture, antiquities and much more, the Louvre is the world’s most-visited museum and contains many of its greatest and most famous artistic treasures. Come for the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo, stay for the ancient Great Sphinx of Tanis, French crown jewels and the decadent pastries and fancies served in the museum’s Café Richelieu Angelina, where the Mont Blanc – a grand confection of meringue, whipped cream and chocolate shavings – is something of a work of art in itself. Musée d’Orsay More compact, easier to navigate and significantly less crowded than the Louvre, the Musée d’Orsay’s collection of 19th and 20th-century art packs a real punch. Here, in what used to be the Gare d’Orsay train station, you can view world-class pieces including Van Gogh’s mesmerizing Starry Night over the Rhône and Self Portrait, perhaps the greatest selfie of them all. French Impressionism and Post-Impressionism is particularly well represented here, with a great variety of Toulouse-Lautrec’s Moulin Rouge-inspired pieces and many Monet masterpieces, including one from his Water Lilies series. Don’t miss the original station clock, which hangs in the impressive main hall, and head to fifth-floor Café Campana by the Impressionist Gallery, where a giant clock-face window affords enchanting views across the Seine to the Louvre and Sacré-Cœur Basilica. Musée de Montmartre Montmartre’s cobbled streets, bohemian vibe and awe-inspiring views across Paris have attracted a great many artists over the years, among them – deep breath – Renoir, Manet, Toulouse-Lautrec, Van Gogh, Picasso, Miró and Modigliani, many of whom are represented here at the Musée de Montmartre. Housed in one of the district’s oldest buildings, the Musée de Montmartre was once a mansion containing artists’ studios used by the likes of Renoir, Charles Camoin and Suzanne Valadon. The peaceful surrounding gardens are named in memory of Renoir, who painted several of his greatest masterpieces when he lived here in the 1870s, including the Bal du moulin de la Galette and Jardin de la rue Cortot, depicting this very garden. Top Paris Museums for Kids Centre Pompidou Paris has stacks of fab museums that children will love with many, including big hitters like the Louvre and Musée d’Orsay, offering free entry for under 18s. The huge Centre Pompidou has an entire floor dedicated to kids aged from 2-16, offering informative tours, exhibitions, hands-on workshops and bags of interactive fun. Better still, workshops for kids aged nine and over don’t require parental supervision, leaving you free to explore the center’s National Museum of Modern Art, which boasts a collection including Picasso, Pollock, Warhol and many more, that’s rivaled only by MoMA in NYC in terms of its variety, scope and quality. Musée du Quai Branly Kids will adore the Musée du Quai Branly’s quirky exterior: a towering green wall of foliage that looks like a giant garden flipped on its side. Inside, there’s much for bright young minds to discover among the vast collection of indigineous art from around the world. Highlights that are sure to entertain include dramatic ceremonial masks from India and Africa, Aboriginal tree-bark paintings, a brightly mosaiced Volkswagen Beetle from Mexico and a massive medieval Moai head from Easter Island. Kids here can also shrug off uncool parents and fly solo in fun arty workshops for ages 6-12. Single Artist Museums Musée Rodin Arguably France’s greatest ever sculptor, Auguste Rodin is celebrated here in a fine collection that also includes a few paintings by fellow Gallic luminaries such as Renoir and Monet. Indisputable star of the show here though is the sedate seven-acre sculpture garden, where many of Rodin’s best-loved creations – including The Thinker, Monument to the Burghers of Calais and The Gates of Hell – can be found scattered among perfectly sculpted box hedges and ornamental pools. Musée Picasso-Paris This collection of over 5,000 works by the father of Cubism is among the world’s finest. His offbeat and unsettling world is represented here by around 700 paintings and surreal sculptures, plus thousands of drawings, notebooks, photos, engravings and other ephemera. Explore the four stories of this delightful 17th-century palace to discover pieces including his Self-Portrait and La Celestina, painted during Picasso’s Blue Period, as well as later works from his Cubist phase and works depicting scenes from the Spanish Civil War from his harrowing war paintings series. Musée National Gustave Moreau Dedicated to the life and works of 19th-century Symbolist painter Gustave Moreau, this fascinating museum was the Moreau family home until the artist’s death in 1898. Among its many highlights are a quite extraordinary spiral staircase and some fairly out-there compositions featuring unicorns and other mythical creatures, hallucinatory visions, bizarre plants and more. Printed guides containing extensive and often rambling commentaries from the man himself are available to take around the museum with you, and you can even visit his old studio and top-floor apartment. Save on the best art galleries in Paris Save on admission to Paris attractions with Go City. Check out @GoCity on Instagram and Facebook for the latest top tips and attraction info.
Stuart Bak

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