Bastille
Local Paris with a proper night out attached.
For those who know Paris, our more personal, local edit.
The short version
Lively, unpretentious, evening-focused
- ·Groups of friends
- ·Nightlife
- ·Food markets
- ·Repeat visitors
- ·Skip if you want quiet weekend nights.
- ·Skip if you want landmarks on your doorstep.
- ·Skip if you are traveling with very young children.
Where to stay
Hotels in the neighborhood that are a good match.
Hôtel Bastille Speria
1 Rue de la Bastille, 75004 Paris
A few steps from Place de la Bastille itself, on the street that gives the neighborhood its name. Straightforward and well run rather than a design statement.
Travelers who want to be right on the square and well connected by metro, without paying for a boutique concept.
Check availabilityOh la la ! Hotel Bar Paris Bastille
6 Rue de la Roquette, 75011 Paris
On Rue de la Roquette, one of Bastille's liveliest nightlife streets, with its own ground-floor bar folded into the hotel rather than tucked away from it.
Travelers who want to be in the middle of Bastille's bar scene, not just close to it.
Check availabilityLe Marceau Bastille
13 Rue Jules César, 75012 Paris
Just off the Coulée Verte René-Dumont in the 12th, a quieter pocket of Bastille than the bars around Rue de Lappe, with Place de la Bastille itself an easy walk away.
Travelers who want Bastille's location without its loudest streets, and easy access to Gare de Lyon.
Check availabilityWhere to drink coffee
Where to eat
Tarántula
- Mexican
- Contemporary
A Mexican-inspired kitchen on Rue Keller, a block off Rue de la Roquette, praised by independent food critics as some of the best Mexican cooking in Paris rather than a tourist-facing taco stand.
For an evening out
Moonshiner
- Cocktails
- Speakeasy
- Whisky
A Prohibition-era speakeasy entered through the fridge door of the Da Vito pizzeria, Art Deco decor, an extensive whisky selection and inventive cocktails in a deliberately hard-to-find room.
Things worth doing
Coulée Verte René-Dumont
- Parks
- Walks
An elevated garden walkway built on a disused rail line, starting just behind the Opéra Bastille and running above Avenue Daumesnil. Genuinely off the tourist track despite starting a few steps from the square.