Neighbourhoods · 3 min read
Living Quietly in the Heart of Paris, Three Neighbourhoods Compared
Central and yet quiet: how the 2nd arrondissement, the Upper Marais and Saint-Germain-des-Prés strike this balance, and what really matters when choosing the address.
Central or quiet: in many cities you have to choose. In Paris, not necessarily. The city is dense, but it has a particular anatomy. The great thoroughfares carry the traffic; behind them lie side streets, inner courtyards and apartments that look onto the courtyard. Choose the right street and you live at the centre of things and still sleep well.
Three neighbourhoods in the heart of Paris show how it is done. Here is how they differ.
What matters
Quiet in Paris depends less on the arrondissement than on three simple things:
- · The street: a side street rather than a great boulevard.
- · The building: a building with character, solidly built, with windows that close.
- · The daily life of the neighbourhood: a residential neighbourhood with bakeries and markets, not a place that exists only for visitors.
Add a detail that counts in summer: all our apartments are air-conditioned. You can keep the windows closed and still sleep cool.
Saint-Germain-des-Prés, serene elegance
The 6th arrondissement is the quietest of the three. Around Saint-Sulpice and the church of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, bookshops, publishers and boutiques alternate; in the evening, the side streets empty quickly. The Luxembourg garden is the neighbourhood's garden, for the morning walk and the afternoon book. For a first stay, for families and for anyone who values quiet above all, it is the obvious choice.
The 2nd arrondissement, central and compact
The smallest arrondissement in Paris is a working district by day and a district of tables by night. It lies between the Palais-Royal, the Bourse and the Grands Boulevards, and reaches as far as the Opéra quarter. The covered passages, the Galerie Vivienne above all, offer routes away from the traffic. If you want to reach as much as possible on foot, this is the place to stay.
The Upper Marais, lively with places to retreat
The Upper Marais is livelier: galleries, ateliers, designer shops, bars in the evening. Yet the seventeenth-century mansions have their courtyards, and the Square du Temple is a green haven of calm.
At a glance
| Neighbourhood | Strength | Ideal for |
|---|---|---|
| Saint-Germain-des-Prés (6th) | Quiet, elegance, the Luxembourg | First stay, families |
| 2nd arrondissement | Location, everything on foot | Short stays, culture, the Opéra |
| Upper Marais (3rd) | Character, museums, galleries | Couples, groups, art lovers |
An intimate relationship with Paris, one neighbourhood at a time. You will find the apartments in the collection, the Saint-Germain-des-Prés neighbourhood on its own page, and our weighing-up of apartment or hotel in the journal.
The ACT 3 Team