Paris At Night

Best time: Every hour on the hour after dark

Every hour on the hour after dark, the Eiffel Tower lights up with 20,000 flickering gold lights for five minutes. Best viewed from the Trocadéro esplanade, which also gives you the classic head-on photograph. The Champ de Mars works too — more space, less jostling.

Best time: 9pm or 11pm shows

Yes, it's a tourist trap. Yes, you should go anyway. The Moulin Rouge has been running since 1889 and the Féerie show — 60 performers, elaborate costumes, the iconic windmill — is genuinely spectacular. Book the show-only ticket without dinner (the dinner is overpriced and mediocre). Champagne is included.

Best time: After 9pm

The Seine at night is entirely different from daytime. The city lights reflect on the water, every bridge is lit, Notre-Dame glows golden, and you'll sail past the sparkling Eiffel Tower. Bateaux Parisiens runs evening dinner cruises; Vedettes du Pont-Neuf is cheaper for a simple 1-hour tour.

Best time: Thursday–Saturday evenings

A standing wine bar in the 12th arrondissement, near the Marché d'Aligre, that has been a neighbourhood institution for decades. You buy your wine and stand outside on the pavement with the locals. The wine is cheap, the oysters are extraordinary (weekend mornings especially), and there's no tourist infrastructure whatsoever.

Best time: Summer evenings, 6pm–late

The secret garden bar inside the Hôtel Particulier de Montmartre — a boutique hotel in a 19th-century mansion in Montmartre's most exclusive private lane (Villa Léandre). The garden is extraordinary: ivy-covered walls, candlelight, cocktails. One of the best bars in Paris and almost entirely unknown to tourists.

Best time: From 9:30pm

Jazz in a real medieval cellar beneath Saint-Germain-des-Prés, running since 1946. Swing and bebop, live bands every night, dancing on the floor below. It's not the coolest jazz bar in Paris but it's the most atmospheric. Bill Coleman and Memphis Slim played here. The vaulted stone ceiling and the packed dance floor are singular.

Best time: Weekends from 8pm

The Pigalle neighbourhood (9th/18th arrondissement) has transformed from Paris's red-light district to one of its best bar and restaurant areas. South Pigalle especially — La Fourmi, La Mascotte, Dirty Dick cocktail bar, Montmartre wine bars. The energy on a Friday night rivals anywhere in the city.

Best time: Late night

Paris has a thriving late-night crêpe culture. The best late-night crêpes are from the street stands around Montmartre and near the Latin Quarter. A galette complète (buckwheat crêpe, ham, egg, cheese) from a good stand at 1am is one of the underrated Paris experiences.

Best time: From 9pm

The great Art Deco Montparnasse brasserie, open since 1927, serving until midnight or later. Sartre and de Beauvoir drank here. The vast pillared room painted by 27 artists is extraordinary. The food is classic brasserie — steak frites, choucroute, seafood plateau — competently done. Go for the atmosphere, not the Michelin stars.

Best time: Weekends from 9pm

The most genuinely diverse neighbourhood in Paris. The main drag, Rue de Belleville, has Vietnamese and Chinese restaurants open until 1am, wine bars, dive bars and live music venues. The Parc de Belleville gives a panoramic night view of Paris you won't find in any guidebook.