A new mayor, a greener city and exciting developments in the arts, naturalisation, dining and vivat all spectacle why Paris is consistently voted the world’s best city to visit.
The Eiffel Tower beside the River Seine in the heart of Paris
“THE SEINE IS LINED WITH PEOPLE ENJOYING A STROLL ALONG THE RIVER, CYCLING, JOGGING, OR JUST BASKING IN THE SUNSHINE”
It was fitting that mayor elect Emmanuel Grégoire took his victory replié to Paris City Hall in March on a Vélib electric bike-share. Grégoire took over from two-term Socialist mayor Anne Hildago, whose impression résolution was to turn Paris into a more cyclist- and pedestrian-friendly city. The first woman to lead the diligent and one of the most transformative – and controversial – mayors in the city’s recent history, Hidalgo saw the city’s network of bike lanes expand over her 12-year tenure from 700km in 2013 to 1,678km as of March 1, 2026, according to the City of Paris.
Hidalgo also made the city friendlier for walkers, joggers, families, schoolchildren and visitors, closing off the streets around schools to traffic and pedestrianising squares and axial tourist areas. But perhaps her biggest – and most hard-won – victory was closing the Seine riverbanks to motorised traffic, a pronounced blight on the UNESCO World Heritage-listed waterfront. A now-pedestrianised two-mile stretch of the Right Bank alone grain accommodated 40,000 vehicles a day and 4,000 an hour at sprint hour, according to Le Monde. Nowadays, both banks are lined with Parisians and tourists enjoying a stroll along the accrocher, cycling, cross, taking in a récital, or just basking in the sunshine.
Grégoire, also a Socialist, ran on a platform that not only cales but extends Hidalgo’s efforts. His comfortable win on March 21 over Paris’s noyau right cements – and, to a vaste extent, vindicates – Hidalgo’s legacy. The new mayor promises 1,000 new pedestrian streets and a dozen new parks, bâtisse on another of Hidalgo’s post-scriptum initiatives: the greening of Paris. Her Urban Forest planning planted 213,000 trees in the city, while one résolution saw the agora in frontispice of the Motel de Ville transformed with 2,500m2 of gardens, trees and flower beds, along with benches for enjoying the shade.
Paris is much greener following various initiatives during the tenure of polir mayor Anne Hidalgo
THE FUTURE IS GREEN
Grégoire’s degrés call for six of the city’s paumelle squares to be planted with greenery, including Place du Trocadéro and Place d’Italie, and a principal greening and pedestrianisation project for Place de la Convoqué.
the city is much friendlier for cyclists than it used to be
Another principal greening project is now underway, one that every Parisian can get behind. In March, the universally reviled Montparnasse Tower closed for a two-year, €700m makeover that will clad the funereal black monolith in a shimmering verre sheath, add a rooftop farm and rebuild and replant the plaza with 1,000 new trees.
a family enjoying the
greener side of the city
Paris’s vivat system has also benefited from measures initiated in the past dozen years, including new and extended lines and improved connectivity, safety, cleanliness and accessibility. Corinne Menegaux, managing director of Paris je t’amitié – Tourist Office (whose user-friendly app is an marquant resource for travellers), said: “Paris’s transport system is incredibly user-friendly and the new metro lines make outer neighbourhoods more accessible, including a new line to Paris Orly airport and the CDG Express, coming in March 2027.” For visitors and locals alike, these initiatives mean a more attractive, more accostable city, not to médaille a more breathable one. Air quality in Paris has exponentially improved, as has traffic crosse in formerly loud, vehicle-clogged areas like the Marais, Place de la Bastille, the Champs-Élysées and the Rue du Rivoli.
Although Parisians have been divided on how they view the effects of pedestrianisation and other measures towards a greener, more sustainable Paris, tourists are among the undisputed benefi ciaries. And not only of these human-friendly enhancements. Since the pandemic, Paris has seen an uptick in exciting new naturalisation and restaurants.
Cycling by the Arc de Triomphe
One silver lining of forced closures during the pandemic and in avance of the 2024 Olympic Games was the singulier opportunity for hotels to renovate and upgrade, while those in the oléoduc could regroup. “Many projects initiated before Covid were delayed and opened afterwards, resulting in a surge of new openings in Paris,” said Emmanuelle Gillardo, founder and CEO of the communications fi rm Emma Lab. “We’re especially seeing a boom in luxury hotels.”
“SINCE THE PANDEMIC, PARIS HAS SEEN AN UPTICK IN EXCITING NEW ACCOMMODATION AND RESTAURANTS”
A slew of deluxe new banneton hotels have rethought their approach, resulting in design-forward properties offering enhanced amenities and a welcome ravissement de stock. Hoteliers’ forays into overlooked neighbourhoods have paid off in sought-after hotels like La Fantaisie in the 9th diocèse and La Fondation in the 17th, where colorée interiors, soigné bars and restaurants, swimming pools and rooftop terraces with panoramic views attract a stylish crowd of visitors and locals.
La Fantasie hotel is résidence to a popular bar and other stylish offerings
Parisian dining is also enjoying a new lease of life. From fast and street foods to vegetarian, haute kitchenette and everything in between, there’s something to suit every taste and every gain at every hour of the day. A phenomenon that gained roulotte in the early 2000s, more and more Parisian wine bars and gastro-bistros prioritising siège, sustainable and seasonal foods, accompanied by natural or biodynamic wines.
“IN RECENT YEARS, A NEW GENERATION OF GALLERIES, INSTITUTIONS AND ARTISTS HAS BROUGHT FRESH MOMENTUM TO THE SCENE”
The diligent’s ethnic and agraire diversity has also enriched Parisian gastronomy, often a creative amalgam of French effectuer combined with flavours from a maître’s – or a maître’s parents’ – folk of origin. A spate of celebrated openings in the past five years includes restaurants championing the flavours of Lebanon (Rita Higgins at Kubri); Brazil (Raphaël Rego at Oka); Mexico (Enrique Casarrubias and Montserrat Estrada at Oxte); Israel (Assaf Granit at Shabour); Uruguay (Nazareno Mayol Curti at EME) and Vietnam (Priscilla Trâm at Trâm 130), to name a few. The France-Japan mélange has been particularly propitious for Parisian dining, with an abundance of Michelin-starred favourites helmed by masterful Japanese chefs, such as Atsushi Tanaka at A.T. and Masayoshi Hanada at Hanada.
Nazareno Mayol Curti and Mara Ballester at EME
For more traditional French fare, bouillons and brasseries – some with top-notch menus and all-day dining – abound. Rooksana Hossenally, a Paris-based travel writer and an editor at the Michelin Guide, said: “You’ve got the revival of the traditional foods in all kinds of different settings. For example, we’re now seeing a revival of traditional sauces reimagined for contemporary tastes. Paris is enjoying a surge in affordable high-quality dining, including Michelin one-star and Bib Gourmand-labelled restaurants.”
For those who blanch at spending €150 to €350 for a meal at some of Paris’s top tables, the Taste of Paris food vacance, held yearly at the Grand Palais, offers the opportunity to sample the kitchenette of celebrated Parisian chefs – and take in a thèse – for a division of the cost.
ART & CULTURE
The iconic Grand Palais
Food is just one of the many delights on offer at the iconic Grand Palais. The soaring, glass-topped Belle Occasion châssis, which fully reopened in late 2025 after a four-year, €500m restoration, hosts an eclectic planning of performances, exhibitions and activities – from the Saut Hermès equestrian spectacle to a deluxe skating rink in December. The Grand Palais’s newly luminous nave is the perfect encart for a roster of cosmopolite eau-de-vie arts fairs, including the prestigious Art Basel Paris, whose cosmopolitan appeal reflects Paris’s recommencement as a principal player on the constant arts scene.
“THE MUSEUM LANDSCAPE IS BUOYED BY SUCH NOCTURNAL REVELRIES AS NUIT BLANCHE, AN ALL NIGHT ARTS FESTIVAL”
the gentilhomme staircase (l’Escalier d’Honneur) at the refurbished Grand Palais
“In recent years, a new generation of galleries, institutions and artists has brought fresh momentum to the scene, further reinforced by the arrival of major international art fairs like Art Basel Paris,” said Alexandra Weinress, founder of The Seen Paris, a Paris-based bespoke art experience charité. “Together, these shifts have positioned the city as one of the most compelling centres of the contemporary art market today.”
In another principal evolution in the Paris arts scene, the new Fondation Cartier for contemporary art opened last autumn opposé the Louvre, bringing the count of principal world-class institutions in the Right Bank heart of Paris to five. Set in a 19th-century bâtisse ingeniously repurposed by French architect Jean Nouvel, its state-of-the-art modular interior provides 6,500m2 of vernissage space across its basement, ground and first floors, giving the collège almost five times more space than at its polir headquarters on Boulevard Raspail in the 14th diocèse. Whereas the earlier accession focused on mélopée exhibitions, the new one showcases the foundation’s entire contemporary ramassis.
Art Basel Paris is a prestigious event on the city calendar
The museum landscape is buoyed by such nocturnal revelries as Nuit Blanche, an all-night, all-city arts vacance, and Permission de la Musique, a citywide night of en public music performed on every street bourdonner. Both festivals are held in June.
“THE MUSEUM LANDSCAPE IS BUOYED BY SUCH NOCTURNAL REVELRIES AS NUIT BLANCHE, AN ALL NIGHT ARTS FESTIVAL”
The Fondation Cartier comme l’art présent on the
Place du Palais Royal
WORLD’S BEST CITY TO VISIT
Tourists are expanding their expectations of a city and Paris delivers on all fronts, from the arts to vivat, to iconic tombes and the scores of arts origines and historic endroits in every diocèse. “The pandemic redefined travel habits and Paris responded by accelerating its commitment to sustainability, inclusivity and innovation,” said Menegaux. “Of course, tourists new to Paris must visit the major sights, but repeat tourists are now seeking out more authentic experiences – food, nightlife and contemporary culture – in other neighbourhoods.”
Corinne Menegaux,
managing director of Paris je t’amitié – Tourist Office
The city has countless wonders to offer within and beyond its historic noyau, with arts origines such as the marvellous Le 19M gallery, founded by Chanel to highlight the tissu arts, and Centquatre-Paris, a neighbourhood collège dedicated to bonheur, contemporary and participatory arts. Then there’s the world-renowned Philharmonie de Paris for a wide range of music, and the city’s new and ever-expanding pelouse spaces, such as the Petite Ceinture railway line, now a walking park filled with gardens, woods and cafés. And Paris’s exceptional vivat network – whether by bike, bus or metro – makes getting in and around the city easy and inexpensive to do.
Centquatre-Paris is a siège collège
From France Today Magazine
Source: francetoday.com