Where to Beat the Heat in Paris This Summer

Make the most of Paris this summer at the hottest rooftop bars, gardens, and swimming pools.

By Go City Expert
Published: July 17, 2024
Paris in summer

The museums and palaces of Paris are available all year round. You can stroll the Champs-Elysées while the snow falls around you, and linger on the viewing platform of the Eiffel Tower surrounded by crisp, autumn air. But if you're visiting Paris this summer, make the most of its rooftop bars, gardens, and swimming pools while you can.

Why not live like a local and head to these top spots to soak up the sunshine in the city.

Le Perchoir

On a residential street in Menilmontant, there's an unmarked door with a velvet rope behind it. Slip through a hidden door and take the elevator seven floors up. Le Perchoir, a quintessential Parisian rooftop bar, offers 360-degree views from its expansive space. This rooftop bar has a killer cocktail list with breathtaking views over the skyline. Take a seat at its communal picnic tables or sink back and sigh on its comfy sofas. Just remember to get there early, it opens at 6PM on weekdays – it's a popular spot, unsurprisingly!

Café de l'Homme

a rooftop bar in paris

The award for the very best view of the Eiffel Tower could well go to Café de l'Homme. Encapsulating Parisian chic, this stylish and trendy French restaurant and rooftop bar can be found in Palais de Chaillot. You'll gaze out over the famous tower, gardens, and the Champ de Mars from a new, awe-inspiring vantage point as you climb the stairs leading up from the Trocadéro Gardens. This is a popular spot - so you'll probably need to make a reservation.

Terasse de l'hotel Raphael

Add a little decadence to your Parisian visit with a luxury trip here. The chic Parisian terrace bar in Hotel Raphael is also the perfect date night option. Overlooking the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower, the manicured hedges and lush greenery channel the sensibilities of a royal French garden. Try the venue's signature cocktail, made from strawberry purée, manzana verde, lime, and Perrier-Jouët Grand Brut champagne. A stunning combination to match the view.

Perruche

Rooftop bar in Paris

After a long day spent combing the stores of Printemps, head to the roof of the department store to watch the sun go down. Although it's a bustling spot that doesn't give you much respite from the busy streets below, it's worth a visit, and not just for its panoramic view of the city. Serving local specialties alongside spirit, beer, and wine options, make sure you stop here even if just for a cheeky glass of champagne before you move on to your next spot. This is one of the most popular Paris rooftop bars to enjoy during your trip, or even if you live there.

Les Georges above Centre Pompidou

Once you've had your fill of modern art at the Pompidou Centre, take the escalator to the top to Le Georges. This sixth-floor rooftop restaurant offers a trendy French-fusion menu and a canny awareness of impressive interior decor. Another popular spot, make sure you make reservations, especially if you want to take a seat outside.

Jardin des Tuilieries

Jardin des Tuilieries

It's not every day that you get to picnic in a UNESCO World Heritage site, let alone stroll amid Rodin and Maillol statues. Before the French Revolution, this park used to be the site of the Royal Palace but now separates the Louvre from Place de la Concorde.

This beautifully manicured Parisian garden is the pride and joy of architect Andre Le Notre and is the perfect place to enjoy your book while sipping a cold drink from the cafés around the park. It's on the tourist trail too: the Louvre and Arc de Triomphe are nearby. Enjoy this wonderful Garden in Paris to get a taste of nature in the bustling city center.

Jardin des Plantes

This 75-acre botanical garden in Paris is a floral swirl of roses, geraniums, peonies, and more. With a petting zoo, maze, and lawns perfect for sprawling in, it's a peaceful city break for those who need a break from busy tourist sites. A highlight of the 5th Arrondissement: add it to your list when you visit the Latin Quarter.

Champs des Mars

Eiffel Tower gardens

A tribute to Mars, the Roman God of war, the name draws on the lawn's history as a former drilling and marching ground, used by the French military. But don't worry, its aesthetic today is distinctly un-warlike. To get to the Eiffel Tower, you'll probably have to walk through this gigantic grassy lawn which is always packed with people. But if you can't beat them, join them - settle down here and take in Paris' most famous landmark from just meters away!

Piscine Josephine Baker

This Seine-side spot is one of Paris' best swimming pools, with a modern metal structure that lets in plenty of light. Moored next to the Bibliothèque François Mitterrand in the 13th arrondissement, this pool is 25 metres long and 10 metres wide. And during the summer, the glass roof retracts to reveal a fabulous sun deck that provides stunning views of the Seine. 

Neuilly 

Neuilly

This swimming center, located in Paris et sa Banlieue, is as close as Paris gets to a water park, with three different indoor sites. Learn to swim or splash around in the smaller pools or set your sights on Olympic glory in the training pool. Two solariums and one ‘beach’ will also allow you and your little ones to play. It also offers a spa, hammams, saunas and UV cabins. 


We hope we've inspired you to visit Paris in the summer! If you're looking to satisfy your sweet tooth while you're there, why not read our guide to Paris' best chocolate shops?

Go City Expert
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Monet's water lilies
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Musee d'Orsay vs Musee Marmottan Monet

It’s 1874, and a group of young artists known collectively as the ‘Anonymous Society of Painters, Sculptors, Printmakers, etc.’ launch a low-key exhibition in Paris. Flash forward 150 years and many of the artists involved – among them Monet, Degas and Pissarro – are household names; pioneers and leading practitioners of the movement that became known as Impressionism. It’s fitting then that the world’s finest collections of Impressionist and indeed Post-Impressionist art are housed in Paris museums, among them the mighty Musée d’Orsay and small-but-perfectly-formed Musée Marmottan Monet. Read on for our guide to this dynamic duo as we pit the Musée d’Orsay vs Musée Marmottan Monet… Musée d’Orsay in Brief The Musée d’Orsay opened in 1986, inside the Beaux-Arts beauty that is the former Gare d'Orsay, a turn-of-the-century railway station. 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Save on Paris Museums and Other Attractions Save on admission to dozens of attractions, tours and experiences with The Paris Pass. Check out @TheParisPass on Instagram for the latest top tips and attraction info.
Stuart Bak
Stuart Bak
Couple viewing art at Musée d'Orsay
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Best Time to Visit The Louvre - Avoid Queues

Paris’s mighty Louvre Museum requires little introduction. But we’re going to introduce it anyway, so buckle up. Only the planet’s largest art museum, the Louvre holds the title of most visited tourist attraction in Paris thanks to its frankly epic collection of priceless artistic treasures: everything from Ancient Egyptian sarcophagi to Islamic art, Etruscan sculpture, French decorative arts and, yep, the Mona Lisa herself. Popularity means crowds and crowds mean long lines. So what’s the best time to visit the Louvre and avoid queues? Read on to find out… The Louvre: A (Very) Short History The Louvre began life as a fortress, built on the orders of King Philip II way back in the 12th Century. Years of construction, demolition, reconstruction and, you know, the occasional fire, means that little of the original medieval structure now remains. 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Stuart Bak
Stuart Bak
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