Top 5 places to party in Paris

More than any other city, Paris tends to have a reputation for being a « museum city » a place full of wonderful landmarks and History, but not as vibrant and innovative as metropolises usually are. N’importe quoi! (Nonsense!) Whatever ambiances you like, Paris is actually full of places to have fun at night after a day of culture and history, and if you want to enjoy authentic French joie de vivre (and cheap alcohol) during your stay, here are the top 5 places to party in Paris.

1.) Oberkampf

If you are looking for a nice place to have a not too expensive beer in an authentic atmosphere in Paris, Oberkampf definitely deserves to be 1st on our top 5 places to party in Paris. The coolest area since the 90s, it does not have the slightly snobbish exclusivity of the Marais or les Champs Elysées, therefore making it one of the most enjoyable places for young Parisians and foreigners to have a drink. Rock bars are numerous and diverse.

2.) The Latin Quarter

The heart of a Paris student’s life! It attracts most of the city’s universities, including the prestigious and eight centuries-old, and as a logical consequence legions of bars. Most of them are nice, just avoid rue Soufflot just down the Pantheon if you want it to stay cheap – the price of beers there could on its own kick the area out of our top 5 places for a party in Paris.

3.) The Marais

The Moroccan-themed bar Andy Wahloo.

The trendiest place to be in the day is also the trendiest place to be at night. Although traditionally the home of a thriving lesbian and gay scene, everybody is of course welcome in the Marais – as long as you are fashionable enough to blend in with the area’s crowd!

4.) Pigalle

No, it is not only because it is the red light district of Paris it deserves to be in our top 5 places to party in Paris. Actually in this matter Pigalle is nothing like the red light districts of other cities like Amsterdam or Antwerp. Therefore it remains a rather safe place to go out at night, and it would be a shame to miss incredible bars such as « Le Kremlin » or « Les 36 Corneil ».

5.) Anywhere near the water

Definitely worth being in the top 5 places to party in Paris. The Seine banks, of course, where students meet when they want to drink for cheap and outside the conventional atmosphere of a bar. However the canal Saint-Martin (remember the movie Amélie?) is also really nice, full of original bars and close to one of Paris’s least well-known spots. Le Point Ephémère, with its abandoned factory style and its hosting of contemporary art exhibitions, is the typical hipster bar in Paris.