Last updated August 7, 2026 · Editorial policy
More: When to visit Paris · Paris travel guide
Hidden Gems in Paris: What Is Actually Worth Your Time
Quick answer: This is an honest look at Paris: two places locals use that cost nothing and sit well away from the queues.
The Musée de la Vie Romantique, tucked at the end of a cobbled lane in the 9th, occupies a 19th-century house once at the centre of George Sand’s circle. The permanent collection is free, the garden tea room is the actual draw in warm weather, and on most days it is close to empty while the big museums queue around the block.
The Coulée verte René-Dumont — still widely called the Promenade plantée — runs about three miles through the 12th, from Bastille out toward the Bois de Vincennes, along a disused railway viaduct. It predates New York’s High Line, it is free, and for long stretches you are walking at first-floor height past the windows of ordinary Parisian flats.
- Enter the Coulée verte near Bastille and walk east — the elevated viaduct section, which is the interesting part, comes first.
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John Morrison is the founder and lead travel writer at Packzup. Over the past decade he has explored destinations across Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Oceania — always self-funded, never on a press trip.
