Paris on Budget: My Top List of Free Activities

As promised on Instagram, I finally came up with the list of my favorite (or my future favorite, like wine tasting 👀) activities in Paris for cold season. Of course, there are much more absolutely free things to do in Paris: like taking a walk in beautiful parks, or on the river banks, listening to the street musicians in Le Marais or Ile St Louis area, taking free walking tours all over Paris or shopping on a open air markets and then cooking the French cuisine with a chef (cooking classes are available from March to October, check this Instagram for the next dates in Spring 2019).

But in this post I decided to go for the "covered/dry/warm" options like museums, artists ateliers and national monuments. I haven't tried all of them yet as I learnt about some of them almost at the same time with you while doing my researches for this article.

Last but not least tip: don't forget that lots of public museums are free on the first Sunday of the month (be ready to stay in line to the entrance). There are many museums that offer reduced or free rates to students, kids, so check it on museums' websites.

Covered Passages

Covered passageways are sort of an ancestor to modern malls and department stores. There are still plenty of passageways that kept the charm and magic old Paris. There you can shop for old books or posters, jewellery or home deco; also have a coffee/pastry break, or a crepe, or have a proper lunch/diner there. Here are the most beautiful ones:

Passages des Panoramas (1799): considered the first covered walkway in Paris and my favourite one! Many nice eatery spots there: like Noglu (gluten free), Bisou Creperie or beautiful French Paradox: Canard & Champagne restaurant for a proper lunch/diner.

Passage Jouffroy (1836): just across the street from Passages des Panoramas. Beautiful passage with many book stores, very tempting Le Valetin patisserie and picture worthy front of Hotel Chopin.

Passage de Grand-Сerf (1825): space full of light even on a rainy day; home to many home deco stores.

Passage Véro-Dodat(1826): beautiful passage near Louvre and Palais Royal garden. It's not particularly long, but this is compensated by the sense of perspective given by the black and white diamond-shaped marble paving. 

Gallerie Vivienne (1823): one of the most spectacular and iconic passageway of all, perfect for shopping (ready-to-wear boutiques, tea rooms, gourmet food boutiques, wine cellars, grocery shops, old bookshops and much more) or just a stop for a glass of wine in a Legrand filles & fils wine cellar. Nice and beautifully Italian restaurant Daroco is a good place to mention.

Pere Lachaise Cemetery, 8 boulevard de Ménilmontant - 75020 Paris

It is the most prestigious and most visited cemetery in Paris. The cemetery is a mix between an English park and a shrine. On the green paths, visitors cross the burial places of famous men and women; Honoré de Balzac, Guillaume Apollinaire, Frédéric Chopin, Colette, Jean-François Champollion, Jean de La Fontaine, Molière, Yves Montand, Simone Signoret, Jim Morrison, Alfred de Musset, Edith Piaf, Camille Pissarro and Oscar Wilde are among some of them.

Museums

Petit Palais, Avenue Winston Churchill, 75008 Paris

I'll start with this museum cause it was there I had this idea to share a couple of free places to go in Paris. Built originally in 1900 for the Exposition Universelle today the "small palace" housing Museum of Fine Arts of Paris (Palais des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris in French). It presents the collections of paintings and sculptures acquired by the City of Paris since 1870 either as commissions or bought directly from artists or at Salons (Delacroix, Rembrandt, Duplessis, Pissarro, Cézanne and more). This ensemble of French art from the late 19th and early 20th centuries constitutes one of the major poles of today's collection.

Entrance is free for the permanent collections; you will have to pay to visit temporary exhibitions.

Tip: Don't miss the secret garden hidden in museums courtyard: it is one of the most charming and my favourite places in Paris!

Open Tuesday to Sunday from 10h00 to 18h00Night opening on Friday until 21h00

More information on Petit Palais website.

My look from photo:  Blazer WAYF via Shopbop, top EDIT via Shopbop, leather pants Maison Ullens, boots Mint and Rose, bag Polene

Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 11, avenue du Président Wilson 75116 Paris

Located between the Champs-Elysées and the Eiffel Tower,  the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris (also known as Palais de Tokyo) is one of the biggest museums of modern and contemporary art in France (more than 13,000 works).The permanent collections present all the main artistic trends from the beginning of the 20th century up to the present day, and include major artists from those periods, such as Picasso, Dufy, Modigliani, Derain, Picabia, Chagall, as well as Boltanski, Parreno and Peter Doig. The museum also owns rare and exceptional in situ works, such as the first two versions of La Danse by Matisse and Raoul Dufy’s monumental masterpiece La Fée électricité. Because of the renovation works currently going on, Matisse and Dufy's rooms are closed to public until Autumn 2019. Free access to permanent collections.Tip: enjoy beautiful Eiffel tower view from the steps on rue de la Manutention outside the museum!Open Tuesday to Sunday from 10h00 to 18h00Night opening on Thursdays until 22h00More information on Musée d'Art moderne websitePhoto credit: @philippaduncan & @museedartmodernedeparis

Musée Zadkine, 100bis Rue d’Assas, 75006 Paris

Located near the Luxembourg Gardens is a museum it is dedicated to the memory and the work of Ossip Zadkine (1890-1967), a sculptor of Russian origin, who lived and worked in the house and its studios, between 1928 and 1967. It is one of the rare sculptors’ studios - along with that of Antoine Bourdelle – which has managed to be preserved in Paris, bearing witness to the Montparnasse of artists.

Admission to the permanent collections is free, except during temporary exhibition periodsOpen Tuesday to Sunday from 10h00 to 18h00More information on Musée Zadkine website Photo credit: @hortenselgtc & @point_contemporain 

Musée Bourdelle, 18 Rue Antoine Bourdelle, 75015 Paris

The place was the artist's Bourdelle house until he turned it into museum himself. Everything speaks to us eloquently and sensitively of the master's presence. Everything tells of the silence, meditation and labour of this "spiritual home", so near and yet so far from the hustle and bustle of Montparnasse.

Admission to the permanent collections is free.Open Tuesday to Sunday from 10 am to 6 pmMore information on Musée Bourdelle website.Photo credit: @alexandrine_ar & @alina.sepp

Musee de La Vie Romantique, Hôtel Scheffer-Renan 16, rue Chaptal 75009

Hotel Particulier build in 1830 was a residence of the Dutch-born painter Ary Scheffer; for decades, Scheffer and his daughter hosted Friday-evening salons, among the most famous in La Nouvelle Athènes (cafe on place Pigalle, meeting point for impressionist painters, cafe building was destroyed by fire in 2004). Museum de La Vie Romantique desplays on the first floor numerous memorabilia of romantic literary figure George Sand (family portraits, jewelry), a number of Romantic canvases, sculptures and objets d'art are exposed on the second floor.Tip: visit Museum's Tea room run by Rose Bakery.Entrance is free for the permanent collections; you will have to pay to visit temporary exhibitions.Open Tuesday to Sunday from 10h00 to 18h00More information on Musee de la Vie Romantique website.Photo credit: @une__tomate

Atelier Brancusi, Place Georges Pompidou, 75004 Paris

One of the most famous Romanian artists Constantin Brancusi lived and worked most of his life in Paris. In his will, he bequeathed his entire studio to the French state. An exact reconstruction of this studio was made in 1997 on the piazza opposite the Centre Pompidou to house his collection, consisting of 137 sculptures, 87 bases, 41 drawings, two paintings and over 1 600 glass photographic plates and original prints.

Free entrance.Open every day from 2-6 p.m. except Tuesdays and 1st of MayMy look from photo: Dress Jacquemus via Shopbop, mules Jeffrey Campbell via Shopbop, bag Polene

Monuments

I won't be telling much about each monument as they are all well known.

Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris 

Don't let the long lines to scare you, it moves really fast. The entrance is free to Cathedral, to go up on the towers you have to book your ticket in advance.

Basilique du Sacré-Coeur de Montmartre

The entrance is free to Cathedral, to go 130 meters up on the top of Basilique you have to book your ticket in advance (beautiful 360° view of Paris though).

Panthéon

This former church has housed a necropolis, in its crypt, of well-known French figures: Victor Hugo, Marie Curie, Alexandre Dumas and and Simone Veil since 2018. Don't forget about the beautiful panoramic view from the Dome of Pantheon, the access open from April to October (you have to pay to go up).

Bonus: Free Wine Tasting 🍷👀

Yep! It's free! And it's wine (and sometimes champagne like on December 1st!). I just have found Le Vin qui Parle - the winery stores located in 5th and 11th arrondissements in Paris while researching for this post so I haven't tried it myself yet but kind of learnt everything about it: so the free wine tasting takes its place every second Saturday in the afternoon in both stores, from 15h30 to 18h30 (the official schedule is here but it looks kind of old so I prefer to check their Instagram where they post fresh updates in terms of dates/wines). As per description, the wine tasting are going on on both French and English languages.

Addresses Le vin qui Parle: 64, boulevard Saint-Germain 75005 Paris & 30, rue Faidherbe 75011 ParisAdvertising

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