Instagrammable spots in Paris

Last summer, I spent just under four full days in Paris. This wasn’t a conventional holiday though, as we spent our four days hurrying from one photo spot to another, essentially making it a ‘content’ trip.

Although we didn’t tick off every place on my list (that would have been impossible to cover in less than four days!) we did cover a lot and now I have visited Paris on three separate occasions, I think I am qualified enough to share with you some of my top tips for visiting Paris in summer and my favourite photo spots!

Arriving in Paris:

We took the Eurostar from London, St Pancras to Paris early one morning in mid July. Not only does travelling by train involve less queuing for security checks, but it also meant we travelled in comfort with a table and private area. Travelling via train also uses 90% less CO2 than travelling by plane!

We arrived in Paris in the early afternoon and immediately checked into our hotel. Although we didn’t have a balcony, we did have a super cute window seat and the building opposite us was of typical Parisian architecture, making for a perfect picture.

Our first day:

We then set off to explore the city. Our hotel was in a beautiful location, situated near to Opéra Garnier. Having only eaten a small sandwich on the train, we felt rather hungry and where better to get food and drinks than in Starbucks? We went to no ordinary Starbucks though, as we stopped off at ‘Starbucks Capucines’. It was located on a quiet street near the Opera house and was unsurprisingly very busy. Although appearing like any other Starbucks from the outside, this particular Starbucks has a grand interior and ornate ceiling details. The building dates back to the 17th century and has been restored by Starbucks to retain the authenticity and grandeur of the room while ensuring an innovative Starbucks experience.

If you’re looking for a perfect lunch or coffee spot in the centre of Paris, this is definitely the place to go! However, be prepared to wait for a table inside as it is very busy and popular among tourists and locals!

We then took a stroll in the stunning Jardin des Tuileries and enjoyed a brisk walk through the Park, while stopping for some photos! Exiting the park, we found Pont Alexandre III and took some photos with the Eiffel Tower. We found the bridge to be very quiet and so it’s a really easy spot to get your instagram photos at!

Conveniently nearby, was the Hôtel De La Marine in Place de la Concorde which we stopped to photograph. This stunning building was formerly used by the monarchy for storing furniture and later became the headquarters of France’s Naval Ministry.

On our way back to our hotel, we found a cute historic metro sign which we had to get a photo of! Once back in the 9 Arrondissement where our hotel was, we found a nearby Italian restaurant to eat at and then went to bed, in anticipation for an early start the next day.

Second day:

We were up before nine in the morning to set off on our first full day in Paris and tick off as much on our checklist as possible. We visited the Louvre first, but the queues were too long (already at ten in the morning!) and so we snapped some quick photos in the beautiful area surrounding the Louvre before beginning the long walk to Rue de L’Université to find the iconic Eiffel Tower photo spot. Our walk took exactly an hour and by the time we reached the street, it was packed with other tourists! Fortunately, we were able to get some pictures with few people in them!

Champs de Mars was close by, so it made sense to take a stroll through the Park and admire the Eiffel Tower. Having visited Paris before on a couple of previous occasions, we felt there would be little point to climb up the tower again. However, I would really recommend it if you’re in Paris, as the tower boasts incredible panoramic views over the city! Champs de Mars was surprisingly quiet, which we took advantage of by getting some photos.

Our next photo spot was Pont de Bir-Hakeim, which connects the 15th and 16th arrondissement to one another and crosses over the Seine. It was very easy to get our pictures here, since there were very few people walking underneath the bridge as it is a bridge solely for the use of the metro!

Walking along the bridge took us to Avenue de Camoëns, another street made famous by instagram. The street offers a stunning view of the Eiffel Tower, although it was unfortunately ruined by some construction work on the buildings nearby. I would really recommend visiting this little hidden gem if you’re in Paris and nearby! However, be prepared to wait a little while for photos, as we found there was a queue! Lots of people were also having professional photos taken with paid photographers, which was annoying as they took a long time getting their shots. This would most likely be a better spot to visit in the early morning or late evening than at midday, as we did.

I really wanted to see Trocadero Square and get a picture with the Eiffel Tower, but I didn’t expect it to be so busy! Most of the area was also cornered off for construction work, so I couldn’t get the pictures on the steps that I wanted. Instead, we snapped a few quick pics and headed down to the Champs-Élysées to see the Arc de Triomphe. Having already seen the Arc de Triomphe on the previous occasions I had come to Paris, we spent very little time there and so we embarked on our next long walk. I wanted to explore Montmartre since I had only ever seen the Sacré-Coeur and the little cobbled streets in this region of Paris looked so beautiful!

We passed the ‘wall of love’ which is a love-themed wall of 40 square metres and it features over 250 languages on tiles saying ‘I love you.’ It is no surprise that this wall has seen many proposals! It’s free to visit and I’d definitely recommend visiting if you’re passing by!

While in Montmartre, we saw so many cute café displays and little cobbled streets. We even passed ‘Le Consulat’ the little restaurant made famous by instagram and so I had to take a quick picture! We soon arrived at our destination, ‘La Maison Rose,’ the beautiful viral restaurant which was featured in the Emily in Paris franchise. I was amazed at how many other people were there to get a photo, especially as the restaurant wasn’t even open!

Leaving La Maison Rose, we stopped off at Sacré-Coeur, an iconic Parisian monument. We didn’t go in as we did this on our last trip to Paris, but I would recommend you do if you’re there, especially as it is free! Descending the steps from the Sacré-Coeur, be sure to get a quick picture of the ‘sinking house’ on your left.

We headed back to our accommodation for a quick outfit change (typical content creator behaviour) and as it was now evening, we decided to stay in our arrondissement and find somewhere for dinner! Fortunately, Galeries Lafayette was nearby to our sushi spot and so we stepped inside to admire the ornate interior decor, window shop and visit the rooftop. I was actually told by a few of my instagram followers to head to the rooftop (which is free) for views of Paris and I was shocked at how impressive it was! I was able to get some pictures with the Opera house and with the Eiffel Tower.

Having had a very successful content day, we went out for dinner before heading to our hotel!

Third day:

This was our second and final full day in Paris, so it was an early start! We were up at 8am to snap some content in Palais-Royal Garden, a stunning hidden gem and filming location in Emily in Paris. We also stopped at the Palais and the inner courtyard, which contains a striking art installation by Daniel Buren. It uses black and white columns of differing heights to add a distinctive modern twist to the historical backdrop.

Only a five minute walk away from Palais Royal is the Louvre, which we visited before 9am. It was a Tuesday, the only day the museum is closed to the public. I was really worried that the surrounding area around the Louvre would be shut off and barricaded. Fortunately, it wasn’t! This was perfect as it meant there were no swathes of people there in my photos and I was able to get some great shots. I would really recommend visiting on a Tuesday if you want to some amazing photos without people in them!

We hadn’t eaten our breakfast, so we stopped off at the instagram famous Café de Flore for a picture on our way to our breakfast spot (unfortunately Café de Flore was full, as was to be expected!) We ate our breakfast and then visited the Notre Dame. Although it was under construction and we were unable to go up, we did get some pictures of it in the background.

We made it to the Shakespeare and Company bookshop before it opened at 10am, but already a long queue was forming! This quaint little bookshop is a popular spot among literature enthusiasts and I wasn’t surprised why when I saw the second floor which contains several small rooms and cosy reading corners. Unfortunately, I didn’t take any photos of the interior due to strict no photography rules. However, I would strongly recommend going to see it for yourself!

Our next stop was the Panthéon, which looks out of place in Paris and would be better suited to Athens! Nevertheless, it is a fascinating relic of French history in the fifth arrondissement. Opposite the Panthéon are some of the renowned Sorbonne university’s departments. Notable alumni of the university include Marie Cure and Simone de Beauvoir. It was interesting to sit there and people watch, as we saw many of the students heading to their lectures!

As we were leaving, we stumbled upon Gabriel’s (from Emily in Paris) restaurant which was next to Emily’s apartment! Of course, we had to take some pictures.

Fancying a rest from all our walking, we found Le Jardin du Luxembourg. This park is one of my absolute favourites in Paris, as I have fond memories from when I visited as a little girl.

The park itself is very instagrammable, so we had to get some pictures before we sat down on the chairs overlooking the Palace. The Palace was undergoing construction work (it seemed everything was while we were in Paris!) and so we didn’t get the peaceful rest the gardens are famed for.

After a quick sandwich stop for lunch, we went to catch the train to leave Paris! For the afternoon we had tickets for Versailles, a short train journey from Paris. I had never been to Château de Versailles and as a history student, I was so excited to visit!

The actual Palace is huge and I had never seen so much gold in my life! Both the exterior and interior of the palace is plated with gold. A fun fact is that during the French Revolution of 1789, the French revolutionary government dismantled the front gate, which was completely covered with gold. It was only in 2008 that the gate was recreated and decorated with over 100,000 gold leaves!

One highlight for me was the Versailles chapel and seeing the portraits of Marie Antoinette and her children.
To be perfectly honest, I knew very little about the French Revolution having not studied it. However, I loved that within Versailles there were signposts and opportunities to read about the monarchy and the Revolution.

I was also so surprised at the sheer size of the rooms, I hadn’t expected their Gallery to be so big. It was like stepping into a museum!

The highly anticipated ‘Hall of Mirrors’ unfortunately did not live up to my expectations. Not only was it the most overcrowded room (unsurprisingly) in the Palace, but I didn’t think it had been particularly well preserved. The mirrors were very dirty and I couldn’t take good pictures in them! The room was also so much smaller than I had expected. These two aspects unfortunately diminished the splendour and regality of the room.

We then exited the Palace and visited the gardens, which were spectacular! The garden was well maintained and the fountains were very impressive. We were there when the fountain shows took place, a highlight of our visit!

I would recommend spending a full day in Versailles in order to make the most of your ticket. However, as we were staying in Paris it wasn’t possible to stay for the whole evening. This was especially true, since our train to Versailles had been delayed and cancelled several times, so due to the unreliability of the trains we wanted to be back in Paris before night time!

Back in Paris before 10pm, we had a late dinner at PONI in the 9th Arrondissement. This restaurant was excellent and by far the best one we had eaten at while in Paris. I mean, you know it’s got to be a good restaurant when you’re the only tourists in there!

Final day:

We got up early to make the most of our half day in Paris, before getting the Eurostar home. We queued up at Opéra Garnier for the opening time among the other keen tourists. The intricate design of this opera house is truly spectacular and visiting Opéra Garnier had to be the highlight of the trip for me. The interior is truly breathtaking and it really did exceed my expectations. The grand foyer and marble staircase were really remarkable.

If you’re a content creator, you truly must visit because there are so many more photo opportunities at Opéra Garnier than you would think. There is even a ‘golden room’ which is almost a duplicate of the ‘Hall of Mirrors,’ but arguably more opulent and lavish.

You are even able to walk along the balcony, which has an extraordinary view of Paris. The balcony is a picture perfect location, which is incredibly overlooked by content creators because of the Opera’s interior.

Included in our ticket, we were also able to see the actual Opera room which is like stepping into the early 20th century due to its dazzling chandelier, crimson velvet seats and curtain. The room epitomises the wealth and decadence of those decades.

I would love to be able to go back and get the opportunity to see an opera there!

We left the Opera house before 11am at which time it was empty. I would really recommend going at 11am so you miss the crowds. We missed a trick by going at 10am, as we thought no one would be there for when it opened, but we were sorely mistaken! If you want pictures without people in the background, definitely go for 11am or midday when it is much quieter.

If you don’t want to spend 14 euros on entering the Opera house, you can take pictures on the steps to get some cute photos for the ‘gram!

We walked for a couple hours (with all our luggage!) and arrived at the picture perfect Place des Vosges. It is the oldest planned square in Paris, France and located between the 3rd and 4th arrondissements of Paris. This stunning square has also had some famous residents over the years, including Madame de Sévigné and Victor Hugo, the famous author of ‘Les Misérables’ and ‘The Hunchback of Notre-Dame.’ We stopped there for a few hours to eat our lunch.

Before we left, we discovered the beautiful Jardin de l’Hôtel de Sully. It is concealed within the square and this little gem offers equal tranquility to the square. The courtyard is also a perfect photo spot!

Our final stop was Rue Crémieux, the most colourful street in Paris! The quaint coloured little houses and charming cobblestones make you feel far away the city. It truly is an instagrammer’s paradise, as there is almost every single colour in the rainbow that you can photograph! The location of this street was also very convenient for us, as it was located close to Gare de Lyon where we were going to catch our train home.

So, there you go! This concludes our short trip to Paris, where we covered most of the ‘instagrammable spots’ in under four days. Hopefully I will get to return to this beautiful city soon to tick off some of my other spots on the check list.

Be sure to keep following my blog to see my next posts and check out my instagram, where I will be sharing my edited photos!

Have you been to Paris before? 

Beth x