Recommended Apartments in the 19th Arrondissement of Paris (Buttes-Chaumont and Parc de la Villette)

An aparthotel on the Cours du Septième-Art, right across from the Parc des Buttes-Chaumont. Units range from a studio for two to a two-bedroom apartment for six, all with a kitchen equipped with a dishwasher and microwave, and the rooms are soundproofed. Some have a private balcony. There’s a garden, an inner courtyard, a 24-hour reception, a laundry room with a free washing machine, cribs and strollers, and a play corner for kids. Breakfast costs extra, but it’s free for children up to 16 when one adult pays. To reach the park you just cross the street, the Canal de l’Ourcq is a few minutes away, and the Botzaris and Buttes Chaumont metro stations are close by. Note one important detail: there’s no air conditioning anywhere in the building, and there are no units adapted for accessibility. I recommend it for families coming in spring or fall, not in the height of summer.

Apartments in the area between the Parc des Buttes-Chaumont and the Parc de la Villette, and if there’s an arrondissement made for families with kids, this is it. Buttes-Chaumont is the most dramatic park in Paris, with artificial cliffs, a suspension bridge and a temple on top of a rock, and La Villette is home to the Cité des Sciences, the largest science museum in Europe, and La Géode, the spherical movie dome. Prices here are much saner than in the center, and I collected the rest of the area on my page of attractions in the 19th arrondissement. Note that you’re far from the historic center: Notre-Dame or the Louvre will take about half an hour by metro, and you’ll need it for every outing, including the ride back at night. I recommend them for a family coming for a week or more that weighs cost against space.

A new, fully equipped apartment on Rue du Hainaut, in the northeast of the 19th arrondissement. This is a purely residential area, the kind that doesn’t appear in any guidebook, and that’s exactly why you get a lot more square meters for the same money. It’s close to the Canal de l’Ourcq and the bike paths along it, which is a real plus if you like to run or ride in the morning. The Parc des Buttes-Chaumont and the Cité des Sciences are a few metro stops away. Note that the area is very quiet and very little happens here in the evening: restaurants and cafés are toward Belleville or Jaurès, not downstairs. I recommend it for anyone coming for a long stay who cooks for themselves and mainly wants to sleep in peace.