In short
- What’s there: the Catacombs, Montparnasse Cemetery, Parc Montsouris, Square de Montsouris and the Paris Observatory.
- Location: the Left Bank, south of the 6th.
- Tickets: the Catacombs must be booked ahead, and the other sites are free.
- Good to know: it is 14°C (57°F) in the Catacombs all year round, and there are 131 steps on the way down.
- Food markets: six, among them an organic market on Saturdays. Rue Daguerre is also open almost every day.
- Restaurants: five recommendations, most of them on three streets.
- Walking itineraries: two take place in the arrondissement, and four more pass through it.
The 14th arrondissement is Montparnasse, and that means two things: in the 1920s it was the center of bohemian Paris, and today it is a quiet residential area where visitors come for two places, one underground and one behind a wall.
What most visitors don’t know is that the south of the arrondissement hides two of the most surprising places in the city, at least in my eyes: a large park with a hill and a lake, and a single lane that looks like a country village. I wrote about both separately.
So before we set off, let’s talk about what you’ll find on this page: first the hotels and apartments I recommend in the arrondissement, then the attractions one by one, the five restaurants I send people to, the six food markets with their days and hours, and finally the walking itineraries.
Recommended hotels in the 14th arrondissement of Paris
Montparnasse is a practical choice if you arrive by train from the west of France or fly into Orly, and prices are lower than in Saint-Germain to the north. If you’re not sure what suits you, answer three questions and I’ll pick from my recommendations:
My personal pick
Which hotel in the 14th suits you?
One short question, and I will pick out of the places I already checked and wrote about on the site the ones that fit the trip you are planning.
One moment, I am going over my recommendations to find what fits you…
Prefer to go through all the recommendations yourself, with photos and details on each hotel? See my page of recommended hotels in the 14th.
Recommended apartments in the 14th arrondissement of Paris
Rue Daguerre and the six markets of the arrondissement make an apartment with a kitchen a practical idea. Here too, you can let me choose:
My personal pick
Which apartment in the 14th suits you?
One question about the area, and I will filter the apartments I checked and wrote about on the site. The apartments I recommend directly get booked very fast, so I added excellent Booking.com apartments that I hand-picked for my readers.
One moment, I am going over my recommendations to find what fits you…
Want to go through all the apartments I recommend, with photos and details? See my page of recommended apartments in the 14th.
Attractions in the 14th arrondissement of Paris
These are the sites I recommend in the 14th. Two of them are free, and for the Catacombs you must book ahead, or you simply don’t get in.
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Booking required
The Catacombs of Paris (Catacombes)
The bones of some six million Parisians, twenty meters below the street.
In the 1780s the cemeteries of Paris were so full that the ground gave way into the cellars of neighboring houses. The solution was to move the bones into the abandoned quarries under the city. Keep in mind that the visit is about an hour of walking, 131 steps down and 112 up, and that it’s 14°C (57°F) down there all year round. Bring a sweater.
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Free entry
Montparnasse Cemetery
The resting place of Sartre and Beauvoir, Beckett, Baudelaire and Serge Gainsbourg.
The cemetery opened in 1824 and it is a good deal smaller than Père Lachaise, which makes it easier to visit. The shared grave of Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980) and Simone de Beauvoir (1908-1986) is right by the main entrance, and visitors leave notes and lipstick kisses on it. On the grave of Serge Gainsbourg (1928-1991) they leave metro tickets, cigarettes and cabbages.
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Free entry
Parc Montsouris
The big park of southern Paris, with a lake and a hill and hardly any tourists.
The park was laid out under the Second Empire on top of old quarries, and the name is usually explained as “mouse mountain”. The RER line runs right through it, and in the middle there is an artificial lake with a sad legend: on opening day, the story goes, the lake drained completely and the engineer in charge took his own life. I wrote the full story separately.
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Well-kept secret
Square de Montsouris
A private lane of houses with gardens, and in my eyes one of the best-kept secrets in the city.
It isn’t a square at all but a small private street laid out in the 1920s, lined with low houses, small front gardens and climbing plants. It is completely quiet, and people who come to Parc Montsouris are a few minutes away without knowing it’s there. Please don’t take photos through the windows, people live there.
More attractions in the 14th worth knowing
These are places I haven’t written a separate article about yet, but if you’re wandering around the arrondissement, it’s worth knowing they’re there:
| The place | Address | Why stop there |
|---|---|---|
| Tour Montparnasse | 33 avenue du Maine, in the 15th | The viewpoint from which you see the city without the Tour Montparnasse in the picture. Details on my page on the 15th |
| Fondation Cartier | 261 boulevard Raspail | A glass building by Jean Nouvel (born 1945). The foundation moved to Place du Palais-Royal in 2025, so for now you admire the building from the boulevard |
| Rue Daguerre | rue Daguerre | A pedestrian food street of permanent shops, open almost every day and not only on market days |
| Paris Observatory (Observatoire de Paris) | 61 avenue de l’Observatoire | The observatory dates from 1667, and the Paris meridian ran through it before Greenwich won |
| Cité internationale universitaire | 17 boulevard Jourdan | A student campus of some forty houses for different countries, each in a different architectural style. The park is open to the public |
| La Rotonde and La Coupole | boulevard du Montparnasse | The great cafés of the bohemians, still working in their original rooms |
Tours and activities in the 14th that might interest you
Show me more activities in Paris
And if you’re looking for attractions in other parts of the city, my Paris attractions page brings them all together in one place.
My recommended restaurants in the 14th arrondissement of Paris
In the 14th my list is varied, and most of it sits on three streets: Boulevard du Montparnasse, Rue Daguerre and Rue du Château. These are the places I send people to:
| The restaurant | Type | Address | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| l’Assiette | French classic | 181 Rue du Château | French cooking without pretensions, on a street with no tourists |
| La Cantine du Troquet | French classic | 89 Rue Daguerre | The Daguerre branch, Basque-style cooking and no reservations. You show up and wait |
| La Créole | French classic | 122 Bd du Montparnasse | Creole cooking from the French Antilles, a taste you won’t find in the center |
| Le Petit Bouillon Vavin | French classic | 119 Bd du Montparnasse | An old-style bouillon with low prices |
| Yummy Noodles | Asian | 17B Rue Campagne Première | Noodles on the street that was the heart of bohemian life, a good deal for lunch |
Looking for restaurants in other arrondissements? My page of recommended restaurants is organized by type of cuisine and by arrondissement.
The food markets of the 14th arrondissement of Paris
The arrondissement has six food markets, and the odd one out is the Marché Brancusi, an organic market that runs on Saturdays only. The hours below are from the City of Paris website.
| The market | Address | Days and hours | Metro |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marché Edgar Quinet | Boulevard Edgar Quinet | Wednesday 7:00 to 13:30, Saturday 7:00 to 14:30 | Edgar Quinet |
| Marché Mouton-Duvernet | Place Jacques Demy | Tuesday and Friday 7:00 to 13:30 | Mouton-Duvernet |
| Marché Brune | Boulevard Brune | Thursday 7:00 to 13:30, Sunday 7:00 to 14:30 | Porte de Vanves |
| Marché Villemain | Avenue Villemain and rue d’Alésia | Wednesday 7:00 to 13:30, Sunday 7:00 to 14:30 | Plaisance |
| Marché Jourdan | Boulevard Jourdan, between rue Barboux and rue Faguet | Wednesday 7:00 to 13:30, Saturday 7:00 to 14:30 | Porte d’Orléans |
| Marché Brancusi (organic) | Place Constantin Brancusi | Saturday only, 7:00 to 14:30 | Gaîté |
Besides these six, Rue Daguerre works like a market, except that its shops are permanent, so it’s open almost every day. If you’re staying in an apartment in the arrondissement, you’ll find everything you need there. On my markets page you’ll find the best markets in the rest of the city.
Walking itineraries in the 14th arrondissement of Paris
I split the itineraries in two: those that take place mostly inside the arrondissement, and those that pass through it and carry on.
Itineraries that take place in the 14th
Itineraries that pass through the 14th and other arrondissements
Want all the itineraries I’ve written, by arrondissement and by theme? My Paris walking itineraries page brings them all together.
The next step in your trip
To the north, the 14th connects to Saint-Germain and the 6th arrondissement, and to the east to the 13th. The sensible way to do it is the Catacombs in the morning with a booked ticket, the cemetery after that, and in the afternoon a ride south to Parc Montsouris.
And if you want to be ready in advance for every scenario, my complete Paris guide gathers everything I’ve learned for you. Have an amazing trip, and don’t forget to take a sweater to the Catacombs for me.
