In short
- What’s there: Père Lachaise Cemetery, Victor Noir’s grave, the Parc de Belleville and the Belleville neighborhood.
- Location: eastern Paris, the last arrondissement in the count.
- Tickets: every site in the arrondissement is completely free.
- Good to know: take a map at the entrance to Père Lachaise, which covers about 44 hectares.
- Food markets: six, with stalls of ready-made food from different cuisines every day.
- Restaurants: just one recommendation, and the neighboring 11th has seven.
- Walking itineraries: three take place in the arrondissement and two more pass through it.
The 20th is the last arrondissement in the count and the farthest from the city center, and that’s exactly why it has kept things that have disappeared from the rest of Paris. Belleville and Ménilmontant were villages until 1860, and on some streets you can still feel it today.
What brings most visitors here is Père Lachaise Cemetery, and the common mistake is to visit it and head straight back to the metro. The arrondissement goes on beyond it, with two parks, six food markets and a neighborhood of little houses that looks like a country village.
So before we set off, here’s what you’ll find on this page: first the hotels and apartments I recommend in the arrondissement, then the attractions one by one, the restaurants I send people to, the six food markets with their days and hours, and finally the walking itineraries.
Recommended hotels in the 20th arrondissement of Paris
The 20th is one of the cheapest places to stay in Paris, and that price comes with a longer ride to the center. If you’re not sure what’s right for you, answer three questions and I’ll pick from my recommendations:
My personal pick
Which hotel in the 20th is right for 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 my recommendations yourself, with photos and details on every hotel? See my page of recommended hotels in the 20th.
Recommended apartments in the 20th arrondissement of Paris
With six markets and few tourist restaurants, an apartment with a kitchen makes a lot of sense in this arrondissement. Here too, you can let me choose:
My personal pick
Which apartment in the 20th is right for 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 20th.
Attractions in the 20th arrondissement of Paris
These are the sites I recommend in the 20th, and they’re all completely free.
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My top pick
Père Lachaise Cemetery
The most visited cemetery in the world, and in my opinion a place you should enter with a map.
The cemetery opened in 1804 under Napoleon, and at first people refused to be buried here because it was considered too far from the city. The solution was pure marketing: the remains of Molière (1622-1673) and Jean de La Fontaine (1621-1695) were moved here, and demand took off. If you’re coming to look for a specific grave, know that the cemetery covers about 44 hectares (some 110 acres) of winding paths, and without a map from the entrance it’s easy to get lost.
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Free admission
Victor Noir’s grave
The strangest tomb in Père Lachaise, with a true story of political murder behind it.
Victor Noir (1848-1870) was a young journalist who was shot in 1870 by Pierre-Napoléon Bonaparte (1815-1881), a cousin of Napoleon III, and his funeral turned into a demonstration against the regime. The bronze statue on his grave shows him lying as he was found, and thanks to one rather prominent anatomical detail, it has become a pilgrimage site for women. I’ve written the full story in a separate article.
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Free admission
Parc de Belleville
The best free viewpoint in Paris, with hardly any tourists.
The park is built on a hillside about 108 meters high, and from the upper terrace you can see all of Paris, with the Eiffel Tower in the middle. In my opinion, the view is better than the one from Montmartre, and there’s one big difference between them: here you can sit in peace. A small vineyard was planted on the slope of the park, a reminder of the vineyards that covered the hill until the 19th century.
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Free admission
Belleville and the footsteps of Édith Piaf
The neighborhood where Piaf was born, and her grave at Père Lachaise closes the walk.
According to legend, Édith Piaf (1915-1963) was born on the sidewalk outside 72 rue de Belleville, and the plaque there tells the story. The truth is more prosaic: she was born in a nearby hospital. What is true is that she grew up and sang in these streets, and the neighborhood has kept its working-class character to this day. The itinerary I wrote starts in Belleville and ends at her grave in Père Lachaise.
More attractions in the 20th worth knowing about
These are places I haven’t written a separate article about yet, but if you’re exploring the arrondissement, it’s worth knowing they’re there:
| The place | Address | Why stop there |
|---|---|---|
| La Campagne à Paris | Around rue Irénée Blanc and rue Jules Siegfried | A hilltop neighborhood of low houses from the early 20th century that looks like a small country town. People live here, so walk through quietly |
| Jardin naturel Pierre-Emmanuel | 120 rue de la Réunion | A deliberately wild garden right by the wall of Père Lachaise, left to grow as naturally as possible |
| Rue Saint-Blaise and Place Saint-Blaise | Rue Saint-Blaise | What’s left of the old village of Charonne, with a church of medieval origin and a cobbled square |
| Pavillon Carré de Baudouin | 121 rue de Ménilmontant | A preserved 18th-century country house that is now a City of Paris cultural center, with free exhibitions |
| Street art on rue Dénoyez | Around rue Dénoyez | A street of ever-changing graffiti in the heart of Belleville, where the art changes from month to month |
| The Petite Ceinture | Entrance from rue de la Mare | A 19th-century railway line that has become a green walking path, with some sections open to the public |
Tours and activities in the 20th you might enjoy
Show me more activities in Paris
One more thing, if you speak French: I highly recommend a tour with Thierry Le Roi, who knows almost every tomb in Père Lachaise. You’ll find his tours on the Nécro-Romantiques website.
And if you’re looking for attractions in other arrondissements, my Paris attractions page brings them all together in one place.
Restaurants in the 20th arrondissement of Paris
In the 20th I have just one recommendation, and I’m not going to fill this section with names I haven’t checked. That said, the Belgrand market on Saturday and the Réunion market on Sunday have stalls selling ready-made food (Polish, Antillean, Greek and Vietnamese), and for me that’s a better way than a restaurant to get to know the arrondissement.
| The restaurant | Type | Address | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Caché | On my radar | 13 Villa Riberolle | A place tucked away in a side alley that’s on my radar, and the name suits the location |
Looking for restaurants in other arrondissements? My recommended restaurants page is organized by cuisine and by arrondissement, and in the neighboring 11th I have seven recommendations.
Food markets in the 20th arrondissement of Paris
There are six food markets, and what makes them special is the ethnic variety: stalls selling ready-made Polish, Antillean, Lebanese, Greek and Vietnamese food, each on a different day. The hours come from paris.fr.
| The market | Address | Days and hours | Metro |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marché Belgrand | Rue Belgrand, between rue de la Chine and Place Édith Piaf | Wednesday 7:00–13:30, Saturday 7:00–14:30 | Gambetta or Porte de Bagnolet |
| Marché Réunion | Place de la Réunion | Thursday 7:00–13:30, Sunday 7:00–14:30 | Alexandre Dumas |
| Marché Pyrénées | Rue des Pyrénées, between rue de l’Ermitage and rue de Ménilmontant | Thursday 7:00–13:30, Sunday 7:00–14:30 | Jourdain or Gambetta |
| Marché Télégraphe | Rue du Télégraphe | Wednesday 7:00–13:30, Saturday 7:00–14:30 | Télégraphe |
| Marché Mortier | 74 boulevard Mortier, even-numbered side | Thursday 7:00–13:30, Sunday 7:00–14:30 | Saint-Fargeau or Porte des Lilas |
| Marché Davout | Boulevard Davout | Tuesday and Friday 7:00–13:30 | Porte de Montreuil |
Note that two markets the locals use are officially in the 11th arrondissement: the Belleville market and the Père Lachaise market, both on the boulevards that divide the two arrondissements. You’ll find their hours on my 11th arrondissement page. On my markets page you’ll find my recommended markets in the rest of the city.
Walking itineraries in the 20th arrondissement of Paris
This is the arrondissement with the most itineraries I’ve written: three take place here and two more pass through it.
Itineraries in the 20th arrondissement
Itineraries that pass through the 20th 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
The sensible way to do the 20th is a morning at Père Lachaise with a map in hand, lunch at a market, and in the afternoon a climb up to the Parc de Belleville for sunset. To the west is the 11th arrondissement, and to the north the 19th arrondissement.
And if you want to be ready for anything, my complete Paris guide brings together everything I’ve learned. Have a wonderful trip, and don’t forget to climb up to the viewpoint in the park for me.
