In short
- What’s there: the Galerie Vivienne, the Galerie Colbert, the Passage des Panoramas, the Tour Jean sans Peur, the Le Grand Rex movie theater and Rue Montorgueil.
- Location: the Right Bank, between the Louvre and the Grands Boulevards.
- Tickets: most of the sites are free to enter, and only the Rex Studios tour needs to be booked ahead.
- Who it suits: anyone who likes to wander slowly and isn’t looking for big museums.
- Food market: the Marché Bourse, Tuesday and Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., running into the evening.
- Restaurants: four recommendations in the arrondissement, most of them around Montorgueil and the Bourse.
- Walking itineraries: the covered passages itinerary mostly takes place here, and four more pass through.
The 2nd arrondissement is the smallest administrative unit in Paris, squeezed in between the Louvre and the Grands Boulevards. Don’t let its size fool you: this is the arrondissement where modern retail was born, and it’s home to the most beautiful covered passages left in the city.
For a traveler it’s an arrondissement that rewards anyone who walks slowly and looks up. There’s no single monument everyone comes for, so there are also none of the lines of the neighboring 1st arrondissement. What you get instead is glass-roofed 19th-century galleries, a huge Art Deco movie theater, a medieval tower nobody expects to find, and one of the best food streets in central Paris.
So before we set off, here is 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 arrondissement’s food market with its days and hours, and finally the walking itineraries that pass through here.
Recommended Hotels in the 2nd Arrondissement of Paris
The 2nd is one of the most sensible places to sleep in Paris: central, well connected to the metro, and without the prices of the streets around Place Vendôme. 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 2nd arrondissement 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 my recommendations yourself, with photos and details on every hotel? Here is my page of recommended hotels in the 2nd.
Recommended Apartments in the 2nd Arrondissement of Paris
The Montorgueil area is one of the best places in Paris to rent an apartment, because everything you need to cook is on one street: a bakery, cheese, fish, vegetables and wine. Here too, you can let me choose:
My personal pick
Which apartment in the 2nd arrondissement 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? Here is my page of recommended apartments in the 2nd.
Attractions and Museums in the 2nd Arrondissement of Paris
The 2nd doesn’t win on the number of museums, and that’s exactly what makes it interesting: the sites here are buildings still used for what they were built for, and most of them are free to enter.
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Oval Room free to enter
National Library of France, Richelieu Site (BnF Richelieu)
The former palace of Cardinal Mazarin (1602–1661), which became the historic home of the library of the kings of France. The Oval Room and the garden are open to everyone for free, and the museum shows around 900 treasures.
The Oval Room (Salle Ovale) is a reason to come even without a ticket: 18 meters high, a glass roof, and more than 20,000 volumes on open shelves, thousands of them comics. The museum, which opened in 2022, leads you through the Hall of Columns and the Louis XV salon to the Galerie Mazarin, whose ceiling was painted in 1646. Among the exhibits you’ll find the Great Cameo of France and the Throne of Dagobert. The museum is open Tuesday to Sunday and closed on Mondays, admission is 15 euros, and it’s free for visitors under 26.
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Hidden gem
Tour Jean sans Peur
One of the last remnants of medieval Paris, and it gets only a handful of visitors.
The tower was built by John the Fearless (1371–1419), Duke of Burgundy, after he ordered the murder of the Duke of Orléans in 1407 and realized he himself might be next in line. He moved his bedroom to the top of the tower, with a single staircase that could be guarded. The display inside is devoted to daily life in the 15th century, and the staircase itself is the most impressive exhibit in the place.
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A must for movie lovers
Le Grand Rex and Rex Studios
The largest movie theater in Europe, in Art Deco style, with a behind-the-scenes tour that works wonderfully with kids.
The theater opened in 1932, seats thousands, and its ceiling is designed as a night sky over a Mediterranean town. The Rex Studios tour takes visitors to the projection room, behind the screen and to special-effects stations, and it’s interactive enough to justify the ticket even if you’re not a die-hard movie fan.
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Free entry
Galerie Vivienne and Galerie Colbert
The most beautiful of the Paris passages, and next to it the Galerie Colbert, which few visitors bother to step into.
The Galerie Vivienne opened in 1826, and its mosaic floor and glass roof are the reason it appears in every book on Parisian architecture. The Galerie Colbert is right next door, quieter and, to my eye, more dramatic, with a glass-domed rotunda in the middle. Both are free to enter, and you can link them in a fifteen-minute walk.
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Free entry
Passage des Panoramas
The oldest covered passage in Paris, and today also one of the best food spots in the center.
The passage opened in 1799 and is named after two huge rotundas at its entrance where panoramic paintings were shown. In the 19th century it was a major entertainment spot thanks to its closeness to the Théâtre des Variétés, and it was also among the first places in Paris to get gas lighting. Today it’s home to restaurants, bistros and old stamp and postcard shops.
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Food
Rue Montorgueil
The culinary heart of the arrondissement, a pedestrian street of bakeries, cheese shops, fishmongers and cafés.
The street is what’s left of the great market district of Les Halles, after the market itself was torn down in the 1970s. At number 38 you’ll find L’Escargot Montorgueil, a restaurant that has been on the spot since the 19th century. Note that the southern end of the street and the nearby Saint-Eustache church already belong to the 1st arrondissement.
More Sights in the 2nd Arrondissement Worth Knowing
These are places you can walk into for free or see from the outside, with no ticket to book. I haven’t written a separate article about them yet, but if you’re wandering around the arrondissement, it’s worth knowing they’re there:
| Place | Address | Why stop there |
|---|---|---|
| Palais Brongniart | Place de la Bourse | The stock exchange building Napoleon commissioned, with a colonnade that looks like a Roman temple in the middle of the city |
| Notre-Dame-des-Victoires church | 6 Rue Notre-Dame-des-Victoires | The church walls are covered with thousands of thank-you plaques left by worshippers over a century and a half |
| Richelieu wing of the National Library (BnF Richelieu) | 5 Rue Vivienne | The oval reading room is open to the public for free, and to me it’s one of the most impressive spaces in Paris |
| Passage du Grand-Cerf | 145 Rue Saint-Denis | The tallest covered passage in Paris, about 12 meters high, and today mostly home to designers’ workshops |
| Rue Sainte-Anne | Rue Sainte-Anne | The Japanese quarter of Paris, and the place for real ramen after a day of museums |
| Théâtre des Variétés | 7 Boulevard Montmartre | The theater from 1807 that Émile Zola (1840–1902) wrote about in Nana, and it’s still running |
Tours and Activities in the 2nd 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 2nd Arrondissement of Paris
This is where the 2nd beats its neighbor without breaking a sweat. The Montorgueil area and the streets around the Bourse are full of places where locals really eat, not just tourists passing through. These are my four recommendations:
| Restaurant | Type | Address | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Le Mesturet | Classic French | 77 Rue de Richelieu | A bistro that does the basic French dishes the way they should be done, at sane prices for central Paris |
| Le Grand Colbert | Historic brasserie | 2 Rue Vivienne | A late 19th-century style dining room, one of those places that looks exactly like the picture you have in your head |
| Higuma | Asian | 32bis Rue Sainte-Anne | Japanese ramen in the heart of the Japanese quarter. The line outside is long, and it moves fast |
| Le Petit Vendôme | Reader’s pick | Near Place Vendôme | A tip I got from my reader Nadav Kahn. Sandwiches and simple meals in a place where locals eat |
Looking for restaurants in other arrondissements? My page of recommended restaurants is organized by type of cuisine and by arrondissement.
The Food Market of the 2nd Arrondissement of Paris
One city market operates in the 2nd, and it isn’t an early-morning market: it runs into the evening. That’s actually handy for travelers, because you can drop by after a morning of museums instead of getting up early for it.
| Market | Address | Days and hours | Metro |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marché Bourse | Place de la Bourse | Tuesday and Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. | Bourse |
And if you’re in the arrondissement on a Sunday morning, the Les Halles market in the 1st is open on Rue Montmartre from 7:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., a short walk from Montorgueil. On my markets page you’ll find the recommended markets in the rest of the city.
Walking Itineraries in the 2nd Arrondissement of Paris
The 2nd is too small to fill a whole day on its own, so most of the itineraries I’ve written pass through it and carry on. I’ve split them in two: one that mostly takes place here, and the others that touch it along the way.
The Itinerary That Takes Place in the 2nd
Itineraries Through the 2nd 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 2nd is over quickly, and that’s its big advantage: its neighbors are within walking distance. To the south the Louvre and the 1st arrondissement are waiting for you, and to the east the Marais.
And if you want to be ready ahead of time for every scenario, my complete Paris guide brings together everything I’ve learned. Have a wonderful trip, and don’t forget to stop on Rue Montorgueil for me.
