In short
- What’s there: the Eiffel Tower, the Champ de Mars, the Musée d’Orsay, the Musée Rodin, Les Invalides with Napoleon’s tomb, the Musée du quai Branly and the Musée de la Légion d’honneur.
- Location: the Left Bank, from the Eiffel Tower in the west to the Musée d’Orsay in the east.
- Tickets: for almost every site it’s worth booking ahead, and at the Eiffel Tower it’s a requirement, not a recommendation.
- Who it suits: anyone looking for great museums and quiet, not for food and nightlife.
- Food market: just one, the Marché Saxe-Breteuil, on Thursdays and Saturdays.
- Restaurants: only two recommendations, the lowest number of any central arrondissement.
- Walking itineraries: two take place in the arrondissement, and four more pass through it.
The 7th arrondissement is where the Eiffel Tower stands, and that alone means every visitor to Paris passes through it at least once. What fewer people know is that besides the tower, it has two of the most important museums in the world, Napoleon’s tomb, and a small museum that almost no tourist ever walks into.
It’s also the quietest and most stately arrondissement in Paris. Government ministries, embassies and private mansions with closed courtyards, and almost no nightlife. In culinary terms it’s one of the poorest arrondissements in the city center, and it has only one municipal food market.
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 and museums one by one, the restaurants I send people to, the food market with its days and hours, and finally the walking itineraries.
Recommended Hotels in the 7th Arrondissement of Paris
Sleeping in the 7th is the choice for anyone who wants to look at the Eiffel Tower from the window and can live without nightlife. 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 7th 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 7th arrondissement.
Recommended Apartments in the 7th Arrondissement of Paris
In an arrondissement without many restaurants, an apartment with a kitchen becomes a particularly practical idea, and Rue Cler has everything you’ll need to shop for. Here too, you can let me choose:
My personal pick
Which apartment in the 7th 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 7th arrondissement.
Attractions and Museums in the 7th Arrondissement of Paris
These are the sites I recommend in the 7th. For most of them it’s worth booking a ticket in advance, and at the Eiffel Tower that’s not a recommendation, it’s a requirement.
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Must see
The Eiffel Tower (Tour Eiffel)
The one attraction you must not show up to without a ticket. They sell out weeks in advance.
Two things worth knowing before you go. First, when the elevator tickets are gone, there are still stair tickets to the second floor, and those are almost always available, cost less and save you the line. Second, the best place to photograph the tower isn’t underneath it but from the Trocadéro esplanade across the river, and that’s already the 16th arrondissement.
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Free entry
The Champ de Mars
The carpet of grass below the tower, and the place for a picnic with a view.
The ground was originally the parade field of the military academy at its far end, hence the name (Mars being the god of war). During the Revolution it hosted the Festival of the Federation, and later it hosted several World’s Fairs, including the one in 1889 for which the tower was built. Today it’s an open city park, and on summer evenings the lawn is full of people waiting for the tower’s lights to come on.
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Must see
The Musée d’Orsay
The largest collection of Impressionism in the world, in a railway station from 1900.
The building was a railway station built for the World’s Fair of 1900, and in the 1970s it was about to be torn down until the decision was made to turn it into a museum. People come from all over the world for Monet, Renoir and Van Gogh, and the fifth floor is the place to start, not to finish. Don’t miss the view through the great clock.
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Must see
Les Invalides and Napoleon’s Tomb
The French Army Museum and the church that holds Napoleon’s red stone sarcophagus.
Louis XIV built the place as a home for wounded soldiers, and that’s exactly where the name comes from. Keep in mind that the museum is bigger than it looks, so if you came only for Napoleon, head straight to the Dome Church. Inside the sarcophagus, the emperor actually lies in six coffins nested one inside the other.
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My pick
The Musée Rodin
To me, the most pleasant museum in Paris, thanks to the sculpture garden around the mansion.
Auguste Rodin (1840-1917) lived and worked at the Hôtel Biron, and he gave his entire collection to the state in exchange for a promise that the place would become a museum. The Thinker and The Gates of Hell stand in the garden, not inside, so the garden alone is worth the visit. One wing also shows works by Camille Claudel (1864-1943).
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Hidden museum
The Musée de la Légion d’honneur
Right next to the Musée d’Orsay, free to enter, and almost no tourist ever goes in.
The museum is devoted to orders and decorations, and especially to the Legion of Honor, which Napoleon founded in 1802. It sounds niche, and it really is niche, but the mansion itself is stunning and entry is free, so it’s a fifteen-minute stop that pays off right after the Orsay.
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The Musée du quai Branly
A museum of the arts of Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Americas, in a building by Jean Nouvel.
The museum opened in 2006 on the initiative of Jacques Chirac (1932-2019), and it brought together collections that had been scattered across other museums. The building is part of the show: Jean Nouvel designed it on stilts above a wild garden, and the living wall on its facade was one of the first of its kind in the world. The garden itself is free to enter.
More Attractions in the 7th Arrondissement 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Rue Cler | rue Cler | The food street of the arrondissement, a pedestrian street of bakeries, cheese shops and greengrocers, open almost every day |
| The Basilica of Sainte-Clotilde | 23 rue Las Cases | A neo-Gothic church with two spires, where César Franck (1822-1890) played the organ for some thirty years |
| Le Bon Marché | 24 rue de Sèvres | The oldest luxury department store in Paris, from 1852, with the big gourmet food hall next door |
| The Lavirotte Building (Immeuble Lavirotte) | 29 avenue Rapp | The most famous Art Nouveau facade in Paris, and the heart of my Art Nouveau itinerary |
| The Paris Sewers Museum (Musée des Égouts) | Pont de l’Alma | A museum inside the working sewer system, for anyone who has read Les Misérables and wants to see behind the scenes |
| The National Assembly (Assemblée nationale) | Palais Bourbon, 126 rue de l’Université | The French lower house of parliament, whose facade was built on Napoleon’s orders to mirror the Madeleine across the river |
Tours and Activities in the 7th Arrondissement You Might Enjoy
Show me more activities in Paris
And if you’re looking for attractions in the city’s other arrondissements, my Paris attractions page brings them all together in one place.
My Recommended Restaurants in the 7th Arrondissement of Paris
I’ll say it openly: the 7th is the thinnest arrondissement on my restaurant list, with only two recommendations. The reason is that the arrondissement is stately and quiet, and what it does have tends to cost more than it’s worth. If you’re in the area and want to eat well, it’s worth checking out the neighboring 6th arrondissement too.
| The restaurant | Type | Address | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Au Bon Accueil | Classic French | 14 rue de Monttessuy | A bistro right at the foot of the tower that still works with locals. Book a table |
| Little Davoli | Italian | 41 rue Cler | On the arrondissement’s pedestrian food street, and the sensible meal in the middle of a day of museums |
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 7th Arrondissement of Paris
The 7th has only one municipal food market, and it’s famous for one detail: the stalls stand on the central strip of the avenue, with the Eiffel Tower looking straight down on them. Prices are high, but so is the quality.
| The market | Address | Days and hours | Metro |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marché Saxe-Breteuil | Avenue de Saxe, from number 19 to Place de Breteuil | Thursday 7:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., Saturday 7:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. | Ségur or Sèvres-Lecourbe |
On the days the market isn’t running, Rue Cler does the job. It’s not a municipal market but a pedestrian street of permanent shops, so it’s open almost every day. On my markets page you’ll find the recommended markets in the city’s other arrondissements.
Walking Itineraries in the 7th Arrondissement of Paris
I’ve split the itineraries in two: the ones that take place mostly inside the arrondissement, and the ones that pass through it and keep going.
Itineraries That Take Place in the 7th Arrondissement
Itineraries That Pass Through the 7th 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 7th is big and spread out, so it’s worth splitting it in two: the tower and the Champ de Mars in the west, and the Orsay, Rodin and Les Invalides in the east. To the east lies the 6th arrondissement, and across the river the Louvre and the 1st arrondissement are waiting.
And if you want to be ready in advance for every scenario, my complete Paris guide brings together everything I’ve learned over the years. Have a wonderful trip, and don’t forget to book your tower tickets in advance (do it for me).
