In short
- What’s there: the Paris Opera, the Musée Grévin wax museum, the Fragonard Perfume Museum, the Musée de la Vie romantique, the Passage Jouffroy and the Église Notre-Dame-de-Lorette.
- Location: the Right Bank, from the Opéra in the south to the slope of Montmartre in the north.
- Tickets: three of the sites are free to enter, and the Opéra and the wax museum need a ticket.
- Who it suits: anyone looking for a central place to stay at a reasonable price, and anyone who loves small museums.
- Food market: just one, the Marché Anvers, and it runs on Friday afternoons only.
- Restaurants: three recommendations in the arrondissement.
- Walking itineraries: four take place mostly in the arrondissement, and five more pass through it.
The 9th arrondissement is the arrondissement of the Opéra, the Grands Boulevards and the big department stores, so most visitors come here to shop or to photograph the Lafayette rooftop. In reality it’s an arrondissement with two faces: formality and commerce in the south, and in the north, 19th-century neighborhoods preserved just as they were.
The northern part is called the Nouvelle Athènes (New Athens), and Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849), George Sand (1804-1876) and Eugène Delacroix (1798-1863) all lived there. To me it’s the most interesting part of the arrondissement, and also the quietest. If you come to the Opéra and head straight back, you’ve missed what’s here.
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 arrondissement’s only food market with its days and hours, and finally the walking itineraries.
Recommended Hotels in the 9th Arrondissement of Paris
To me, the 9th is one of the most sensible choices for a stay in Paris: central, close to many metro lines, and cheaper than the 1st and the 8th. 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 9th 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 9th arrondissement.
Recommended Apartments in the 9th Arrondissement of Paris
Rue des Martyrs and the streets around it are full of small food shops, so an apartment with a kitchen pays off in this arrondissement. Here too, you can let me choose:
My personal pick
Which apartment in the 9th 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 9th arrondissement.
Attractions and Museums in the 9th Arrondissement of Paris
These are the sites I recommend in the 9th. Three of them are free to enter, and one is a covered passage you simply walk into.
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Must see
The Paris Opera (Palais Garnier)
To me, the most magnificent building in Paris, and you can visit it without seeing a performance.
Charles Garnier (1825-1898) was an unknown architect who won a competition against some 170 rivals, and when Empress Eugénie (1826-1920) asked him what style he was building in, he answered that it was Napoleon III style. The self-guided visit takes about an hour and passes through the Grand Staircase, the Grand Foyer with its mirrors, and the auditorium itself with the Chagall ceiling. And the underground lake from The Phantom of the Opera really exists (it’s actually a water tank under the building).
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Great with kids
The Musée Grévin
The wax museum of Paris, since 1882, and its spectacular halls are worth the ticket on their own.
The museum was opened by Alfred Grévin (1827-1892), a cartoonist and sculptor, on the idea of a journalist, Arthur Meyer (1844-1924), who wanted to show readers what the people they read about actually looked like. This was before newspapers printed photographs. The ornate halls, among them the Palais des Mirages from the World’s Fair of 1900, are the real exhibit here, more than the wax celebrities.
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Free entry
The Fragonard Perfume Museum (Musée du Parfum Fragonard)
A small, surprising museum about the history of perfume, and entry is free.
Fragonard is a perfume house from Grasse that has opened a few small museums in Paris, and this is the main one. They explain the stages of production, show a collection of perfume bottles and distilling equipment from the 18th and 19th centuries, and at the end they walk you through a shop. That’s the business model, and it doesn’t spoil a half-hour visit.
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My pick
The Musée de la Vie romantique
A house with a garden at the end of a lane, and to me the hidden gem of the arrondissement.
The house belonged to the painter Ary Scheffer (1795-1858), and George Sand, Chopin, Delacroix and Franz Liszt (1811-1886) gathered in his salon. The permanent collection is devoted mainly to George Sand, and it’s free to enter. In spring and summer a tea room opens in the courtyard, and it’s one of the most pleasant places in Paris to sit.
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Free entry
The Passage Jouffroy
The covered passage of the 9th, and it continues straight on from the Passage des Panoramas across the boulevard.
The passage opened in the 1840s and was the first in Paris built entirely of iron and glass, and its floor had underfloor heating built in, an innovation for the time. Inside you’ll find the Hôtel Chopin and the back entrance of the wax museum, and at the other end it continues into the Passage Verdeau.
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Free entry
The Église Notre-Dame-de-Lorette
A church that looks like a Roman temple from outside, and whose name became a nickname in the 19th century.
The church was built in the 1820s and 1830s in the neoclassical style, and its interior is so lavish that it surprises anyone walking in from the street. Its name became a nickname for the young women of the neighborhood who lived off older men (the “lorettes”), and I wrote about that story separately.
More Attractions in the 9th 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Galeries Lafayette Haussmann | 40 boulevard Haussmann | The glass dome from 1912, and the rooftop with a free view over Paris |
| Printemps Haussmann | 64 boulevard Haussmann | The rival department store, with a brasserie under a stained-glass dome from 1923 |
| The Passage Verdeau | 6 rue de la Grange Batelière | The direct continuation of the Passage Jouffroy, quieter and full of antique shops |
| The Musée Gustave Moreau | 14 rue de La Rochefoucauld | The painter’s house and studio, with a spectacular spiral staircase in the great hall |
| Hôtel Drouot | 9 rue Drouot | The largest auction house in France. On preview days entry is free and you can look at real treasures |
| Rue des Martyrs | rue des Martyrs | The food street of the arrondissement, leading up the hill toward Montmartre |
Tours and Activities in the 9th 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 9th Arrondissement of Paris
The 9th is an arrondissement that has found its culinary voice in recent years, and these are the places I send people to:
| The restaurant | Type | Address | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Moom Mam | On my radar | 19 Rue de Mogador | A very young place that has made it onto my radar, a few minutes from the Opéra |
| Phoenix | Asian | 54 Rue Saint-Lazare | Asian cooking near the Gare Saint-Lazare. I couldn’t find an official website for it |
| Jim’s Corner | A reader’s pick | In the 9th arrondissement | A recommendation I got from my reader Orna Liberman |
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 9th Arrondissement of Paris
The 9th has one municipal food market, and it’s an exception in the Paris landscape: unlike all the morning markets in the other arrondissements, the Marché Anvers runs from the afternoon into the evening, and on one day only. It was set up in 2004 together with the neighborhood’s residents, precisely to fit the hours when people come home from work.
| The market | Address | Days and hours | Metro |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marché Anvers | Place d’Anvers, by the square and opposite numbers 15 to 17 on Avenue Trudaine | Friday only, 3:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. | Anvers |
On the other days of the week, Rue des Martyrs does the job, with permanent bakeries, cheese shops and greengrocers. On my markets page you’ll find the recommended markets in the city’s other arrondissements.
Walking Itineraries in the 9th 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 9th Arrondissement
Itineraries That Pass Through the 9th 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 9th stretches north all the way to the slope of the hill of Montmartre, so the logical combination is to start at the Opéra and walk up Rue des Martyrs. To the south, the 2nd arrondissement and its covered passages 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 go up to the Lafayette rooftop (do it for me).
