Go out in Paris

Paris is a city with an exciting and diversified nightlife. Its renowned and avant-garde clubs and parties have made it a very attractive city for French as well as for foreign clubbers. In Paris, most evenings take place during weekends, although it is possible to find things to do every night, from Monday to Sunday. The best days to go out in Paris are from Thursday to Saturday. More and more events are also taking place on also Sundays. If you come to Paris, you'll see that people usually start going out around 6 pm, to enjoy a drink after work. On Saturdays, people may start earlier. The common plan? Have a drink around 6 pm, have dinner at 8 pm and then start the "before" (the pre-party) between 9 and 10 pm at someone's house or in bar. Clubs usually start getting crowded around 1 am and they normally close at 6 am. There are also more and more daytime events and festivals in Paris and the schedule depends on the type of event. On weekdays, Parisians love afterworks in bars or organized as proper events; these afterworks often end around midnight or 1 am. Although people like to go out in Paris, and this often involves drinking alcohol, you have to keep in mind that there are rules you'll have to follow. There are 200 streets in Paris in which it is totally forbidden to consume alcohol, as well as in parks, historical and touristic places (such as the Champs-Élysées) and bridges. This rule was implemented because of the numerous complaints from residents regarding noise and disturbance. The police probably won't fine you if you drink in the wrong place, but will invite you to go somewhere else. As we said before, the clubs close at 6 am, but if you like the idea of the sun rising and you don't want to end the fun, you can easily find a group of friends who'll surely invite you to continue the party at their place. Parisians go crazy for after parties!

In Paris, there is music for all tastes. You'll be able to find from commercial and hip-hop (what the French call "généraliste") to the most underground techno parties. Over the past 10 years, it is clear that the underground has attracted more and more people, with a predominance of house, disco, djs selectors and techno, industrial, micro-house. In Paris, you won't find clubs in very specific area, although, between Oberkampf and Grands-Boulevards (11th and 12th "arrondissements" - districts) there are many known venues, such as Le Rex Club, La Java, Le Nouveau Casino, Sacré or L'Entrée des Artistes. Once here, you have to keep in mind that Paris is a big city and that it may take time to go from one place to another, which explains why people basically stay in the same club for the whole night. The other areas where you can find clubs or things to do are the 13th arrondissement, around the subway station "Quai de La Gare", with clubs like Le Djoon, Le Wanderlust or Le Petit Bain; Pigalle, of course, with places like La Machine du Moulin Rouge, Le Carmen or Le Bus Palladium; Menilmontant with La Bellevilloise, L'International or La Maroquinerie. You'll also find clubs and bars close to Les Champs Élysées or Faubourg Saint-Honoré which are more sophisticated and less underground. In recent years there has also been a strong tendency to increase the number of events outside Paris, in the suburbs and with a more "Berlin style": warehouse, outdoor and underground.

Going out in Paris can be really expensive, although there are always ways to reduce the cost of a night out. But let's say that if you go out for drinks at 6 pm and end your night in a club at 6 am, you can easily spend between 100 and 150€, for drinks, dinner, ticket for the club and trips, if you have to grab a taxi or a Uber. The average price of a ticket to a club is between 10 and 15€, depending on the area, the time you get in and, of course, the kind of club you go to. To enter a club at a better price you can look for early birds if they do online pre-sales. Concerning alcohol, the average price of a drink is 12€, beers cost between 7 and 8€ and a shot 5€. If you choose to do your "before" in a bar, a drink costs around 10€ and a beer between 6 and 7€. If you prefer starting your night in an apartment, a classic bottle of alcohol will cost around 25€. If you are a smoker, you better know that the price of cigarettes is constantly increasing in France, the package now costs between 8 and 9€.

People in France, especially in Paris, like to get well dressed. It's a bit less true when it comes to electronic music and underground parties, as you’ll easily see guys with t-shirts and girls wearing something else than a dress and high heels. Sneakers are accepted in most of the underground clubs. For more chic and commercial clubs, with a more rigid access, we recommend that you get well dressed, avoid sneakers and and rather wear dresses for girls and shirts for boys.