Right bank vs left bank Paris: which side should you stay on?

The Seine, and what each bank means

The Left Bank covers the 5th, 6th, 7th, 13th, 14th and almost all of the 15th arrondissement, except the île aux Cygnes; every other arrondissement is on the Right Bank, and the islands belong to neither, according to Wikipedia. The Louvre, the Marais and the Champs-Élysées are therefore on the Right Bank; the Eiffel Tower, Saint-Germain-des-Prés and the Luxembourg garden are on the Left; Notre-Dame stands on the île de la Cité, which is neither.

Photo: Sumit Surai, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The table above compares six areas of our guide, chosen because they sit on one bank or the other, with the lines that serve them and their median travel times. Those times are theoretical metro and RER times for a Tuesday morning, without disruption, from the reference points of our data.

The short answer, by traveller

• First visit: both banks work. On the Right Bank, the Louvre and Tuileries area is rated as recommended in our data: the Louvre, the Tuileries, the Palais-Royal and place Vendôme are on foot. On the Left Bank, Saint-Germain-des-Prés is rated the same: the Louvre and Orsay are on foot by the Seine, and line 4 runs straight to Châtelet and the Gare du Nord; its Saint-Michel station is closed until 19 December 2026. The Eiffel Tower area is rated possible only, as it sits off-centre.
• Couples: all six areas in the table are rated as recommended. For Louvre–Tuileries, Saint-Germain and the Eiffel Tower area, our data cites hotels with views of the Tuileries, the Seine or the tower, literary cafés and the Luxembourg garden.
• Families: the Eiffel Tower area is the only one of the six in the table rated as recommended, thanks to the Champ-de-Mars, 24.3 hectares and fully open, and to family rooms; the other areas are rated possible.
• A small budget: our data advises against the Louvre–Tuileries area (21 hotels from one to three stars among 71) and against Saint-Germain (eight two-star and one one-star hotel among 116 classified in the wider zone), and finds the Eiffel Tower area possible, with 25 three-star hotels in the Grenelle quarter alone. Right Bank areas further out, such as Montmartre and the canal, are rated better for a budget.
• Nightlife: Bastille and Oberkampf, on the Right Bank, are rated as recommended; the Eiffel Tower area is advised against.

We publish no average price per area: no official source gives one. The only usable yardstick is the distribution of stars in each zone.

Photo: Guilhem Vellut, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Journeys: time and airports

From place du Marché Saint-Honoré, in the Louvre area, the Eiffel Tower is 30 minutes away by median metro time; from rue Cler, on the Left Bank, the Louvre is 20.5 minutes and Notre-Dame 26. From Saint-Germain, Notre-Dame takes 11.5 minutes, the Louvre 13 on foot and the Eiffel Tower 30, on foot to the Musée d’Orsay and then RER C. From the Marais, the Louvre is 17 minutes away and the tower 37.5.

Photo: Gunnar Klack, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

For the airports, the Louvre area has direct links: line 14 to Orly and RER B at Châtelet–Les Halles to Roissy. From Saint-Germain, line 4 reaches Châtelet, for line 14 to Orly and RER B to Roissy; Saint-Michel, another way onto RER B, is closed on line 4 until 19 December 2026. The Eiffel Tower area has no direct line to either airport: changes are compulsory. In 2026 the taxi flat fares, both ways, are €45 between Orly and the Right Bank and €36 for the Left Bank, and €56 between Roissy and the Right Bank and €65 for the Left Bank.

Sunday shopping

The Right Bank holds most of the international tourist zones where shops may open on Sundays: Saint-Honoré–Vendôme and Les Halles in the 1st, the Marais in the 3rd, Champs-Élysées–Montaigne and Haussmann in the 8th, Maillot–Ternes in the 17th and Montmartre in the 18th. On the Left Bank, Rennes–Saint-Sulpice in the 6th, Saint-Germain in the 7th, Olympiades in the 13th and Beaugrenelle in the 15th are the zones, plus Saint-Émilion–Bibliothèque, which straddles the 12th and 13th and so both banks; near the Eiffel Tower, Beaugrenelle is the only one.

Where to look next

For the two banks in detail, see our lists of hotels near the Louvre, hotels near the Eiffel Tower and places to stay in Saint-Germain, and our comparison of the arrondissements to stay in Paris.