Things to do in Paris on New Year’s Eve 2011/12
All set to party in Paris this New Year’s Eve? Whether you’re limbering up to dance the night away, looking for an amazing meal or travelling with kids, our guide to Paris NYE 2011/12 has it covered…
First up: Paris NYE need-to-knows
- Paris’s metro stays open all night on December 31st, so you don’t have to worry about getting home. However, it does get exceptionally crowded around 1-3am, so try to avoid these times if you dread the squash.
- There isn’t an official fireworks show, instead there’s a light show at the Eiffel Tower at midnight.
- At midnight, you pop champagne or white wine and kiss the person you’re next to – these are called bisous and are the French version of an air kiss.
- New Year’s Eve is also the feast day of St. Sylvester in France – hence the emphasis on having a good meal!
- “Bonne Annee!” is “Happy New Year!” in French.
Free things to do outdoors
Get down to the Champs de Mars or the Place de la Trocadero to see the Eiffel Tower erupt into a display of glittering starbursts and lasers on the stroke of midnight. Arrive about 6-8pm to grab the best space.
The Champs Elysees is Paris’s busiest NYE gathering-point. Bookended by the Arc du Triomph and the Place de la Concorde ferris wheel, the road is closed to traffic and crowds party for hours after midnight. Be sure to bring a bottle of champagne and plastic glasses to share around!
If you’re not one for crowds, Montmartre offers a calmer alternative. Winding alleyways and cobbled squares are perfect for a stroll or a glass of wine outside a bar, and there are beautiful views from the top of butte Montmartre, the highest point in the city. Climb up to see the Eiffel Tower light up (and any unofficial fireworks going off!).
Family things to do on NYE in Paris
There are a few good options for things to do in the evening with kids on NYE. The Ferris wheel at Place de la Concorde is open ‘til midnight (€5), and the open ice rink outside Hotel de Ville ‘til 10pm (free; skate rental €5).
If you’re looking to stay warm indoors, treat the family to a show: L’Opera Bastille’s ballet of Cinderella is suitably magical, and this version is set in 1930s Hollywood (tickets €25-150).
Eating out
It’s typical for the French to ring in the New Year with an elaborate, multi-course meal – indeed, most Parisians celebrate behind closed doors with private dinner parties. Restaurants copy this tradition by offering their own NYE set menus, often at breathtakingly expensive prices.
It’s cheapest to eat early at a café, or to prepare your own meal – but if you want to splash out, Les Ombres has perhaps the most worth-the-pricetag setting. Located on the 5th floor of the Musée du Quai Branly, it offers amazing views of the Seine and Eiffel Tower from your dinner table and its NYE menu includes champagne, caviar, lobster and fois gras (€320).
Paris Bars
Want to bar-hop your way past midnight? Head north-east to Pigalle or Belleville and work your way around the neighbourhoods’ hipster bars. In Belleville, start at grungy Café Cheri(e) (44 Bld. de la Villette) then roll on to the crypt-like basement at le Cantine de Belleville (108, Boulevard Belleville).
In Pigalle, head to le Mansart (1 rue Mansart) for beers, foosball and cheap bistro dishes earlier in the evening, then hop across the street to 19th-century mansion tuned cocktail bar le Carmen (34 Rue Duperré) to dance the night away.
Or, pick up ideas from our local’s guide to partying, Parisian-style or Spotted by Locals’ rundown of Paris’s best outdoor nightspots.
Paris NYE Clubs
Paris Social Club’s All Night Long party (142 Rue Montmartre) sees electroclash legend Miss Kittin take to the decks, while Laurent Garnier’s Rex club (5, bd Poissonnière) round the corner hosts house and minimal techno via the best soundsystem in Paris (tickets for both: €20-25).
Alternately, let party boat Le Batofar (Quai François Mauriac) take care of your whole evening – start with a meal on its top-deck restaurant, go for drinks on the heated terrace then bowl downstaris fora dance in its lower-deck club. Its Doomsday NYE party will host a roster of DJs spinning dubstep and electro to glittering views of the Seine (tickets €20-25).
Cheap hotels in Paris for NYE
There’s still time to book a cheap Paris hotel for NYE. Hotel Rhetia is short walk from the Marais has garden-view doubles for €100pn, while Hotel de Paris Mauberge sits close to Gare du Nord and has doubles from €110pn.
If you’re travelling as a family, Hotel la Boetie has a room for a party of four for €520pn (min. three-night stay).
Click for a full list of available hotels here.
Image sources, with thanks: 1 2 3 4 5 6
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Fraussie Grouet Said,
December 30, 2011 @ 11:07 am
Perfect! Just printed it out for two sets of Australian visitors, one with teenagers, wanting to know what they could do in Paris on New Year’s Eve.