Bucket List / Budget List: Paris

Iconic museums, chic boutiques and patisseries on every corner, plus, romance, obviously. Fall in love with Paris, on every budget, with these French capital stays.

Best for Luxury

The heady aroma of bubbling, molten chocolate drifts into rue de la Roquette, thanks to La Manufacture De Chocolat Alain Ducasse. Paris is full of chocolatiers, but only this little chocolate factory has an owner who can boast 21 Michelin stars. Handmade, salt-dusted truffles sit beneath bell jars; slabs of bitter dark chocolate come packaged with their own wooden mallet. C’est magnifique.

Here are some equally delicious places to stay…

Nolinski Paris – for cinematic cool

Stay at the Nolinski Paris and the city’s greatest hits – the Palais Garnier opera, the Louvre, the Quais de Seine and the boutiques of rue Saint-Honoré – are just a promenade away. Inside is even more cinematic. Frescos of clouds wrap around all six floors, while silver-leaf ceilings reflect the kind of modern art collection most galleries would kill for.

Hotel Le Montana – for jazz-age elegance

Parisians have been known to book a room at Hotel Le Montana just to guarantee entrance to the glitzy, Art Deco jazz club in the basement. Upstairs, graphic artist and interior designer Vincent Darré has mixed bold murals with cartoonish furniture to make fun yet elegant rooms. And if you fancy a pre-club dinner, then head to the roof terrace sushi bar.

Sweet Inn Apartments: Ponthieu – for a taste of real Paris

Only the most well-heeled Parisians live this close to the Champs-Elysées. The Arc de Triomphe sits at one end of the street, while at the other, the Grand Palais glitters in the sunlight – and the Seine and the Louvre are just minutes away. So you can have a lazy morning at the Sweet Inn Apartments: Ponthieu. Buy baguettes from one of the tiny boulangeries that dot the area, brew coffee in your own spacious kitchen, and then you’re ready to explore the iconic Parisian sights right on your doorstep.

Best for Budget

Pop-up shops? Pop-up restaurants? Paris ups the ante with three pop-up beaches. Most visitors use them as a cool spot for an ice-cream and a sunbathe, but there are fabulous events on the sands all through the summer. Hit La Villette before 9pm and you can hire anything from a kayak to a sailboat for a grand total of zero Euros. Or, the FNAC Live series of concerts, held outside City Hall, brings big-name guests to the riverside, and they’re all free, too.

Paris now has lots of bobo-on-a-budget hotels. Here are three to get you started:

Mama Shelter Paris – for quirky style

For Mama Shelter Paris, designer Philippe Starck delved deep into his bag of tricks to create this grown-up playpen. The ground floor buzzes with locals and guests, eating pizza around the graffiti-ceilinged dining room, drinking cocktails around the all-black pool table or buying quirky toys in the concept store. The rooms are just as characterful; selfie-elevating superhero masks come with.

Hotel Panache – for buzzing nightlife

Has a hotel ever been so aptly named? This 19th century corner townhouse is at the heart of la vie Parisienne; the streets around ring to the sound of corner jazz bars and the cries of Montmartre flower sellers. It’s a short walk to the glitz and neon of legendary Pigalle and the Folies Bergère, too. But don’t let this wealth of entertainment on your doorstep make you miss Hotel Panache’s restaurant: its mix of French classics and modern fusion has made it a hot ticket for local foodies.

En suite duplex Paris 16 – for a homely retreat

Set on a peaceful, tree-lined street, En suite duplex Paris 16 ramps up the ‘cheerful’ side of the ‘cheap and cheerful’ equation. It’s a great base for sporting visitors, with Roland-Garros tennis stadium and the Parc des Princes football stadium on the doorstep, but everyone will enjoy its homely charms. There’s fresh Nespresso in the morning, fast Wi-Fi, and a fully stocked kitchen (it even has a dishwasher).