Off the beaten path · Paris · CDG
10 unusual places to discover Paris
A candy-coloured street, a restaurant full of gilding, a garden perched on a viaduct, mint tea in a courtyard… Ten lesser-known places that are beautiful to photograph and easy to reach from Charles-de-Gaulle.
The Paris you do not see on postcards
Already know the Eiffel Tower? This layover is a chance to see another Paris: covered passages, cafés hidden in museums and streets where you stop just for a photo. All these places are free or nearly free, and can be visited in under two hours.
A good habit: choose one place, or two nearby. Rue Crémieux, Le Train Bleu and the Coulée verte are five minutes apart around Gare de Lyon; La Maison Rose and the Musée de la Vie romantique can be combined in Montmartre.
Plan my layover with LAYOVOThe time shown runs from the terminal 2 exit to the destination, including the wait for the train. Arriving at terminal 1 or 3? Add 5 min for the CDGVAL shuttle. RER B durations come from official timetables; allow extra time for engineering work or disruption.
01 · Street · photography · 1 hr–1 hr 15 min from CDG
Rue Crémieux, candy-coloured façades
- A quick look
- 15 min–20 minTime to walk the length of the street
- Take your time
- 45 minWith a coffee near Gare de Lyon
- Price
- FreeResidential street: please be respectful.
Sea green, straw yellow, powder pink… Hidden between Gare de Lyon and the Seine, rue Crémieux is lined with small houses painted in every colour, with matching shutters and flowerpots.
It is probably the most photographed street in Paris. But it is also a real street where people live: walk quietly, photograph the façades and leave doors and windows alone.
How to get there from CDG
Straight to the door, no transfersPickup at CDG and destination prefilled · price shown upfront45 minBook a ride Public transportTicket €14
- 10 min
- 33 min–38 min → Châtelet – Les Halles
- 3 min → Gare de Lyon
- 5 min
DirectionsTaxi56 € (right-bank flat fare)
02 · Restaurant · Belle Époque · 55 min–1 hr 10 min from CDG
Le Train Bleu, a coffee beneath the gilding
- A quick look
- 20 min–30 minA coffee in the lounge bar
- Take your time
- 1 hr 30 minAn à la carte lunch
- Price
- From the price of a coffeeRestaurant: allow more than 60 € à la carte.
Above the platforms at Gare de Lyon lies one of Paris’s most extraordinary rooms: painted ceilings, gilded mouldings, chandeliers and leather banquettes. Le Train Bleu opened for the 1900 World’s Fair.
You do not need to book a grand dinner to enjoy it: the lounge bar is open all day. A coffee or a drink is enough to savour the setting before heading into town or taking the RER back.
How to get there from CDG
Straight to the door, no transfersPickup at CDG and destination prefilled · price shown upfront45 minBook a ride Public transportTicket €14
- 10 min
- 33 min–38 min → Châtelet – Les Halles
- 3 min → Gare de Lyon
- 3 min
DirectionsTaxi56 € (right-bank flat fare)
03 · Walk · elevated garden · 1 hr–1 hr 15 min from CDG
The Coulée verte, Paris from a former viaduct
- A quick look
- 20 min–30 minAn out-and-back walk on the viaduct
- Take your time
- 1 hr–1 hr 30 minAs far as jardin de Reuilly
- Price
- FreeOpen during Paris park opening hours.
Long before New York’s High Line, Paris had turned a railway into a promenade. The Coulée verte René-Dumont runs ten metres above ground over the arches of the Viaduc des Arts.
Walk among rose bushes, pergolas and Haussmannian façades, level with the balconies. A surprisingly peaceful stroll, five minutes from Gare de Lyon.
How to get there from CDG
Straight to the door, no transfersPickup at CDG and destination prefilled · price shown upfront45 minBook a ride Public transportTicket €14
- 10 min
- 33 min–38 min → Châtelet – Les Halles
- 3 min → Gare de Lyon
- 7 min
DirectionsTaxi56 € (right-bank flat fare)
04 · Covered passage · architecture · 1 hr–1 hr 15 min from CDG
Galerie Vivienne, Paris’s prettiest passage
- A quick look
- 15 minWalk through the gallery
- Take your time
- 45 min–1 hrWith the jardin du Palais-Royal
- Price
- FreeShops and tea rooms cost extra.
Mosaic floors, a glass roof, a rotunda and old shops: Galerie Vivienne dates from 1823 and has barely changed. It is one of Paris’s most elegant covered passages.
Wander past an antiquarian bookshop, homeware boutiques and tea rooms. Ideal when it rains, and perfect for a photo looking down beneath the glass roof.
How to get there from CDG
Straight to the door, no transfersPickup at CDG and destination prefilled · price shown upfront45 minBook a ride Public transportTicket €14
- 10 min
- 33 min–38 min → Châtelet – Les Halles
- 2 min → Pyramides
- 8 min
DirectionsTaxi56 € (right-bank flat fare)
05 · Dome · views over Paris · 55 min–1 hr 10 min from CDG
Galeries Lafayette, the dome and rooftop
- A quick look
- 20 min–30 minThe dome and rooftop terrace
- Take your time
- 1 hrWith a detour to the Opéra Garnier
- Price
- FreeFree access to the rooftop terrace and dome.
Look up: the neo-Byzantine dome at Galeries Lafayette, with its golden stained glass, is one of the most photographed ceilings in Paris. You can admire it from the balconies on the upper floors without buying anything.
Then head up to the rooftop terrace. The view takes in the Opéra Garnier in the foreground and the Eiffel Tower in the distance. And it is free.
How to get there from CDG
Straight to the door, no transfersPickup at CDG and destination prefilled · price shown upfront40 minBook a ride Public transportTicket €14
- 10 min
- 33 min–38 min → Châtelet – Les Halles
- 3 min → Auber
- 4 min
DirectionsTaxi56 € (right-bank flat fare)
06 · Landmark · tea room · 1 hr–1 hr 15 min from CDG
The Grande Mosquée de Paris, a courtyard and mint tea
- A quick look
- 30 minTea in the tea room, without a visit
- Take your time
- 1 hr–1 hr 30 minCourtyards, gardens, then tea room
- Price
- 5 €Visit (3 € reduced rate); tea room costs extra.
Zellige tiles, fountains, fig trees and carved arcades: step through the Grande Mosquée’s doors and it feels as though you have changed continents in a second. The landmark, celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2026, is one of Paris’s most beautiful settings.
After your visit, settle beneath the fig trees in the neighbouring tea room for mint tea and a Middle Eastern pastry. The tea room has its own entrance and requires no ticket.
How to get there from CDG
Straight to the door, no transfersPickup at CDG and destination prefilled · price shown upfront45 minBook a ride Public transportTicket €14
- 10 min
- 33 min–38 min → Châtelet – Les Halles
- 7 min → Place Monge
- 5 min
DirectionsTaxi65 € (left-bank flat fare)
07 · Bookshop · café · 50 min–1 hr 5 min from CDG
Shakespeare and Company, the bookshop facing Notre-Dame
- A quick look
- 20 minThe bookshop and its façade
- Take your time
- 45 min–1 hrWith a café break
- Price
- FreeFree entry; coffee and books cost extra.
A green and yellow shopfront, books piled to the ceiling, a piano and nooks where you can read sitting on the floor: Shakespeare and Company is a left-bank institution, facing Notre-Dame.
Next to the bookshop, its café has everything for a proper break: coffee, a slice of cake and the cathedral as a backdrop.
How to get there from CDG
Straight to the door, no transfersPickup at CDG and destination prefilled · price shown upfront45 minBook a ride Public transportTicket €14
- 10 min
- 35 min–40 min → Saint-Michel – Notre-Dame
- 4 min
DirectionsTaxi65 € (left-bank flat fare)
08 · Free museum · garden · 1 hr 5 min–1 hr 20 min from CDG
The Petit Palais, a café in a secret garden
- A quick look
- 30 minA drink in the garden
- Take your time
- 1 hr 30 minGarden, café and collections
- Price
- FreePermanent collections; café costs extra.
Behind the Petit Palais’s gilded façade lies an inner garden edged with arcades and mosaics. It feels like Italy, just steps from the Champs-Élysées.
The garden café lets you settle in for a light lunch or a drink. And since the permanent collections are free, take the opportunity to see the entrance gallery and its painted ceilings.
How to get there from CDG
Straight to the door, no transfersPickup at CDG and destination prefilled · price shown upfront45 minBook a ride Public transportTicket €14
- 10 min
- 33 min–38 min → Châtelet – Les Halles
- 9 min → Champs-Élysées – Clemenceau
- 4 min
DirectionsTaxi56 € (right-bank flat fare)
09 · Free museum · tea room · 1 hr 5 min–1 hr 20 min from CDG
The Musée de la Vie romantique, afternoon tea in the garden
- A quick look
- 30 min–45 minTea in the garden
- Take your time
- 1 hr–1 hr 30 minGarden, tea room and collections
- Price
- FreePermanent collections; tea room costs extra.
At the end of a cobbled lane, an artist’s house with green shutters, a greenhouse and a garden full of roses: the Musée de la Vie romantique is one of the 9th arrondissement’s best-kept secrets.
The Rose Bakery tea room occupies the garden and greenhouse. Scones, cakes and tea among the flowers: the ideal break between flights.
How to get there from CDG
Straight to the door, no transfersPickup at CDG and destination prefilled · price shown upfront40 minBook a ride Public transportTicket €14
- 10 min
- 29 min–34 min → Gare du Nord
- 5 min → Pigalle
- 8 min
DirectionsTaxi56 € (right-bank flat fare)
10 · Restaurant · Montmartre · 1 hr 10 min–1 hr 25 min from CDG
La Maison Rose, picture-postcard Montmartre
- A quick look
- 20 minThe façade and rue de l’Abreuvoir
- Take your time
- 1 hr 30 minA meal, then the walk to the Sacré-Cœur
- Price
- Free outsideRestaurant meal according to the day’s menu.
A small pink house with green shutters on the corner of a climbing cobbled street: La Maison Rose is probably Montmartre’s most famous façade. Utrillo painted it, and thousands of visitors photograph it every day.
It is also a genuine neighbourhood restaurant with a small terrace. Two minutes away, the Clos Montmartre vineyard and the Lapin Agile cabaret complete the walk.
How to get there from CDG
Straight to the door, no transfersPickup at CDG and destination prefilled · price shown upfront40 minBook a ride Public transportTicket €14
- 10 min
- 29 min–34 min → Gare du Nord
- 5 min → Pigalle
- 3 min → Lamarck – Caulaincourt
- 6 min
DirectionsTaxi56 € (right-bank flat fare)
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