Where to Stay in Les Halles

What staying in Les Halles is like

Les Halles is the quarter around the site of the old Paris wholesale food market, in the 1st and 2nd arrondissements. The market stood here from the 12th century until it moved out to Rungis in 1969, and its iron pavilions were demolished in 1971. The Forum des Halles, a shopping center built largely underground, now fills the site. Its glass roof, the Canopée, was inaugurated in April 2016.

Two older landmarks remain. The church of Saint-Eustache, built between 1532 and 1633, stands across the street from the old market site. Au Pied de Cochon, a brasserie at 6 rue Coquillière, opened in 1947 to feed the porters of the market and still serves at the same address.

North of the church, rue Montorgueil is a cobbled street of bakeries, cheese shops, fish shops, wine shops and cafés, where pedestrians have priority over cars. Stohrer, at no. 51, opened in 1730 and is one of the oldest bakeries in Paris. Beyond rue Réaumur is the Sentier, the old textile and garment district of the 2nd arrondissement.

Who Les Halles suits

Les Halles suits travelers who want to see a lot of Paris in a few days. The Louvre, the Palais Royal garden, the Marais and the Seine are all within walking distance, and the city's Métro and RER lines meet under the Forum. It also suits food-focused trips, since rue Montorgueil has bakeries and food shops for breakfast and picnics.

Look elsewhere if you want a quiet, residential street. The Forum des Halles had around 50 million visitors in 2019, the most of any shopping center in France. Drivers should check parking before booking: Hôtel Bachaumont and The Hoxton, Paris have no parking, and Maison Albar - Le Pont-Neuf offers valet parking but has no garage of its own.

Getting around: Métro, RER, airports and train stations

Châtelet–Les Halles, under the Forum, is the main hub of the Paris transit network. It handles about 750,000 travelers on a weekday, and its platforms can be up to 800 meters apart. Allow extra time when you change lines there.

• RER lines A, B and D stop at Châtelet–Les Halles.
• Métro lines 1, 4, 7, 11 and 14 stop at Châtelet, and line 4 also stops at Les Halles.
• Charles de Gaulle airport: RER B runs direct. Maison Albar - Le Pont-Neuf gives about an hour by RER B or about 50 minutes by taxi.
• Orly airport: Métro line 14 has run direct from Châtelet to Orly since 24 June 2024. Maison Albar - Le Pont-Neuf gives about 30 minutes by taxi.
• Gare du Nord, for Eurostar trains to London, Brussels and Amsterdam: RER B and D run direct, and so does Métro line 4.
• Gare de Lyon: RER D and Métro line 14 run direct.
• Gare Montparnasse: Métro line 4 runs direct from Les Halles and Châtelet.

In the north of the area, Hôtel Bachaumont gives about three minutes on foot to Sentier (line 3) and five minutes to Étienne Marcel (line 4). The Hoxton, Paris is a short walk from Bonne Nouvelle, and the hotel puts Gare du Nord about 20 minutes away on foot.

The tradeoffs

Les Halles is crowded, because the busiest shopping center in France sits on top of the main transit hub of Paris. If you sleep lightly, ask for a courtyard room. Hôtel Bachaumont and Maison Albar - Le Pont-Neuf both sell rooms facing the street or the courtyard, and some of The Hoxton's terrace rooms overlook its courtyard.

The entry-level rooms at two of the hotels are small. Hôtel Bachaumont's Classic rooms are 17 square meters, and The Hoxton's Shoebox rooms are 13 to 17 square meters. Check the room size before booking if you are staying a week or traveling with large suitcases.

The Centre Pompidou, the modern art museum just east of boulevard de Sébastopol, closed for renovation on 22 September 2025 and is scheduled to reopen in 2030.

Choosing a hotel in Les Halles

Maison Albar - Le Pont-Neuf is a 60-room five-star hotel at the southern end of the area, on rue du Pont Neuf between Les Halles and the Seine. It is the only one of the four hotels with an indoor pool, which sits in its spa under a skylight. Its restaurant, Odette, is listed in the Michelin Guide. The hotel puts Châtelet station 200 meters away and offers connecting rooms and extras for children, so it suits families and trips with many train rides.

Hôtel Madame Rêve, the other five-star hotel, occupies part of the Louvre post office building at 48 rue du Louvre, on the western edge of the area. Rooms are sold by view, in Garden, Paris, Eiffel Tower and Exceptional View categories, and some have terraces. It has the Madame Rêve Restaurant, La Plume and ROOF, a rooftop bar. Book the exact view category you want, because a Garden View room does not face the monuments.

Hôtel Bachaumont is a 49-room four-star hotel at 18 rue Bachaumont, a short street off rue Montorgueil. It is the smallest of the four and the closest to the market street. Dorothée Meilichzon designed the rooms, and the restaurant and bar on the ground floor serve breakfast, lunch, dinner and cocktails every day.

The Hoxton, Paris is the largest, with 172 rooms in the former Hôtel Rivié, an 18th-century town house at 30–32 rue du Sentier that is listed as a historic monument. Rooms range from 13-square-meter Shoebox rooms to 36-square-meter Biggy rooms, and dogs are welcome in every room. A pop-up pool opens in the courtyard from June to September.