in short
- What's there: Picasso Museum, Carnaval Museum, Cognac J Museum, Hunting and Nature Museum, Hôtel de Sauvage and the Red Children's Market.
- Location: The right bank, the northern part of the Mara district.
- Tickets: The permanent collection of Carnaval and Cognac J. is free to enter. It is worth booking in advance for the Picasso Museum.
- What to know in advance: Most museums and the market are closed on Mondays.
- Food market: The Red Children's Market dates back to 1615, Tuesday through Sunday, and is an indoor market that is also open in the evening.
- Restaurants: 17 recommendations in the district, the largest number of all the quarters of Paris.
- Itineraries: Seven routes mostly take place in the district, and two more pass through it.
The 3rd arrondissement is the northern Marais, and to me it is the more interesting part of the Marais. While the southern Marais is packed with visitors, the 3rd arrondissement has maintained quieter streets, and private palaces from the 17th and 18th centuries stand there in a density that is difficult to find anywhere else in the city.
It's also a district that rewards those who love small museums. The Picasso Museum is the big name here, but next to it sit three other museums, two of which have free admission to the permanent collection, and few visitors bother to enter them. And by the way, the 3rd arrondissement is also the strongest district in central Paris from a culinary point of view, with an ancient covered market and seventeen restaurants that I recommend.
So just before we get going, let's talk about what you'll find on this page: first the hotels and apartments I recommend in the district, then the museums and attractions one by one, the restaurants I send people to, the district's food market with the days and hours, and finally the hiking trails that pass through here.
Recommended hotels in the 3th arrondissement of Paris
The North Marais is a great place to stay: central enough to walk everywhere, and quiet enough to sleep at night. If you're not sure what's right for you, answer three questions and I'll choose from my recommendations:
My personal recommendation
Which hotel in the 3th arrondissement is right for you?
One short question, and I'll filter for you from the accommodations I've already checked and written about on the site what's suitable for the vacation you're planning.
Just a moment, I'll go through my recommendations and look for what suits you...
Prefer to go through all the recommendations yourself, with photos and details about each hotel? Go to my recommended hotels in the North Mara page.
Recommended apartments in the 3th arrondissement of Paris
In this district, an apartment is a particularly sensible choice, because the Red Children's Market and Breton Street are here, and you can buy cheese and vegetables three minutes from the door. Here too, you can let me choose:
My personal recommendation
Which apartment in the 3th district is right for you?
One question about the area, and I'm sifting through the apartments I've reviewed and written about on the site. Up until now, I've recommended Udi's apartments directly here, but they're snapped up very quickly, so I've also included some great apartments from Booking.com that I handpicked for my readers.
Just a moment, I'll go through my recommendations and look for what suits you...
Want to go through all the apartments I recommend, with photos and details? Go to my recommended apartments in the 3th arrondissement page.
Attractions and museums in the 3nd arrondissement of Paris
These are the sites I recommend in the 3rd arrondissement. Note one detail that changes your day's planning: most museums here are closed on Mondays.
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A must visit
Picasso Museum
The world's largest collection of Picasso's works, in a 17th-century private palace. It's worth booking a ticket in advance, the lines here are long.
The building is called Hôtel Salé, and this amusing name comes from the fact that its first owner got rich collecting the salt tax. The collection was built from what the family gave to the state in lieu of inheritance tax, so it also contains works that Picasso kept for himself and never sold. I recommend combining the visit with my Picasso itinerary, which connects the Montmartre of his early years with the museum’s Marais.
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Free entrance
Carnavalet Museum (Musée Carnavalet)
The Museum of the History of Paris, and in my opinion the best museum in the city. The permanent collection is free to enter.
The museum is spread over two private palaces connected by a gallery, and it tells the story of Paris from Roman times to the present day. The part that everyone talks about is the rooms from the Revolutionary period, and the room where Marcel Proust's bedroom was recreated. The permanent collection is free, as with all museums of the city of Paris, and the changing exhibitions are paid.
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Free entrance
Cognacq-Jay Museum
The 18th-century museum, in a small Renaissance palace, is few visitors even know it's there.
The collection was built by Ernest Cognac and his wife Marie Louise Jay, founders of the department store Le Samaritan, and was handed over to the Paris municipality in 1928. In the rooms you will find paintings by Boucher, Chardin and Fragonard, signed furniture and a porcelain collection. The permanent collection is free to enter, although during periods of changing exhibitions some of the wings are subject to a fee. In my opinion, this is the most worthwhile half hour in the Marais.
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Hunting and Nature Museum (Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature)
A strange and fascinating museum about the relationship between man and animal, and not exactly what the name suggests.
The museum has reopened after renovation and expansion, and is housed in two adjoining private mansions. The display combines stuffed animals, ornate hunting weapons, wallpapers and paintings with works by contemporary artists, and the result is closer to the exhibits of a nature museum. Please note that there is an entrance fee and that payment at the box office is by credit card only.
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architecture
Hotel de Sauviz and the National Archives
One of the most magnificent palaces in the Marais, and its courtyard is one of the corners I return to.
The palace was used by the Rouen-Saubiz family, and today houses the National Archives of France. The facade seen from Rue Franc Bourgeois gives way to a courtyard with a double colonnade, and inside the rococo apartments of the prince and princess have been preserved. Admission to the courtyard is free, and a ticket is required for the exhibitions inside the palace.
Other attractions in the 3th District worth exploring
These are places that I haven't written a separate article about yet, but if you're walking around the neighborhood it's worth knowing that they're there:
| the place | Address | Why stop there? |
|---|---|---|
| Museum of Arts and Crafts (Musée des Arts et Métiers) | 60 rue Reaumur | The Museum of Inventions of France, with Foucault's desk hanging in a medieval church. Paid |
| Museum of Jewish Art and History (mahJ) | 71 Temple Street | At the Saint-Aignan Palace, which houses one of the most important collections of Judaica and Jewish art in Europe. Paid |
| Brittany Street (Rue de Bretagne) | rue de Bretagne | The food street of the northern Marais, and at its eastern end the Red Children's Market |
| Carreau du Temple | 4 rue Eugène Spuller | A metal and glass structure from 1863, which was a clothing market and now hosts events and sports |
| Church of Saint-Denys du Saint-Sacrement | 68 bis rue de Turenne | A quiet neoclassical church, with a Delacroix mural that few bother to see |
| Doll Museum (Musée de la Poupée) | Impasse Berthaud | A small museum in a hidden alley near Pompidou, and the alley itself is worth a look |
Tours and activities in the 3th Arrondissement that might interest you
And if you're looking for attractions in other neighborhoods of the city, my Paris attractions page brings them all together in one place.
My recommended restaurants in the 3th arrondissement of Paris
This is the district where I have the most to recommend, and it's no coincidence. The streets around Rue Bretagne and Rue Gravière are full of small restaurants where locals eat, and the Asian cuisine here is some of the best in central Paris.
| the restaurant | Type | Address | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Embassy of Auvergne | French classic | 22 rue du Grenier-Saint-Lazare | The place for aligou (cheese and potato fritters) and Auvergne rural cuisine |
| Café des Musées | French classic | 49 rue de Turenne | A small bistro right between Picasso and Carnaval, so it is the logical stop between the two museums |
| Behind | French classic | 69 rue des Gravilliers | Designed like a Parisian apartment, with rooms where you can eat on a bed or on a ping pong table |
| Republic broth | French classic | 39 boulevard du Temple | Bouillon in the original style, with basic French dishes at prices that are hard to believe |
| Bouche | French classic | 10 rue Reaumur | Contemporary French cuisine on the border of the 2nd arrondissement, perfect for lunch in the middle of a day of museums |
| Nessia | French classic | 6 rue Charles-François Dupuis | A small, quiet restaurant on a side street, the kind you don't find by chance |
| Cafe Charlotte | coffee shop | 38 rue de Bretagne | The terrace on Bretagne Street is a great place to sit in the morning and watch the neighborhood wake up. |
| Guefen | On the radar | 9 rue de Vertbois | A young place that entered my radar and still hasn't come off it |
| Le Petit Commines | On the radar | 16 rue Commines | Small neighborhood bistro between the Marais and Bastille |
| DIMDIMSUM | On the radar | 20 rue du Grenier-Saint-Lazare | Dim sum in central Paris, for those who are tired of baguettes |
| Song Heng | Asian | 3 Volta Street | A box with seven tables and one dish that goes up: Vietnamese Pho. Only at lunchtime |
| Happy Noodles | Asian | 95 rue Beaubourg | Noodles are pulled by hand, and you can watch the preparation from the table. |
| Three Times More Pepper | Asian | 184 St. Martin Street | Sichuan is truly spicy, and the name does not promise in vain |
| Yansai 3 | Asian | 88 rue des Gravilliers | Northern Chinese cuisine in an area full of authentic Chinese restaurants |
| Sweetea's | Asian | 61 rue des Gravilliers | Boba Tea and Asian desserts, works well with kids |
| Hangar | Reader's recommendation | 12 impasse Berthaud | A recommendation I received from reader Tamar Bar. In an alley near Pompidou, and it doesn't have a website. Reservations by phone |
Looking for restaurants in other neighborhoods? My recommended restaurants page is organized by cuisine type and neighborhood.
The food market of the 3th arrondissement in Paris
The 3rd arrondissement has one city market, and it's not just any market: the Red Children's Market opened in 1615 and is the oldest covered market in Paris. The quirky name comes from an orphanage that stood nearby, where the children wore red uniforms. Unlike the morning markets in the other arrondissements, this is a covered market that is open six days a week and also in the evenings, and in fact it is now run as a food center rather than a shopping market.
| The market | Address | Days and hours | Metro |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Children's Market (Marché des Enfants Rouges) | 39 rue de Bretagne | Tuesday to Saturday 08:30 to 20:30 (Thursdays until 21:30), Sunday 08:30 to 17:00. Closed on Mondays | Filles du Calvaire |
If you're in the district on a Monday, when the market and museums are closed, the shops on Rue Bretagne are still open, and you can build a decent picnic there from a bakery, cheese shop, and jade. On my markets page you'll find recommended markets in other neighborhoods of the city.
Itineraries in the 3th arrondissement of Paris
This is the neighborhood where I wrote the largest number of walking routes, because the northern Mara is built for walking. I divided them into two: those that take place mostly within the neighborhood, and those that touch on it and continue.
Routes that take place in the 3th arrondissement
Routes that pass through the 3th district and other neighborhoods
Want all the itineraries I've written, by district and by theme? My Paris itineraries page has them all.
The history of the Mara
The reason the Marais looks the way it does is simple: Napoleon III didn't touch it. While Haussmann destroyed and rebuilt all of Paris during the 19th century, the palaces and alleys of the Marais remained in place, not replaced by wide boulevards. What you see in this district are layers of eight hundred years: the Templars who drained the swamp and gave the place its name, the period when it was the royal quarter of Paris, and the Jewish quarter that is still present on Rue des Hautes-Rosiers to this day.
For the full article on the history of the Mara
The next step in your trip
The 3rd arrondissement is only the northern half of the Marais, and if you cross Rue Rivoli southwards you will reach the Place de la Vosges, the Pompidou Centre and the Place Saint-Louis. You will find all of these on my Marais arrondissement page , and if you are interested in the history of the arrondissement from the marshes to the present day, I have written about it separately.
And if you want to be prepared for any scenario, my comprehensive Paris guide summarizes all the knowledge I've accumulated for you. Have an amazing trip, and don't forget to stop by the market for me.
