Restaurants with a View in Paris: Rooftops & Skyline Favorites

Dining with a view in Paris doesn't have to mean looking at the Eiffel Tower.  Some of the city's most memorable restaurants and rooftop bars give you wonderful views of the Seine River and its centuries-old bridges, Notre Dame Cathedral, Sacré-Cœur Basilica, historic churches, golden domes, zinc roofs topped with orange chimney pots, and the endlessly varied Paris skyline. 

And the experience can be just as varied as the view. 

You might have dinner in a panoramic rooftop restaurant, stop for afternoon tea overlooking Notre Dame, sip a drink on a seasonal terrace, take a lunch or dinner cruise along the Seine, or choose a restaurant where the view is a close-up look at the surrounding neighborhood rather than a famous monument.

In the Sunday edition of my free Paris Discoveries Newsletter, I answer reader questions about Paris travel, and readers frequently ask where they can enjoy good food or drinks along with memorable city views.

This article, part of the Paris Discoveries Q&A Archive, brings together those real reader questions and my answers based on my own experiences throughout Paris. You'll find suggestions for restaurants, rooftops, terraces, and other dining experiences with views across different parts of the city.

If your main goal is specifically to dine while looking at the Eiffel Tower, you'll find more focused recommendations in my separate guide to Paris restaurants with Eiffel Tower views.

I've lightly edited, expanded, and updated my original answers, and also added photos and related resources where useful.

Top photo:  Paris skyline view from La Fondation's rooftop deck, (c) Paris Discovery Guide

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Where to Find Restaurants & Rooftops with Great Views of Paris

Marjorie Asked:

Any recommendations for restaurants with wonderful views of Paris as well as good food?

And Kim Asked:

Do you have any recommendations for some great rooftops for drinks or meals with great views?

Susan's Answer: 

I'm going to answer both of your questions together because they cover basically the same topics.

If an Eiffel Tower view is your main priority, see my separate recommendations for restaurants with Eiffel Tower views.

For broader panoramas of Paris, here are some of my favorite choices.

Panoramic Rooftop & Skyline Views

First, here are a few suggestions for where to eat with great views of Paris, including one where I'm eager to return to for a full meal rather than just coffee and chocolates:

Edmond, located on the 7th floor at Terrass' Hotel in Montmartre, is one of my favorite choices for its sweeping views from its unobstructed hilltop location.  Its floor-to-ceiling windows frame the Paris skyline, and they offer breakfast, lunch, and dinner plus a Sunday brunch.

But also stop by the hotel's huge enclosed rooftop bar for a drink before or after dinner. Make two quick left turns after you exit the elevators, and you'll find it at the end of a short hall.  The large space offers even more sweeping city views, including the Eiffel Tower, plus some wonderful close-up views of nearby rooftops and Sacré Coeur Basilica.

You can also order snacks, although if you're really hungry, the food in the restaurant is generally better.

The seasonal 10th floor rooftop terrace bar at the 5-star La Fondation hotel in the Batignolles neighborhood (17th arrondissement) is another favorite for its wide-ranging views of the Paris skyline including the Eiffel Tower and Sacré Coeur, plus lots of wonderful rooftop vistas.  Cocktails (including sans alcohol) are a specialty here.

For even closer-up views of Paris rooftops, I like the rooftop bar at La Fantaisie hotel on the Rue Cadet market street in the 9th arrondissement.

A garden theme throughout the interior portion of the bar as well as on the outdoor terrace surrounds you with flowers and an intimate view of zinc rooftops and orange chimney pots atop nearby buildings.  

Notre Dame & Seine Views

Don't overlook the Seine River lunch and dinner cruises, which give you constantly changing views of Notre Dame, the Louvre, Musée d'Orsay, historic bridges, the Eiffel Tower, and other landmarks.

My favorite Seine River cruise line at the moment happens to be Bateaux Parisiens but the other cruise companies also provide excellent experiences - I've never been on one that I didn't thoroughly enjoy.

For direct views of Notre Dame Cathedral and nearby neighborhoods along the river, head to the top-floor panoramic rooftop terrace at Institut du Monde Arabe (Arab World Institute) located near the Seine in the 5th arrondissement. 

You'll see a ticket window straight ahead when you come in, but that's for the Institut's museum and special exhibitions - well-worth seeing if you have time. 

However, a ticket isn't needed to go to the terrace, so look for elevators on the right and head up to the top floor. 

The terrace is usually open throughout the day (except for Mondays, when the Institute is closed), and mint tea and North African pastries are served at small tables between 3pm-6pm. 

Keep in mind, though, that as long as the restoration work on Notre Dame's exterior continues, you'll also get a view of cranes, instead of the unobstructed view that you can see in the photo above.  But someday, the cranes will be gone.

Central Paris Rooftops & Landmark Views

The restaurant where I want to plan for a meal for both the food and the views: Halle aux Grains, on the 3rd floor of the Pinault Collection, a contemporary art museum located in a round late-18th century building called the Bourse de Commerce once used for grain storage in the Les Halles neighborhood.

During my most recent visit to Paris, my husband and I stopped by the restaurant for afternoon tea (although I had coffee instead, which was quite good).

Throughout the restaurant, "curtains" fabricated from a flexible metal grill (you can see a section in the photo above) divided the area into smaller, more intimate spaces and also stretched across the windows, framing the views with an interesting pattern.

We not only loved what we tasted, but we also found the 3rd floor close-up views of the surrounding area - Saint-Eustache Church, the undulating rooftop of the Les Halles shopping center, all the nearby rooftops with their orange clay chimney pots - to be quite mesmerizing.

So while these views from the restaurant may not be exactly the type you were thinking about when you asked your questions, they provide an interesting and unique perspective of this part of Paris. 

Finally, both the Galeries Lafayette and Printemps flagship locations near Palais Garnier feature upper-floor rooftop terraces shared by public viewing areas open throughout the year as well as spaces occupied by seasonal bars and restaurants from mid-spring through mid-fall.

Whether you have a drink or meal at one of the bars or restaurants or just enjoy the views from the public viewing areas, you can spot a number of iconic sights:  Sacré Coeur Basilica (from Printemps), the golden dome at Les Invalides, the Eiffel Tower, and the much-closer Opéra Garnier. 

Between the famous sights, an endless flow of Parisian rooftops crafted from zinc and punctuated by reflective attic windows and orange chimney pots gives the city's skyline its distinctive character.

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See More Questions & Answers about Where to Eat in Paris

Wondering about where to find more places to eat or types of cuisine for your Paris visit?  You'll find those Q&A archives here:

• Restaurants with Eiffel Tower Views
• Special Occasion Dining in Paris
• Where to Eat in Paris: Local Favorites & Practical Paris Dining Tips

Paris Discoveries Q&A Archive - See Q&As on all topics

Paris Discovery Guide is a reader-supported publication.  If you purchase through our links, PDG may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.  Merci for your support!

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