There are many things to do near the Louvre that can be great if you’ve got time left after exploring the museum.
The Louvre is one of the best museums in the world and a must-visit if you’re going to Paris. You could spend days in the museum and never get bored, but if you want to combine visiting the museum with doing some other things in the city, there are great activities nearby. For example, there are museums, cafes, gardens, and famous landmarks close to the museum.
These are the things you shouldn’t miss out on if you’re wondering what to do near the Louvre!
16 Best Things To Do Near the Louvre
Have a Cup of Coffee at Le Café Marly
Location: 93 Rue de Rivoli, 75001 Paris, France
Le Café Marly is a cafe that can be found at the Louvre. The cafe is located inside one of the wings of the Louvre Museum and can be accessed from both the Passage de Richelieu as well as from Place du Carrousel.
Le Café Marly has both an indoor and outdoor area where you can enjoy a drink and food with a view of the Louvre pyramid, although the indoor seating area is actually outdoors but located underneath the arcades of the Louvre.
In the morning, you can simply enjoy a cup of coffee or another drink at the cafe. It is also possible to have breakfast, lunch, or dinner at Le Café Marly.
I recommend going to Le Café Marly before or after exploring the museum.
Shop at Carrousel du Louvre
Location: 99 Rue de Rivoli, 75001 Paris, France
Carrousel du Louvre is an underground shopping mall that is located underneath the Place du Carrousel, which is located next to the Louvre Pyramid and next to the wings of the museum’s building.
A variety of stores is located at the mall, including luxury stores, such as jewelry stores.
The shopping mall is also home to various eateries. For example, you can find one branch of Ladurée at the Carrousel du Louvre. So if you want to enjoy macarons, you can go here.
You can also find the Louvre Inverted Pyramid at Carrousel du Louvre. This is a skylight that looks a lot like the normal Louvre Pyramid, but then upside down. It provides the mall with sunlight.
Explore Palais-Royal
Palais-Royal is a former French royal palace that is located to the north of the Louvre Museum. You can find the palace along Rue Saint-Honoré. This is one of the most famous landmarks near the Louvre.
To get to Palais-Royal from the Louvre, you can walk through Passage de Richelieu. One of the entrances is located on Rue Saint-Honoré.
Palais-Royal dates back to the year 1633, when construction of the building started.
You can go for a walk through the courtyard of the palace where you can see the beautiful architecture of the palace, lots of trees, a fountain, stores, and much more.
One of the most iconic features of Palais-Royal is the Colonnes de Buren. This is a modern art installation that consists of black-and-white columns that vary in size.
Learn About Decorative Arts at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs
Location: 107 Rue de Rivoli, 75001 Paris, France
The Musée des Arts Décoratifs is an often-overlooked museum that is located in the Pavillon de Marsan, which is the north-western wing of the Palais du Louvre. So you can find this museum inside of the same building as the Louvre Museum.
The Musée des Arts Décoratifs is a decorative arts museum with a collection of about 1 million objects, making it Europe’s largest museum for decorative arts.
The collection of the museum includes many different items, such as furniture, paintings, ceramics, glassware, and many other objects.
You can also often see temporary exhibitions of decorative arts at the museum. These exhibitions are at the museum for several months and often are about a very specific topic or the works of a specific artist.
Enjoy Pastries at Angelina
Location: 226 Rue de Rivoli, 75001 Paris, France
Angelina is a French restaurant that is located on Rue de Rivoli. This is one of the best places in Paris if you want to try delicious pastries.
Angelina has several locations in the city, one of which is actually located inside the Louvre itself, but the original location of Angelina can be found on Rue de Rivoli.
Some of the pastries and desserts that you can get at Angelina are éclairs, Mont Blancs, and many other types of pastries and desserts.
Keep in mind that Angelina is a very popular place in the city, and there are often many people waiting to get inside.
See the Luxury Shops of Rue Saint-Honoré
Rue Saint-Honoré is one of the best shopping streets in Paris and shopping there is a fun thing to do near the Louvre.
You can find the street very close to the Louvre. It runs parallel to Rue de Rivoli, which is immediately to the north of the Louvre.
The street is one of the oldest streets in the city of Paris, but parts of it had different names throughout history.
The street is home to many luxury stores, such as Louis Vuitton, Chopard, and Versace, and luxury hotels, such as Hôtel Mandarin Oriental Paris.
Various landmarks are also located on the street, such as Palais-Royal and the Church of Saint-Roch.
See the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel
The Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel is a triumphal arch that can be found on Place du Carrousel. The triumphal arch is visible from the Louvre and it is located immediately next to the Louvre.
The Arc de Triomphe features a Neoclassical architectural style and was constructed at the start of the 19th century. It commemorates the victories of Napoleon in the Napoleonic wars.
The triumphal arch is situated directly in front of the more famous Arc de Triomphe. The Tuileries Gardens, Place du Concorde, and the Champs-Élysées are between the two monuments. You can walk from the Arc de Triomphe to the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel in about 45 minutes.
Relax at the Jardin des Tuileries
The Jardin des Tuileries, or the Tuileries Garden, is a garden that you can find between Place de la Concorde and the Louvre Museum. It is one of the best and most popular gardens in the city, and it is a great place in the city if you want to relax.
The garden has a size of about 25 hectares and was created in 1564 as the garden of the Tuileries Palace, which was a former royal palace that was destroyed in 1871.
The Jardin des Tuileries has been open to the public since the year 1667.
In the garden, you can find a large fountain with many green chairs where you can sit down and relax, there are various places where you can get food and drinks, and there are many trees providing shade on a hot summer day.
Walk at the Jardin du Carrousel
The Jardin du Carrousel is a garden that makes for one of the most relaxing things to do near the Louvre. It is located between Place du Carousel and the Tuileries Garden. It is a smaller garden than the Tuileries Garden.
The garden has beautiful hedges and lawns and is a lovely place for a relaxing walk.
When you are going to the Tuileries Garden or when you are going to check out the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, I recommend going for a walk here as well.
Walk Across the Pont des Arts
The Pont des Arts is one of the most beautiful bridges in Paris that crosses the Seine River. It is one of the more modern bridges and construction for the bridge started in the year 1981.
Before this bridge, there already was another bridge at the same location. That bridge had nine arches and was built at the beginning of the 19th century.
The current Pont des Arts has seven arches and a length of 155 meters.
The bridge has a beautiful design, which makes it worth checking out the bridge.
In addition to that, it can be fun to know that the bridge was used as a film location for various famous movies and TV series.
Go to Musée de l’Orangerie
Musée de l’Orangerie is a museum that is located inside the Tuileries Garden where you can see works of impressionism and post-impressionism. The museum is located in the southwestern part of the garden, close to Place du Concorde and the Seine.
The building that houses the museum was established at the end of the 19th century to store the citrus trees from the Tuileries garden to protect them from the cold.
Nowadays, you can find several works by famous French artists and artists from other countries at the museum.
The most famous works at the museum are The Water Lillies by Claude Monet. You can also see works by other artists, such as Picasso, Matisse, and Cézanne.
See Place Vendôme
Place Vendôme is a beautiful large square that is located to the northwest of the Louvre Museum, and to the north of the Tuileries Garden. It is connected by Rue de la Paix with Rue Saint-Honoré, so when you check out the luxury stores on Rue Saint-Honoré, I also recommend going to Place Vendôme.
Many luxury stores and luxury hotels are located at Place Vendôme.
Some of the stores that are located on the square are Cartier, Jaeger-LeCoultre, and Gucci.
One of the most luxurious hotels that is located at Place Vendôme is the Ritz Paris.
In the center of the square, the Colonne Vendôme can be seen. This is a large column with on top of it a statue of Napoleon.
The square can also be great to see during the holiday season, as there are beautiful decorations at the square.
Go to One of the Locations of Café Kitsuné
Location: 2 Pl. André Malraux, 75001 Paris, France
Café Kitsuné is one of the best cafes near the Louvre.
At this coffee shop, you can get all kinds of delicious coffee drinks and pastries. For example, you can get great matcha lattes here.
You can find three branches of the popular coffee shop very close to the Louvre.
One of these locations can be found in the courtyard of Palais-Royal. This is the smallest location of the cafe.
A large branch of Café Kitsuné, which is Café Kitsuné Louvre, is located a bit outside of Palais-Royal, on Rue de Richelieu. This branch has two floors.
You can also find a Café Kitsuné on Rue de Rivoli, next to the Tuileries Garden.
See a Show at Salle Richelieu
Location: 1 Place Colette, 75001 Paris, France
Salle Richelieu is the main theater of Comédie-Française. Comédie-Française is a state theater and was founded at the end of the 17th century, making it the world’s oldest theater company that is still active.
Salle Richelieu is part of the same building as Palais-Royal. When you enter Palais-Royal from the south side, you can also see the entrance of this theater.
A variety of shows take place at the theater and attending a show here is one of the best activities near the Louvre. For example, you can see contemporary plays, classic works, and other types of shows at Salle Richelieu.
Besides that, it is also possible to do a guided tour of the theater during which you can see the old building from the inside and learn about the history of Salle Richelieu. You can also see works of art inside of the building during this tour.
Buy a Book at the Bouquinistes Along the Seine
The Bouquinistes are iconic booksellers that you can find on both banks of the Seine. Some of the booksellers are located close to the Louvre on Quai du Louvre.
It can be great to see the iconic green stall with books and other objects. These green stalls are boxes that close at night.
You can go for a walk along the Seine and check out the offerings of the Bouqinistes, and you might want to buy a book as well.
Shop at the Shops on Rue de Rivoli
Rue de Rivoli is one of the most famous streets in Paris. The street has a total length of about 3 kilometers or 1.8 miles and is located along the Louvre and the Tuileries Garden.
The street was constructed in 1848 and is named for Napoleon’s victory during the Battle of Rivoli in 1797.
Many stores are located on Rue de Rivoli, including well-known retailers, luxury stores, department stores, and souvenir shops. Shopping here is a great activity close to the Louvre.
One of the department stores on Rue de Rivoli is La Samaritaine.
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These were my favorite things to do near the Louvre! Thanks for reading the article and I hope you liked the activities.