It’s time for another travel raport! I finally made my dreams come true and I visited Paris! I had so much fun exploring street art and murals on almost every corner. It’s impossible to show you everything I saw there – my WordPress plan definitely wouldn’t survive that. But what I can do is share my trip plan with you. Maybe it will help you with your own preparations.
Below you’ll find a short travel itinerary along with some tips and observations.
Table of Contents
- Street Art in Paris – DAY 1: Getting From the Airport & Mosaic Hunting
- Street Art in Paris – DAY 2: Making a Dream Come True (A Visit to the 13th Arrondissement)
- Street Art in Paris – DAY 3: Pantin, Banksy, and the Rainy Marathon
- Street Art in Paris – DAY 4: Vitry-sur-Seine and homecoming
- Sumary
Street Art in Paris – DAY 1: Getting From the Airport & Mosaic Hunting
We landed in Paris around 13:30 at Orly Airport. First things first – we headed straight to the hotel to check in and drop off our bags. I picked a place right next to the metro, so traveling across the city was an absolute piece of cake.
💡 Travel tip: If you don’t want to spend 13 euros on a ticket from the airport to the city, consider taking a tram. The ride is longer but if your accommodation is on the same side of the city as the airport, this option could be surprisingly handy.
Our (me & my travel husband) first exploration area was something between the 4th, 2nd, and 3rd Arrondissements. And maybe even the 1st. It’s hard to say because we completely lost ourselves in the Paris vibe and the hunt for Invader works.
The big ones, the tiny ones, all of them.
We were pretty lucky and even spotted a brand-new Insider mosaic that had appeared earlier that same day.
I didn’t know this before but in Paris you’ll find not only Insider’s mosaic art.
For me, the absolute highlight of the day was spotting a piece by Jace on Rue du Renard, close to the Centre Pompidou which, of course, had to be under renovation and closed to the public. Anyway, for the first time I saw Jace’s work in Giulia Blocal Riva’s book (100% recommend!), and I really wanted to see it in person.
The second thing that completely blew my mind was a tunnel packed with graffiti! We’re talking here about the Tunnel des Tuileries in the 1st Arrondissement. It’s a leftover gem after the car traffic in this tunnel was banned in 2016. Fun fact – we were literally the only people who walking there. Everyone else was running or cycling. What an amazing and totally unexpected place right in the heart of Paris!
💡 Travel tip: In the 2nd Arrondissement there are several streets full of Japanese food spots. We decided to try AKI. It’s a chain that serves different types of Japanese dishes (breakfast, lunch, dinner, deli-style). We went for Okonomiyaki. It wasn’t so good as the one in Japan (sorry Paris :<) but the portion was huuuge, so we packed the leftovers and had them for breakfast the next day.
Day 1 by the numbers:
- One bus-tram ticket + two metro tickets
- 14 326 steps
- 9,87 km
Street Art in Paris – DAY 2: Making a Dream Come True (A Visit to the 13th Arrondissement)
Friday was an important day for me. It was the day I finally saw the 13th Arrondissement – a place I’d been dreaming about for a long time.
We woke up pretty early. Autumn has one big pro and in the same time one big con: flight tickets are cheaper but the sun doesn’t allow you for the “full power sightseeing” vibe because it wakes up late and goes to sleep way too soon. So in Paris we had about 8 hours of decent daylight to look for murals.
I’m not gonna describe how we hunted down every single mural. I’ll just say that on my list I had artists like D*Face, ROA, Okuda, Seth (of course!), Inti, Obey, Hera, DALeast, Vhils, M-City, and many more! The best thing is that I saw most of them and had fun!
While preparing for the trip, I kept wondering why so many mural are on one single street – Boulevard Vincent Auriol. But once I got there… everything made sense!
And it wasn’t only the large scale pieces worth seeing. Between the high-rise blocks of flats we found plenty of hidden gems.
Or less hidden, like Bordalo II’s animals (except the one that was almost covered by ivy).
One of the most charming neighbourhoods for me here was Butte-aux-Cailles. I read about it in Giulia Riva’s book (seriously, this book is SO useful). The whole area is full of creative, unique street art. I discovered so many talented artists there, like Miss Tic, Lasco, Toctoc, P*NM and Mr Byste.
I also had the chance to see Seth’s work, a lot of them! Was I in heaven? I knew his pieces from the internet, but seeing them in person was unforgettable.
After a few hours, two coffees, and one burger, we moved on to the 14th Arrondissement to see my biggest Parisian discovery – DaCruz’s art. I had never heard of him but after seeing his style I fell completely in love with it! And what more, I read that his murals in Pantin (we’ll get back to that area later) were some of the few illegal murals in Paris. How cool is that!
💡 Travel tip: You can find something interesting in every part of Paris, so buying a one-day ticket is a great idea. It’s valid until midnight. Just remember to validate it every time you enter the metro, tram, or bus.
We also saw the “Le Table” mural by Agostino Iacurci in this area.
After a while in the Paris 15, we decided it was time for dinner. It was already 5 p.m., so it was dark anyway. We headed to Paris 6 because why not combine food with looking for another mosaic work (by not Invader this time).
Unfortunately, a lot of restaurants don’t open until 18:30 or 19:00, so we ended up returning to our hotel area and eating somewhere close to our accommodation.
Day 2 by the numbers:
- One-day ticket for each type of public transport
- 35 418 steps
- 24,76 km
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Street Art in Paris – DAY 3: Pantin, Banksy, and the Rainy Marathon
On Saturday the weather was good, I mean sunny-good, so we headed out to the Paris suburbs. To be specific: Pantin.
After a walk along the canal, the whole area felt like a city in transition: warehouses and factories being replaced by brand new buildings, most of them in that typical “modern industrial-ish” style you can find in almost every city. For me the vibe here was quite similar to the Hackney Wick, London.
But don’t worry, there are still plenty of places here worth seeing. There are still warehouses covered in street art, great cafes (honestly, probably the best coffee of the whole trip we drank right here), and some nice restaurants too. And walking along the canal is just pure pleasure!
The biggest highlight? Le 27 Pantin.
I have no words for this place. Le 27 Pantin was a project that transformed a social housing block into an outdoor street art gallery. It was amazing feeling to explore every artwork in that space.
After Pantin, we made our way to the 19th Arrondissement where we found lots of DaCruz pieces. Even some of his older ones.
But the must-see goal here was, of course: Banksy.
After Banksy, and after all the kilometres we’d already walked, we decided to get some lunch. It also started raining, so we wandered around Paris 19 looking for place to rest that would catch our eye.
And naturally, the first thing that caught our eye wasn’t food. It was a new Seth mural!
This one is special because it’s not painted directly on the wall. Seth created it in his studio on giant pieces of material which were then mounted onto the wall. Pretty cool.
But don’t worry, we did eventually eat. We want to Cafe Pimpin 20, a breakfast spot recommended by Giulia at her blog. The food, the service and the prices – everything was totally fine, so I can honestly recommend this place.
The rain decided to take full control but we’re clever people and had a plan. Instead of getting soaked, we made a quick stop at Le Grand Jeu, an elegant bookstore in the 19th, and then headed to SPOT13 – an art space located under… well, under a bridge. There’s a better word for this construction, I know, but the important thing is: it kept the rain off our heads.
For dessert, we saved two more places.
First: Galerie ITINERRANCE where we found pieces by Conor Harrington, D*Face, INTI and others.
And right next to the gallery was LE LAVO//MATIK. An amazing bookstore with a curated selection of graffiti and street art books. They also organise art events, and inside you’ll find music records and artworks by different street artists.
If that’s still not enough, next to the store there’s a staircase completely filled with art.
Of course, I didn’t leave this place empty handed. I bought an amazing street art atlas by Codex Urbanus. This book is something I really needed because it collects a lot of local street artists.
After this wonderful experience, we did shopping in our local market and called it a day.
Day 3 by the numbers:
- One-day ticket for each type of public transport
- 27 950 steps
- 19,63 km
Street Art in Paris – DAY 4: Vitry-sur-Seine and homecoming
On the last day we had two goals: see the ROA piece in Vitry-sur-Seine and catch our plane. So we woke up early, packed up, and took a tram to Vitry.
Walking around Vitry-sur-Seine was really nice and easy. We found a lot of interesting street art pieces scattered around the neighbourhood.
There were some murals too. For the first time ever we saw here Kouka art.
And finally we made it to the ROA.
After that we slowly headed back to the tram, rode to the airport, and grabbed a coffee. Yes, I’m the type who likes to be there three hours early. No shame.
Day 4 by the numbers:
- Two bus-tram tickets
- 15 502 steps
- 10,55 km
Sumary
Paris couldn’t be more perfect. I enjoyed every minute of being there. As always, I didn’t manage to see everything – but it’s a good thing. It’s always a good excuse to come back.
💡 Travel tip: Paris. A Street Art Traveler Guide was incredibly helpful while preparing for this trip. I learned so much about the artists and the specific areas, and most importantly, I got a feel for the local vibe. It was really nice to explore Paris after reading interviews with the artists who actually live here. If you want know more about Giulia’s book, visit her blog – it’s full of street art and graffiti knowledge. 🙂
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My Paris trip by the numbers:
- 717 photos
- 65 km on foot
- 12 areas explored
- 4 days of wandering
- 2 bookstores
- 1 gallery
It could have been more, but it couldn’t have been more fun!
So if you’re wondering whether Paris is worth visiting?
IT IS. CHEERS
Karolajn
Part of Streets 