The best outdoor bars in Paris

A beautiful terrace on the roof of the Institut du Monde Arabe, which is remarkably quiet outside of lunch and dinner times. Le Zyriab by Noura isn’t just a high class Lebanese restaurant, it’s also a daytime café open to all. Elegant outdoor tables topped with parasols offer a sublime view over the Seine and the Ile Saint-Louis, with the Notre-Dame cathedral in the background. The staff are very friendly, happy to let you spend an afternoon reading on the cushion-strewn banquettes. Drinks aren’t cheap, and given the price of a Perrier of a coffee (excessive at €6), splash out on something more interesting...

The Bellevilloise is the latest incarnation of a building that once housed the capital's very first workers' co-operative. Now it competently multitasks as a bar, restaurant, club and exhibition space, hosting regular film and music festivals on the top level (where there's a fake lawn with deckchairs and a massage area). Enjoy brunch in the Halle aux Oliviers or decent views of the quartier from the charming terrace; downstairs the club-cum-concert venue has launched some of Paris's most exciting new bands, and on '80s nights you can hardly move for the thirtysomethings living it up like they were 20 again...

Just in front of the Pompidou Centre, the very pretty Café Beaubourg makes the most of its lovely terrace on the corner in this animated pedestrian area. The clientele is a mix of bright young things and tourists who come to enjoy the sun-filled location on fine days and evenings. Founded by the Costes brothers, this is a very chic little establishment. The décor is all white and red and the sofas are very comfortable (even the outdoor ones). The bar-restaurants is a success, even though the service can be disappointingly impersonal...

La Palette is the café-bar of choice for the beau-est of the Beaux-Arts students who study at the venerable institution around the corner. Don’t be surprised if you stumble across young couples stealing kisses in the wonderfully preserved art deco back room, perhaps overcome by the art on the walls and the sprit of decadence. And perhaps trying to distract themselves from the prices: a glass of Chablis here sets you back €6, a demi €4.50. But you’re paying for the vintage of the place as much as the drinks; these premises were once frequented by Jim Morrison, Picasso and Ernest Hemingway...

A hotly anticipated venue, the rooftop club of La Cité de la Mode et du Design has finally opened, adding another layer of excitement to the site that already houses Wanderlust. Behind the venue are Lionel Bensemoun and Jean-Marie Tassy, founders of Le Baron and Calvi On The Rocks, a popular annual electro-rock festival in Corsica. The vast rooftop terrace offers a superb panoramic view over the surrounding quays, and an almost exotic atmosphere with a wooden DJ booth like a beach hut playing chillout world music, deckchairs, big communal tables and a table football set...

One evening on the terrace of this bar and you too will be singing ‘Ô Paris, c'est beau Paris!’. Formerly La Mer à Boire, its view takes in the whole city. In one glance you can drink it all in, from the Eiffel Tower to far beyond. High above the whirlpool of humanity below, the terrace of Ô Paris nestles on a little square of land, paved and planted with trees, where you can enjoy some sunshine and calm away from the hum of the city. Largely populated by senior citizens leafing through the papers and local kids running around between the tables, this is a homey and welcoming spot...

The full-on view of the Eiffel Tower at night would be reason enough to come to this glass-and-iron restaurant on the top floor of the Musée du Quai Branly, but new chef Jean-François Oyon's food also demands that you sit up and take notice. There is a reasonable prix fixe at lunch...

In 2002, the Abricadabra theatre company transformed this boat moored on the Canal de l’Ourcq into a floating café, with shows for youngsters during the day and plays and concerts for adults in the evenings. In this enchanting Peniche (houseboat), kids 3-8 years old are entertained and educated by screenings, mimes, songs, comedies, shadow puppets and more – and the actors’ antics contain many a nod and a wink for the adults’ amusement. In the evenings, the Peniche alternates gypsy jazz, rock, reggae, blues or funk concerts with improv or theatre sketch nights...

The summer terrace of the Opéra restaurant, set up on the big square behind the monument – 1,500 square metres at the heart of Opéra Garnier, divided into five smaller areas equipped with lights, speakers and heaters. As long as you can afford it, it's the perfect way to enjoy the building without been seen from the street. There are simple red chairs on artificial grass, lounge chairs and low tables, banquettes and parasols.Chef-barman Judicaël Noel has created a refreshing range of cocktails and fresh fruit smoothies just for summer: peach, banana, pear, orange, pineapple, raspberry and strawberry flavours...

In the arcaded terrace overlooking the Louvre’s glass pyramid, this classy, Napoleon III-style hangout (reached through the passage Richelieu, the entrance for advance Louvre ticket holders) is in an unrivalled location. One would expect nothing else from the ubiquitous Costes brothers – it’s just a shame about the beer prices. It’s €6 for a Heineken, so you might as well splash out €12 on a chocolate martini, or perhaps a Shark (vodka, lemonade and grenadine). Most wines are under €10 a glass, and everything is impeccably served by razor-sharp staff. Brasserie fare and sandwiches are on offer too...

This converted coach station is a temple of drum ‘n’ bass, jungle and dubstep, but it’s not all one note. You can shake your stuff to minimal techno and house beats, but also to groove, soul and rock concerts.It’s a lovely venue, with a concert stage and a bar with comfy sofas – it’s just a shame it’s lost in the depths of the 19th arrondissement, but that does mean that it draws an authentic underground crowd. There’s no Parisian hype here, but rather techno partygoers (‘teuffeurs’) out for the sound and nothing but the sound...

The change that continues to sweep the Grands Boulevards is embodied in this prominent, round-the-clock bar-bistro. There’s a permanently busy terrace below a colourful stripy awning, and the cavernous, split-level interior has a cool neo-industrial feel. Prices are steep, so push the boat out and opt for an expertly made fruit daiquiri, or a Bonne Nouvelle of Bombay Sapphire gin and Pisang Ambon. There are rarer bottled beers too – Monaco, Picon and various brews from Brabant. A board advertises a decent range of proper eats: burger-frites (€15) and so on...

The Delaville Café in an unmissable stop on the Grands Boulevards, possessed as it is of a vast sunny terrace equipped with atomisers, open from springtime onwards. Frequented by the chic – the children of celebrities, designers and journalists, wannabe fashionistas – the ambiance, like most of the bars in the area, is a little precious. But the décor of the huge venue is a delight, a lively mixture of ancient gilt rococo and post-industrial baroque furniture. If you’re wondering what sort of past could have produced all this ancient marble and tempered steel, the café’s previous incarnations include...

Moored next to the Bibliothèque Nationale de France (BNF) in a modern suburban area, this charming purple péniche is a real breath of fresh air. On the terrace, a café springs up in summer amid the plants – a great place to get a suntan, too. But this boat also has a lot going on inside: a superb event space with an eclectic programme that ranges from jazz to French chanson via rock and theatrical performance. Definitely worth a stopover...

This is one of Time Out's 100 best bars in Paris. Click here to see the full list. On summer afternoons, the terrace of Café Chéri(e) is an ideal spot to sip your drink, in red plastic chairs all turned towards the street, seeming expressly arranged for people-watching, paper-reading and sunbathing. On Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 10pm til 2am, devoted DJs warm up the little dance floor with electro, rock, hip-hop, funk, indie and more. The nights are all different but work together as a whole, attracting a hip young crowd to what is essentially a neighbourhood bar...

A Belleville drinker’s institution, never empty of local youth imbibing black coffee with their afternoon papers or kicking off the evening with an aperitif or five. The Folies is named after an 18th-century watering hole at the gates of Paris, in then then-rural quarter of Courtille, famous for the annual debauches of the city carnival. Today, the outlook is a little less bucolic – the rows of vines have been replaced by winding streets, but the area still packs a distinct buzz. The packed terrace is the place to be winter and summer, as it’s heated and lit until the last rays of the sun have died away...

Bobo, yes, but still lovely. Insulated from the honking horns of the city, this place is a true oasis in central Paris. This small, organic canteen is warm and welcoming, a tavern for weary urban travellers in the heart of the Enfants Rouges market. Though somewhat difficult to find, it is far from secret – especially in summer when the colourful chairs come out to allow customers to enjoy the aromas of the market. Brunch is served on Saturdays and Sundays, and the ‘traditional’ menu (€20) is hearty and original. In addition to hot drinks and organic apple juice, take your pick...

As you come out of Menilmontant metro, you feel overwhelmed by the cars and the proliferation of fast food chains; but don’t despair, two minutes away there’s a charming pedestrianised square planted with trees, which hosts several good bars and restaurants. One of these, La Pétanque, has a sunny spot and a bunch of tables at the foot of the grand staircase leading up to the Church of Notre-Dame de la Croix – you almost feel like you’re in a village in the south of France. The old couple who own La Pétanque are delightful, offering lots of draught beer at low prices...

Featured in Cedric Klapisch's 1996 film Chacun Cherche son Chat, which was shot on location in the neighbourhood, the Pause Café has managed to prolong its moment of glory thanks to its large terrace on the corner of rues Charonne and Keller. Inside, the modern salons benefit from a smattering of primary colours with ornately plastered ceilings and plenty of light. Having been immortalised on celluloid, the friendly staff occasionally let fame go to their heads: service can be excruciatingly slow at times. The food – French café fare with an Asian twist...

Sitting outside on the cobbled terrace of this brightly-painted café, it feels more like being in Provence than the heart of Paris. Yet on one side of this quiet pedestrian square is the Seine, and on the other the bustling bars and boutiques of the fashionable Marais. L’Ebouillante started life almost forty years ago when a local artis with the nom-de-plume Gali, had his painting studio here, and was always entertaining friends, gallery owners and other artists by serving tea outside. They eventually persuaded him to open a proper ‘salon du thé’, with a menu of what were then exotic dishes...

If chilling on a deckchair on the banks of a canal or playing pétanque gets you going, head to Bar Ourcq of an evening, where a flip-flop wearing, shorts-sporting clientele is welcomed with open arms. On summer days, crowds gather for open-air guitar jamming sessions or to picnic on the banks of the canal, refuelling at Bar Ourcq with plastic goblets of cold beer or bottles of wine. Things get pretty boozy as the day wears on, leading many a pétanque player to squint uncertainly at their target, and every throw draws ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ from the audience of fellow drinkers.It’s much less busy here than on the Canal Saint-Martin...

Never was a bar more aptly named: this quaint café-resto, tucked away on place Sainte-Marthe, gets extremely packed. Expect to get fairly intimate with your fellow patrons here, rubbing arms with your neighbours and unavoidably eavesdropping on their conversations. La Sardine’s popularity has something to do with its location on Place Sainte-Marthe, Belleville’s answer to a village square, with a relaxing, tree-shaded terrace and hardly any passing traffic. It’s also got a decent wine list, with a choice of several organic varieties (glasses from 4€), best accompanied by tapas...

Housed in a former warehouse for art deco construction materials, Point Ephémère capitilises on its position next to the waters of the Canal Saint-Martin with a great outdoor area. In 2004 it was an artist’s squat of some 1,400 metres squared, which quickly became hugely popular and near permanent – to the chagrin of Paris’s City Council. Today, this breeding ground of all things artistic organises exhibitions, concerts and evenings of independent music specialising mostly in cutting edge pop, rock, electro and hip-hop, all of which are within reach of youthful budgets (€10-12 entry)...

The Abbesses neighbourhood in Montmartre is one of the hippest parts of Paris, teeming with crowds of people and filled with bars. But wander up the quite side street that leads to the iconic Windmill de la Galette and you arrive at one of the city’s most famous art house cinemas, Studio 28. Walk past the ticket office and a long corridor brings you out into a hidden jewel, a magical covered interior courtyard that opens up every afternoon as a bar, salon du thé and restaurant. The cinema has been owned by the Roulleau family since 1948...

Perfectly situated on a little square right in the heart of the Marais district, la Terrasse des Archives is very popular with tourists and locals who gather in droves on its pretty enclosed terrace under the trees, which is heated in winter. The owners are pleasant and efficient, and always attentive even when the place is packed out. The menu isn’t cheap but offers traditional Parisian brasserie cooking, with salads, sandwiches and classic French dishes. Soft drinks are pretty exorbitant (a coke for €4.20), but then you’re paying for the spot and the area...

The Café Suédois is an integral part of the Swedish Cultural Institute in the l'Hôtel de Marle, a magnificent mansion in the Marais built between the 15th and 18th centuries. You can while away a sunny afternoon with a good book in its peaceful paved courtyard, or retreat to the pretty café if it’s cold and wet. It’s a bit like eating at Ikea, but better. Every morning before opening, a passionate team of Swedish pastry chefs prepare fresh bread, elderflower cordial and a range of seasonal delicacies...

This is a favourite spot for dance and theatre fans to go for a drink after a show; others find it by accident, as it’s hidden behind the doorway into the Théâtre de la Gare, in the middle of the Marais. Unusually, there’s lots of room to sit down at the many tables, but the most surprising thing is the noise that floats over for the neighbouring Centre du Danse du Marais, which leaves its doors open during the day, allowing snatches of music and the sound of dance steps to float into the courtyard: flamenco, classical or tap, it all depends on the time. The curious can even go and watch the classes...

Transformed into a bar-restaurant, the magnificent ancient Rotonde on Place Stalingrad has become a favoured destination for partying Parisians. A vestige of the old city wall of ancient Paris, the Rotonde was built a year before the French Revolution by Claude Nicolas Ledoux, one of the founders of the neoclassical movement. It only just survived Haussmann, who wanted to knock it down in the aftermath of the fire of Paris in 1871, and the construction of second Metro line in 1903, which also threatened it with destruction. Today, miraculously conserved...

This charming hotel-restaurant with its menu of expensive terroir dishes isn’t really designed for the average Parisian, but more for tourists avid for a bit of Montmartre glamour. The venue obviously uses its privileged location to put up the prices: right at the top of the Montmartre hill, its big terrace with 20 or so tables is next to a narrow paved street, facing a boundless view of northern Paris and the suburbs.The tables are reserved for diners at lunch and supper, but in the afternoons it’s a great place to relax in a calm atmosphere. It’s not the easiest place to find, and all the better for it...

Le Bon Marché is a Paris shopping institution, grandiose in the style of London’s Harrods. So in 1895, when the flamboyant owner Monsieur Morin decided to build a palatial pavillion in his garden as a birthday present for his wife, it was no surprise that the architect came up with an extravagant replica of an oriental pagoda, inspired by the influence of ‘Japonisme’ that was sweeping Paris at that time. in the '30s, La Pagode took on a new life as an art house cinema, while its delightful oriental garden became the venue for a romantic salon du thé, one of the hidden treasures of the city...

At quay level in La Cité de la Mode et du Design on the Quai d’Austerlitz, Wanderlust (by Savoir Faire, the team behind Le Social Club and Silencio) is spread out over 1,600 square metres and includes a huge wooden terrace, perfect for watching the sunset with a cocktail in hand. Music is minimal techno and house on a top quality sound system, getting the crowd going to point where, if you’re outside, you can watch well-dressed backsides gyrating together in the club’s huge street level bay windows.Declared 2012's ‘place to be’ by Paris’s fashionistas...

This lightship of the Parisian night sways every evening till the early hours to the beats of underground hip hop, rock, electro, dancehall, house, minimal, techno, drum’n’bass, jungle and dubstep, and there’s a fantastic view from its bridge. There’s an open kitchen looking over the dining room, where the chef serves up good quality regional dishes like hunk of lamb in a herb crust with a scoop of polenta and parmesan for €18. From June until September the bar even sets ups a temporary beach; come and admire the sunset while sprawling in a sun lounger on the pier amidst sand and greenery...

When the Pompidou Centre closes at 9pm, those in the know head to the top floor via the transparent escalators to Georges, the museum’s panoramic French-fusion restaurant. From this privileged perch, you can watch the sun set over the capital’s steely rooftops and contemplate the art you’ve just admired, cocktail in hand. You’ll be fighting for table room with trendy after-work crowds, and the ice-cool service can be slower than an escargot, but it’s a small price to pay for such an unbeatable vantage over the whole sparkling city...

The former Guingette Pirate is now known as the Dame de Canton, befitting its home in a superb Chinese junk made from exotic wood. In its previous life, it sailed the seven seas, but now in retirement on the banks of the Seine, this delightful Dame is now all about living it up in her golden years. With the concert space and its striking wooden dance floor, the captain’s room with its ancient library, the intimate, romantic restaurant in the hold and the sun-drenched bridge with a view of the Seine, you never get bored of exploring this floating labyrinth.The musical programme has evolved since its revival...

Click here to see the full list. Not so much a terrace here as an upper deck, this arts centre has been afloat at the foot of the National Library (BNF) since 2010 when it joined the flotilla of cool riverboat venues moored in the 13th. And it’s been giving the Batofar (Paris’s stalwart floating nightclub) a run for its money, with an excellent line-up of concerts and art exhibitions. The coveted terrace doubles as a bar, restaurant and octopus gardener’s paradise, decked out with myriad aquatic plants. The venue regularly hosts live music in a range of genres...

For a fabulous view over the city, take the lift to the 7th and final floor of the Terrass Hotel, set in a magnificent art deco building topped by a panoramic terrace. It’s on top of Montmartre, a stone’s throw from the very touristy Rue Lepic – and between August and September, it’s a great place to enjoy the sunshine with a glass in hand, waited on by penguin-suited staff. The ambiance is a little bling, the drinks a little over-priced, the music a little kitsch, but you have to forgive it for the view over Paris: from the Eiffel Tower to the Montmartre cemetery below...

A panoramic view of the Eiffel Tower to one side and the Arc de Triomphe on the other doesn’t come cheap; Le Raphael is on of the most luxurious terrace bars in Paris. The menu is, naturally, sophisticated, but you pay the price – for example the café grande reserve, a mix of eight Arabica blends, at €15 a throw, and glasses of wine starting at €17. But if you’re in the mood to impress, have a seat on the immaculate white cushions and luxuriate in the view over Paris’s great monuments and a classic, top quality cocktail (at €27)...

Lounge Bar View has a sky-scraping location on the 7th floor of the Novotel Vaugirard, located on the street of the same name (the longest in Paris at 4.3km, fact fans). This Left Bank perch offers a panoramic view over Paris and the Eiffel Tower from the terrace (open June-end September); there are no plants or decorative flourishes here, but a collection of tables across the span of the building where you're almost guaranteed to get a place in the sun at apéro time. The drinks list includes some heavy-hitting vintages (wine and champagne), and cocktails...

A ways out of central Paris, in Boulogne, this terrace the roof of the Marriot hotel offers a relaxing green vista over the Bois de Boulogne and the Square Léon Blum, rather than a view of the city skyline. Come here for fresh air at sunset in the summer and a quiet out-of-town atmosphere. You shoot up to the terrace in a glass lift, through which you can spy the verdant roof of the hotel, complete with bird nesting boxes. Once outside, you find a vast, elegant space full of imposing plant pots full of lilacs, pines and colourful flowers. The greenery makes it all quite exotic and divides up the space...

The incredibly romantic bar of the Hôtel Particulier Montmartre has only recently opened to the public; and you still need to identify yourself over the intercom at the door, and know where to find the venue on a paved, verdant side-street. Once inside, you’re in a large garden designed by Louis Benech (who also renovated the Tuileries). There are multiple levels of tables and greenery, creating an intimate atmosphere where you won't be disturbed by anyone else’s conversation. On the lowest level is a corner for small groups, equipped comfortably with sofas...

To get into this unexpected tropical garden in the heart of the Petit Palais, you first have to get a free ticket to the permanent collection, then make your way through the first wing of the building. It’s definitely worth stopping in for a look at the art, but when you get to the café you’ll find a ravishing garden with a pond, palm trees and herbs, encircled by the interior arcades of the Petit Palais. A few round mosaic-topped tables invite quiet afternoons of reading. Coffees, Mariage Frères teas, hot chocolates and organic smoothies are all on the menu...

This little bar on the Rue Panoyaux is easy to miss, thanks to its unpretentious façade. But once inside, you find a huge long bar with a surprise at the back – a pretty, leafy terrace, flanked by public tennis courts. It’s a wonderful, very relaxed place to sit and read, admire the flowers and watch the locals playing tennis while you drink your coffee. Inside, the décor is a heterogeneous jumble of storm lamps, old shoes suspended from the ceiling and posters for punk, rock and French chanson artists (who also make up the soundtrack)...

Those in the know are wise to the promise of Le Bistrot des Dames wine bar and restaurant, found underneath a youth hostel. If the interior is welcoming, with its pretty old style bar and retro décor brightened up with old advertisements, this bistro is best known for its little paradise of a garden. Though sadly only open on evenings and weekends, it’s the ideal place to bring your friends on a sunny Sunday morning and affirm that life in Paris isn’t just about tarmac and pollution.The enormous wine list will present you with plenty of difficult choices, though you can always ask for recommendations...

Located in the 18th-century former convent of Les Récollets, Café A is unique, nestling as it does into one of the corners of this beautiful building of huge white stones. It’s an artistic landmark beloved by Parisian initiates – to reach it, you’ll need to navigate your way through an iron gate and across a cloistered courtyard. Open until 10pm in winter and until midnight in summer, the huge space is decorated with works by young Parisian artists, in a series of exhibitions that’s refreshed every so often over the course of the summer...

Opened back in 2006, this boutique hotel is a real hit with the in crowd. Each of the 20 rooms is unique, decorated on the theme of love or eroticism by a coterie of contemporary artists and designers such as Marc Newson, M&M, Stak, Pierre Le Tan and Sophie Calle. Seven of the rooms contain artists' installations, and two others have their own private bar and a large terrace on which to hold your own party. The late-night brasserie has a coveted outdoor garden, and the crowd is young and beautiful and loves to entertain...

When Dutch artist Ary Scheffer built this small villa in 1830, the area teemed with composers, writers and artists. Novelist George Sand was a guest at Scheffer's soirées, along with great names such as Chopin and Liszt. The museum is devoted to Sand, plus Scheffer’s paintings and other mementoes of the Romantic era. Newly renovated in 2013, the museum’s tree-lined courtyard café and greenhouse are the perfect summer secret garden...

Underneath the neo-industrial arches of Parc de la Villette’s Grande Halle (a former cattle market), La Villette Enchantée does indeed enchant – notably with its terrace, an elegant winter garden with tables and chairs that spill out on to the cobbles under its brightly lit roof. In summer, wooden garden furniture is spread out on the lawn so you can relax and soak up the sun. And at night (Thursdays to Sundays), DJs entertain with cutting-edge electro sets. French electro maestros Kavinsky and Joakim and the label Tigersushi have all played here, and recently...

Bucolic delights reign at Rosa Bonheur, a bar set in a former guinguette in the heart of the Buttes Chaumont park. Its name loosely translates as ‘pink happiness’ but refers in particular to 19th-century French painter and sculptor ‘Rosa Bonheur’, famous for her depictions of animals and her role in the early feminist movement (alongside George Sand and Sarah Bernhardt). The bar is managed by Michelle Cassaro, aka Mimi, who used to run lesbian club Pulp – and the bar is a popular hangout with the lesbian crowd, especially on Sunday evenings. But the Bonheur is nothing if not relaxed in every sense...

Museums are usually daytime destinations, places of discovery that welcome their guests then politely expel them well before dusk. However the Saut du Loup, set inside the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, has made a concerted effort to reel in the Parigots after hours with a dapper restaurant, terrace views to die for over the Tuileries gardens, and a bar that’ll knock you up a cocktail or two before bedtime. You can always tell a good joint from the quality of its mojitos, and Le Saut du Loup’s version of the drink passes the test: not too sweet and not too sour...

In the middle of the Parc Buttes Chaumont, the Pavilion du Lac and the park’s five other pavilions opened in 1868. Restored in 2010 after lying abandoned for ten years, it has been transformed into a high class restaurant with chef Fabien Borgel in the kitchen. For a sunny Sunday, reserve one of the tables on the beautiful terrace, in front of the pavilion or in the garden to the left. In winter, there’s a choice between the cosy, elegant downstairs dining room or the equally comfortable one upstairs, behind a big glass window. Either way, you’ll enjoy being surrounded by the park’s greenery...