Guide to the Paris 20th Arrondissement: What to See, Do, Eat and Where to Stay (2026)

Paris 20th arrondissement, or le vingtieme, is the last of the arrondissements by number, and for a long time it was treated that way too, as an afterthought, a place tourists passed through only to visit one very famous cemetery. That has been changing quickly. The traditionally working-class neighborhood built from the old villages of Belleville, Charonne, and Ménilmontant has become one of the most creative, food-obsessed corners of the city, even as it holds on to the cobbled lanes and slanted rooftops that make it feel more like a French village than the French capital.

Most visitors who make the trip out to the 20th do it for one reason: Père Lachaise Cemetery, the enormous, tree-lined resting place of Edith Piaf, Jim Morrison, Chopin, and Oscar Wilde. It is absolutely worth the trip. But visitors who stop there and turn back miss almost everything else that makes this arrondissement worth loving, from the steep, vine covered slopes of Parc de Belleville to the tiny countryside village hiding in the middle of Paris at La Campagne a Paris, and a food scene so diverse you can eat your way from a Vietnamese banh mi counter to one of Europe's best rated pizzerias without crossing a single major boulevard.

Mr. Misadventures and I stayed in the 20th arrondissement for a full week, and of all the arrondissements I have based myself in, this one made me feel like I was actually living a local Parisian life rather than just visiting one. I ate more kebab and banh mi than I would like to admit, got pleasantly lost in Charonne more than once, and left wishing I had booked two weeks instead of one. If you are looking for Paris off the beaten path, and you are the kind of traveler who has already seen the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre and wants to know what Paris actually feels like day to day, this is your arrondissement.

What Is the 20th Arrondissement Like?

The 20th arrondissement is really four neighborhoods wearing one number: Belleville, Saint-Fargeau, Père Lachaise, and Charonne. Each has its own personality, but they share a common thread of having been independent villages before Paris annexed them in 1860, and all four still carry some trace of that village life, whether it is a cobbled lane, a hidden vineyard, or a market that has run on the same corner for a century.

Belleville is the loudest and most famous of the four, a formerly working-class immigrant neighborhood that has become one of the most talked-about creative hubs in the city, home to a serious concentration of street art, natural wine bars, and a genuinely international food scene that includes a strip of Vietnamese and Chinese restaurants along Rue de Belleville. Charonne, by contrast, is quiet almost to the point of feeling like a different city entirely, its narrow lanes and twelfth-century church giving it the unmistakable feel of a countryside village that Paris simply grew up around.

This mix is exactly why the 20th suits a particular kind of traveler. If you want manicured boulevards and a postcard view at every turn, this is not your neighborhood. If you want to feel like you have actually lived somewhere in Paris, even for just a few days, it might be exactly right.

Getting to the 20th Arrondissement

• Line 2: runs along the western edge of the arrondissement, with stops at Belleville, Couronnes, Menilmontant, Père Lachaise, Philippe Auguste, and Alexandre Dumas. This is the fastest way into Belleville and Menilmontant proper.
• Line 3: crosses through Gambetta, the arrondissement's unofficial town center, and continues to Porte de Bagnolet and Gallieni, close to the Mama Shelter hotel.
• Line 3bis: a short connector line terminating at Gambetta, useful if you are coming from Porte des Lilas.
• Line 9: reaches the far eastern edge of the arrondissement at Porte de Montreuil, near the well-known flea market.
• Line 11: skims the northern edge with stops at Belleville, Pyrénées, and Jourdain, all a short walk from Parc de Belleville.

There is no RER station within the 20th arrondissement, so the metro and bus networks do the heavy lifting. Walking into the neighboring 11th arrondissement from Pere Lachaise or Ménilmontant takes about 15 to 20 minutes and is a pleasant way to connect the two.

Top Attractions & Things to Do in the 20th Arrondissement

Père Lachaise Cemetery

Address: 16 Rue du Repos

Père Lachaise is the largest cemetery in Paris and one of the most visited in the world, a rolling, tree-shaded landscape of elaborate tombs that reads more like an open-air museum than a graveyard. It was created in 1804 under Napoleon, and its popularity took off after the remains of the medieval philosophers Abelard and Heloise were transferred here in 1817, a tragic love story that turned the cemetery into a place of pilgrimage almost overnight.

Today it holds the graves of Edith Piaf, Jim Morrison, Oscar Wilde, Chopin, and Marcel Proust, among thousands of others. Give yourself at least two hours, wear comfortable shoes, and pick up a map at the entrance, since the paths are not always well-marked.

Parc de Belleville

Address: 47 Rue des Couronnes

Set on a steep hillside, Parc de Belleville offers one of the best free views in the city: a wide panoramic terrace overlooking the Eiffel Tower and the Haussmann rooftops that define central Paris. The park is planted with more than a thousand trees and even holds a small working vineyard, a nod to Belleville's history as a wine-producing village before it was ever part of Paris. It is a wonderful spot for a picnic, and locals treat the terrace as a low-key alternative to fighting the crowds at the Eiffel Tower on Bastille Day.

La Campagne a Paris

Address: Rue Paul Strauss

Tucked above the Père Lachaise cemetery, La Campagne a Paris is a genuine hidden gem, a cluster of ninety-two small houses built between 1907 and 1928 on four cobbled lanes for low-income postal workers and clerks. Walking through feels nothing like Paris and everything like a small French village, right down to the flowering front gardens. It is especially beautiful in autumn, when the vines and trees turn color against the brick facades.

La Petite Ceinture

Address: Access points at 11 Rue de la Mare and 79 Rue de Menilmontant

Built in the 1850s to supply Paris's fortifications, this circular railway has not run a train since 1934, and much of it has been left to grow wild, turning into an accidental nature reserve with more than 200 plant species and 70 animal species living along its overgrown tracks. The stretch that runs through the 20th, close to Pere Lachaise, is one of the more atmospheric places to walk it.

Charonne Village and the Church of Saint Germain de Charonne

Address: 4 Place Saint Blaise

Charonne is one of the last true village pockets left inside Paris, centered on the twelfth-century Church of Saint Germain de Charonne and its small adjoining cemetery, a rare combination inside the city limits. Rue Saint Blaise, the village's old main street, still has the scale and quiet of a countryside town, and nearby Square des Gres is a lovely place to sit for a while.

Edith Piaf's Belleville

Address: 72 Rue de Belleville

Edith Piaf is as tied to the 20th arrondissement as anyone in its history has been. She was born nearby at Tenon Hospital and, according to legend, spent her earliest days on the sidewalk at this address. A statue on Place Edith Piaf commemorates her, and Aux Folies, the bar where she is said to have first performed, is still open today. Le Vieux Belleville cafe hosts an Edith Piaf singalong on Tuesday nights that regularly packs the room with visitors and locals alike. Her grave back at Père Lachaise carries the closing line of Hymn to Love, the song she wrote for the boxer Marcel Cerdan, and fans still leave flowers there on the anniversary of her death every October.

Rue Denoyez and the Street Art of Belleville

Address: Rue Denoyez

The municipality made peace with graffiti artists on this small street years ago, and the walls have been repainted so many times that no two visits look the same. It is one of the most concentrated, ever-changing collections of street art in Paris, and a short detour from Rue Denoyez to Rue du Retrait will show you even more.

More things to do in the 20th:

Beyond the highlights above, the 20th rewards slow wandering.

• Belvedere de Belleville (27 Rue Piat) is a small open-air lookout with one of the best under-the-radar views in the arrondissement.
• Jardin Naturel Pierre Emmanuel (120 Rue de la Reunion) is a wild, unmanicured garden built to show what the natural landscape of the Ile de France looked like before Paris existed.
• Le Jardin Cite Aubry is a members-only feeling community garden open on weekends.
• Cite Leroy and Villa de l'Ermitage are two of the prettiest, least visited lanes in the arrondissement.
• Passage des Soupirs, Square Chaure, and Rue Jules Siegfried all make for a peaceful detour if you happen to be nearby, each one lined with the kind of small townhouses that look more like the countryside than the French capital.

Where to Eat in the 20th Arrondissement

Le Baratin

Address: 3 Rue Jouye Rouve

A classic bistro known for years for its adventurous, ever-changing menu and one of the best wine cellars in the neighborhood. Expect a packed room, a short handwritten menu, and food that leans into whatever is best at the market that week.

La Bellevilloise

Address: 19 to 21 Rue Boyer

Housed in a huge cooperative building dating back to 1877, La Bellevilloise is one of the most iconic multi-use spaces of the 20th century, and its Sunday brunch, complete with a live jazz band, is a genuine neighborhood institution worth planning your morning around. Its rooftop, Le Toit de la Bellevilloise, reopened for the season in April 2026 under a new chef, with an ephemeral menu of vegetarian tapas, seafood, and revisited pastries that changes monthly, plus natural wine and cocktails on a terrace spanning two levels and about 170 square meters.

Peppe Pizzeria

Address: 2 Place Saint Blaise

Ranked one of the best pizzerias in Europe by the Italian ranking group 50 Top Pizza, Peppe turns out proper Neapolitan-style pies from a tiny storefront in Charonne. Expect a wait, and consider it worth it.

Paloma

Address: 93 Rue Julien Lacroix

A charming, entirely women-run bistro with a menu that changes constantly depending on what the kitchen finds at market that morning. The room is small, and the sense of community is real, making it one of the more personal dining experiences in Belleville.

Eupatoria 5

Address: 5 Rue d'Eupatoria

The address at 5 Rue d'Eupatoria is something of a local legend in this pocket of Menilmontant. It was once a beloved clandestine antique shop and bar, then an art gallery, and now it has been reborn as a Greek-inspired taverna by Hakim Lainceur, with chef Basile Eidel, a Top Chef alum. Expect shareable plates like zucchini fritters, homemade tarama, and grilled octopus with skordalia, a splendid Greek take on ajo blanco, plus an ouzo creme brulee for dessert. The wine list leans French rather than Greek, the space doubles as a wine shop, and there is a lovely terrace facing the Notre Dame de la Croix church.

Other Good Food Options in the 20th:

• Amagat (23 Villa Riberolle): a cellar-to-eat restaurant offering Mediterranean cuisine.
• Atelier Auger (5 Rue Auger): a bread workshop and store using organically grown wheat.
• Becquetance (67 Rue de Menilmontant): bistronomy with small plates.
• Cache (13 Villa Riberolle): Mediterranean-inspired cuisine with seasonal fish and seafood.
• Dilia (1 Rue d'Eupatoria): creative, well-reviewed Italian cooking in a tiny dining room.
• Fripon (108 Rue de Menilmontant): elegant plates built around Japanese flavors.
• Guo Xin (47 Rue de Belleville): excellent handmade ravioli.
• Le Foodmarket (1 Boulevard de Belleville): a street-food event held on one Thursday each month.
• Le Grand Bain (14 Rue Denoyez): a stylish bistro with an excellent wine selection.
• Le Jourdain (101 Rue des Couronnes): a small tapas-style restaurant with a Mediterranean bent.
• Le Petit Grain (7 Rue Denoyez): perfectly cooked pies, fruitcakes, and brioche.
• Les Canailles Menilmontant (15 Rue des Panoyaux): a relaxed gastronomic bistro.
• Les Polissons (1 Avenue Gambetta): simple, good value bistro cooking near Père Lachaise.
• Maison One More (50 Rue Piat): a cozy spot with simple, well-executed dishes near Parc de Belleville.
• Moncoeur Belleville (1 Rue des Envierges): a shaded terrace with brunch, small plates, and Eiffel Tower views.
• Panda Belleville (16 Rue Louis Bonnet): for a very good banh mi.
• Rouleau de Printemps (42 Rue de Tourtille): tasty Vietnamese cooking.
• Santa Silvia (22 Villa Riberolle): an Italian canteen in a converted barn with a simple seasonal menu.

A note on Mook, the specialty coffee and snack spot previously listed at 40 Rue de Tourtille: that address is now home to Bambin, the family-focused cafe covered below, so we have updated the listing rather than sending you to a spot that may no longer be there.

Best Coffee Shops & Cafes in the 20th Arrondissement

Coffee is genuinely part of the fabric of the 20th arrondissement, and not by accident. Belleville is where Paris's specialty coffee roasting movement got some of its earliest footing, and that roasting culture has since spread into a dense cluster of cafes across Belleville, Menilmontant, and Charonne that now rivals anywhere else in the city for a good cup.

Belleville Brûlerie

Address: 50 Rue de Belleville

A working coffee roaster and cafe that has become something of a symbol of Belleville's specialty coffee scene, roasting its own beans on site and serving them alongside simple pastries. This is one of the roasters that helped put Belleville on the map for serious coffee drinkers in the first place.

The Dancing Goat

Address: 117 Avenue Gambetta

A bright, friendly specialty coffee shop with a loyal local following, known for good espresso, a relaxed atmosphere, and staff who remember your order.

Candle Kids Coffee

Address: 107 Rue des Couronnes

Candle Kids Coffee is the work of brothers Ernest and Martin Laurens, who turned a former laundromat on Place Henri Krasucki into a minimalist, light-filled cafe of raw plaster, slender wooden furniture, and paper-like pendant lamps. The drinks menu leans into flat whites, cappuccinos, and a cocoa infusion made with Plaq, while the pastries, including honey-sweetened madeleines and cinnamon rolls, nod to the brothers' Savoie heritage with mountain honey sourced from a childhood beekeeper. There is a small reading nook stocked with books and magazines, a modest terrace for weekend mornings, and the space is genuinely laptop, dog, and kid-friendly, which is not always a given in Paris.

Bambin

Address: 40 Rue de Tourtille

Bambin is a coffee shop built for parents who want a genuinely good coffee without having to entertain a bored toddler at the next table. It has a padded play area for children up to five, a sunny terrace on a pedestrian street, and a full menu of coffee, brunch, and homemade pastries.

Trombone

Address: 2 Passage Josseaume

Tucked into a quiet corner of Charonne at the intersection of Passage Josseaume and Rue des Haies, Trombone is a genuinely neighborhood-focused coffee shop built to bring all kinds of regulars together under one roof. Expect specialty coffee, gourmet lattes, iced tea, cookies, and a strong selection of homemade sandwiches, in a part of the 20th that has historically had fewer good coffee stops than Belleville.

Bordel

Address: 5 Rue Sorbier

Opened by Romain Detriche and Nicolas Papadato, the team behind the Marais coffee shop Grave, Bordel is technically a natural wine bar, but it starts every morning as a coffee-and-cookie stop before the wine list takes over by early evening. The room is small and stripped back with vintage speakers playing over six counter seats, but the real draw is the oversized terrace on Rue Sorbier, now one of the more animated aperitif streets in Menilmontant.

A few more worth seeking out:

• Graine (120 Rue de Bagnolet) bakes natural sourdough and creative pastries and won first place in France's national organic bread competition in 2021.
• Le Barbouquin (1 Rue Denoyez) is known for cheesecake, lattes, and tea.
• Le Bricheton (50 Rue de la Reunion) bakes artisanal bread from ancient peasant wheat varieties.
• Le Petit Grain (7 Rue Denoyez) does double duty as a cafe and a bakery, and is worth visiting for its naturally leavened bread.

Bars in the 20th Arrondissement

Aux Folies

Address: 8 Rue de Belleville

The unofficial living room of Belleville, Aux Folies is a young, loud, wonderfully unpretentious bar where Edith Piaf is said to have gotten her earliest start performing for tips. Go on a weekend night and expect the crowd to spill onto the sidewalk.

La Fleche d'Or

Address: 102 Bis Rue de Bagnolet

Housed in a former train station along the old Petite Ceinture line, La Fleche d'Or is an inclusive, slightly scrappy live music venue that regularly hosts concerts in a genuinely unusual setting.

La Maroquinerie

Address: 23 Rue Boyer

Part concert hall, part bar, and part restaurant, La Maroquinerie has an open-air terrace and a strong lineup of live indie music most nights of the week.

Aimer

Address: 116 Boulevard de Menilmontant

Opened in 2025 by the team behind the neighboring Neapolitan pizzeria Popine, Aimer is a relaxed cocktail bar with a short, well-built drinks menu and a large terrace overlooking the boulevard. It has quickly become one of the better new reasons to linger in Menilmontant after dark.

Mama Shelter Rooftop Bar East

Address: 109 Rue de Bagnolet

The rooftop bar at the Philippe Starck-designed Mama Shelter hotel serves old-school Paris comfort food alongside good cocktails, with a seasonal terrace that is one of the better rooftop settings in eastern Paris.

Other Bars Worth Visiting:

• Kissproof (50 Rue de Belleville): a friendly neighborhood bar with strong cocktails.
• L'Abribus (56 Rue de Bagnolet): a laid back pub style bar.
• Les Apaches (99 Rue de Menilmontant): known for film nights and karaoke.
• Les Triplettes (102 Boulevard de Belleville): creative food and affordable drinks in an antique-filled room.
• Le Vieux Belleville (12 Rue des Envierges): home to the Tuesday night Edith Piaf singalong.

Where to Stay in the 20th Arrondissement

• Hôtel Comète (14 Bis Rue des Maraichers): trendy rooms built around a 1950s space age theme, with playful planet and star motifs throughout.
• Hôtel Scarlett (1 Rue Jouye Rouve): a chic, modern hotel with atlas-themed rooms decorated in bold, map-inspired artwork.
• Mama Shelter Paris East (109 Rue de Bagnolet): designed by Philippe Starck, this hip hotel pairs playful decor with a lively bar and a seasonal rooftop terrace.
• lyf Gambetta Paris (4 Rue de la Cour des Noues): opened in June 2025 in a converted early-twentieth-century printing house, this 140-room social living hotel is built around shared spaces, including a coworking area, a communal kitchen, a sauna, and a karaoke room.
• Nadaud Hotel (8 Rue de la Bidassoa): a comfortable, well-reviewed two-star option about ten minutes from Gambetta metro, with ensuite rooms and a solid continental breakfast.
• Novotel Paris 20 Belleville (64 to 74 Boulevard de Belleville): an industrial chic four-star hotel with an onsite bistronomic restaurant, popular with travelers who want a larger, more familiar hotel base in an otherwise boutique-heavy neighborhood.

Shopping in the 20th Arrondissement

The 20th is nearly free of chain stores and shopping malls, and what it lacks in glossy boutiques it makes up for with independent shops, secondhand finds, and some of the liveliest street markets in Paris. This is a neighborhood built for browsing rather than shopping with a list.

• L Fabric (16 Rue Vitruve): a gift shop stocking everything from ceramics to handmade jewelry.
• Le Coffre Vintage (26 Rue de Menilmontant): reliable deals on secondhand and vintage clothing.
• Le Monte en l'Air (2 Rue de la Mare): a lively independent bookstore with a small terrace serving coffee and drinks.
• La toute petite Librairie (2 Rue Etienne Marey): a tiny, well-curated bookshop worth ducking into more than once.
• Marche Telegraphe (Rue du Telegraphe): open Wednesday and Saturday mornings, one of the arrondissement's main neighborhood food markets.
• Marche Belgrand (Place Edith Piaf, near Gambetta metro): also open Wednesday and Saturday mornings.
• Marche aux puces de Montreuil (Avenue du Professeur Andre Lemierre, near Porte de Montreuil metro): a sprawling flea market for antiques and secondhand goods.
• Vide grenier de la Place des Grandes Rigoles (near Pyrenees metro): a neighborhood garage sale-style market popular with antique hunters.

What's New in the 20th Arrondissement (2026)

The 20th keeps evolving, and these openings from the past year and a half are good reasons to put the neighborhood back on your list even if you have already been.

lyf Gambetta Paris

Address: 4 Rue de la Cour des Noues

Opened in June 2025 in a converted early-twentieth-century printing house, lyf Gambetta Paris is a 140-room social living hotel built around shared experiences rather than just rooms. Guests get access to a coworking space, a communal kitchen, a fitness room and sauna, a karaoke room, and a rooftop terrace, all designed to encourage the kind of mixing between guests and locals that a standard hotel rarely manages.

Trombone

Address: 2 Passage Josseaume

A new neighborhood coffee shop in Charonne serving specialty coffee, gourmet lattes, and homemade sandwiches, Trombone has quickly filled a real gap in a corner of the arrondissement with fewer good coffee stops than in Belleville.

Bordel

Address: 5 Rue Sorbier

A hybrid coffee and natural wine bar on Rue Sorbier from the team behind the Marais coffee shop Grave, Bordel opens with coffee and homemade cookies in the morning and shifts into a wine-and-small-plates spot by evening, with one of the better terraces in Ménilmontant.

Le Toit de la Bellevilloise

Address: 19 to 21 Rue Boyer

La Bellevilloise's rooftop terrace reopened for the 2026 season in April with a new chef and a menu that changes monthly, featuring vegetarian tapas, seafood, and revisited pastries, alongside natural wine and cocktails, on a two-level terrace with room for 200 people.

Eupatoria 5

Address: 5 Rue d'Eupatoria

A legendary Ménilmontant address, once a clandestine antique shop and bar and later an art gallery, has been reborn as a Greek-inspired taverna from Hakim Lainceur and Top Chef alum Basile Eidel, complete with a wine shop counter and a terrace facing the Notre Dame de la Croix church.

A Day in the 20th Arrondissement: Sample Itinerary

Morning: Start at Père Lachaise Cemetery when it opens to beat the crowds, allowing at least two hours to find the graves of Edith Piaf, Jim Morrison, and Chopin. Grab a coffee afterward at The Dancing Goat on Avenue Gambetta.

Midday: Walk up to La Campagne à Paris for a quiet wander through its cobbled lanes, then head into Charonne to see the Church of Saint Germain de Charonne and stroll Rue Saint Blaise. Stop for lunch at Peppe Pizzeria or Les Polissons near Gambetta.

Afternoon: Make your way to Belleville, following Rue Denoyez for street art before climbing to the top of Parc de Belleville for the panoramic view. If you have kids along, swing by Bambin for a break.

Evening: Have dinner at Le Baratin or Paloma, then finish the night with a drink at Aux Folies or, if you would rather sit outside, on the terrace at Aimer in Menilmontant.

Frequently Asked Questions About the 20th Arrondissement

Insider Tips for the 20th Arrondissement

Book your visit to Pere Lachaise for first thing in the morning if you want to see the famous graves without fighting a crowd, since tour groups tend to arrive by midmorning.

Wednesday and Saturday mornings are market days at both Marche Telegraphe and Marche Belgrand, and they are a genuinely good way to see the neighborhood at its most local.

Hotel prices in the 20th arrondissement are noticeably lower than in central Paris, making it a smart base if you are visiting for more than a few days and want your budget to stretch further.

The 20th is very walkable on its own, but the distances between Belleville, Charonne, and La Campagne à Paris are longer than they appear on a map. Budget more time than you think you will need, or lean on the metro between neighborhoods.

If you only have time for one non-cemetery stop, make it the view from the top of Parc de Belleville, especially near sunset.

Reservations matter more than you would expect for a supposedly under-the-radar neighborhood. Restaurants like Le Baratin and Peppe Pizzeria fill up quickly, especially on weekends, so book ahead if you can.

Ready to Explore the 20th Arrondissement?

The 20th arrondissement will never be the first stop on anyone's Paris itinerary, and honestly, that is exactly what makes it worth the trip. It is the arrondissement where Paris still feels lived in, where the markets are for the people who live down the street and the bars are full of regulars rather than tourists, and where a week spent wandering between Belleville, Charonne, and Menilmontant will teach you more about how Parisians actually live than any amount of time on the Champs-Élysées ever could.

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