13th arrondissement, Paris: neighborhood guide

The 13th sits on the Left Bank in the southeast, between the Seine and the ring road. It is mostly residential and office Paris, not a sightseeing district: no single monument pulls crowds here, and that is exactly why some travellers like it. Streets are wider and calmer than in the centre, hotel prices run below the 1st, 4th and 8th, and you are still inside the city, on the Métro.

Two areas stand out. Butte-aux-Cailles, in the west, is a low hill of small houses and narrow lanes around rue de la Butte-aux-Cailles, with cafés and a village feel that survives because no Métro station sits on top of it. The southern edge, around avenue de Choisy, avenue d'Ivry and the Olympiades towers, is Paris's Chinatown and one of the largest in Europe: supermarkets, pho shops, banh mi counters and bakeries, busiest on Sundays when much of the city is closed.

Between them runs the Paris Rive Gauche development along the Seine: the four glass towers of the Bibliothèque nationale de France (site François-Mitterrand), the Cité de la Mode et du Design on quai d'Austerlitz, and new apartment blocks and university buildings filling the old rail yards. It is modern, flat and easy to walk, with the pedestrian Pont Simone de Beauvoir linking the library to Parc de Bercy in the 12th.

Stay if transport and value matter more than postcard views. Métro 14 is the fastest line in Paris and stops at Bibliothèque François-Mitterrand and Olympiades; it now runs on to Orly Airport, which makes the 13th a sensible last night before an early flight. Gare d'Austerlitz handles trains to the southwest and most night services, and Gare de Lyon is one stop away.

Skip it on a first visit if your list is the Louvre, Notre-Dame, the Marais and Montmartre. You can reach all of them, but you will ride the Métro both ways, roughly 20–30 minutes each time. Also skip the streets immediately around Place d'Italie if you want quiet: it is a busy road junction and a major bus interchange.

Within the district, choose Butte-aux-Cailles or the blocks near Corvisart and Glacière for calm, and the area around Bibliothèque François-Mitterrand for newer hotels and quick line 14 access. The Olympiades towers are convenient and cheap but feel like a different city.

The strongest reason to spend time here is the food. Along avenue de Choisy and avenue d'Ivry you will find Vietnamese, Chinese, Thai and Laotian kitchens, from pho counters to dim sum halls, plus Chinese and Southeast Asian supermarkets that stay open on Sundays. Portions are large and prices are lower than in the centre; a bowl of pho is a cheap, filling meal at any hour.

Butte-aux-Cailles is the other pole: a cluster of small bars and bistros around rue de la Butte-aux-Cailles and rue des Cinq-Diamants, good for an evening without crossing the city. Near the library, the quays and the newer blocks have cafés aimed at students and office workers, handy for a quick lunch.

Book nothing far ahead here; most places take walk-ins, and the Chinatown restaurants fill up on Sunday lunch and during Lunar New Year.

On the Métro, line 7 serves Gobelins, Place d'Italie, Tolbiac, Maison-Blanche and the Porte d'Italie, Porte de Choisy and Porte d'Ivry stops — but only trains heading towards Mairie d'Ivry call at those last three. Line 6 covers Glacière, Corvisart, Place d'Italie, Nationale, Chevaleret and Quai de la Gare. Line 14 stops at Bibliothèque François-Mitterrand, Olympiades and Maison-Blanche, and continues to Orly Airport.

Several bus lines converge on Place d'Italie, including routes 27, 47, 57, 61, 62, 64, 67 and 83, which makes cross-town trips easy without changing trains. Gare d'Austerlitz is on the eastern edge for trains to Orléans, Limoges and Toulouse, and for most night trains; Gare de Lyon is a short walk or one stop away.

Walking works well inside the district, which is flat apart from the Butte-aux-Cailles hill. From Île de la Cité it is about 40 minutes on foot, either through the Latin Quarter and rue Mouffetard in the 5th or along the Seine. A single Métro ticket covers the whole city; buy a carnet or use a contactless travel card rather than single paper tickets.