Hostels in Paris

From personal experience I heartily recommend any of the three MIJE hostels in the Marais. They are renovated 17th century private mansions in a very central location. Rick Steves calls them the best budget accommodations in Paris. I've read many favorable reviews about Le Village Hostel in Montmartre.

You can easily walk from the Marais to many major tourist sights. From Montmartre you can quickly get to those same sights by either metro or bus.

Hi Stew,

I stayed at Le Village in Montmartre this summer. The hostel was just ok, not the cleanest, though lots of fun and very social, plus it has free breakfast. However, I really did not like the area very much. Paris is so beautiful, and while Montmartre is interesting to visit, it is definitely one of the seedier parts of Paris. I found it very loud at night, and while there are Metro stops nearby, it is far from most of the main sights, and not a place that I would walk through alone at night. If I was going back to Paris, I would not stay in Montmartre again, nor would I recommend it to a fellow traveler. I'm sure some people will disagree with me, but that's just my opinion. The Marais area is much nicer; I think I would stay there next time.

Since Caitlin says Le Village Hostel isn't the cleanest, I'll second my own recommendation for the MIJE hostels. They are very clean and they provide a free continental breakfast. With its narrow winding streets and classic old buildings, the Marais is the part of Paris which has retained a bit of a medieval look.

Thanks everone, I appreciate that.

What area is Marais? I have one of these maps that breaks down Paris into the # or neigbourhood. I find that very hepful.
The MIJE hotels was on my list. Thanks

I find Hostels great for meeting people as I will be traveling alone.

I just wonder how easy it is to meet people outside of Paris where English might not be as common?

I will be traveling down to Avignon, Nice and Colmar

It is so great to hear that hostels in Paris get praised. Back in the dark ages of the 1970's they all had a terrible reputation. I stayed in one anyway, but found back then that they lived would it be down (LOL) to their reputation...grubby, horrible food and not very friendly. How nice to hear that hostel life has improved in Paris. I met so many interesting people when I stayed in hostels. I've always wondered if those 1970's hostels improved and so survived or if the ones that get the praise are all new having driven the grubby ones out of business.

The Marais is mostly in the 4eme arrondissement with a portion of it in the southern part of the 3eme. The MIJE hostels are quite close to the Seine. You can walk to Notre-Dame in around 15 minutes. See this page from the MIJE site for the time either on foot or metro to major tourist sights.

I am faithful to the MIJE hostels. They are very basic byo towel with breakfast included. Close to the sight, metro and safe.

I highly recommend the AIJ in Paris. http://www.aijparis.com/ The hostel is no frills but very clean. They clean the hostel daily so there is a lock-out from the rooms, from about 11-4 I think it was. However, that didn't bother me since I was out enjoying Paris anyways. The price is about $25/night which is quite a good price. I have stayed in this hostel twice. My first visit I ended up staying here because everyone else was booked up. My second trip I was looking to stay somewhere else just to get a feel for another neighborhood - but after looking at some other hostels and not so good reviews with higher prices I went back to AIJ and was so glad I did. You do have to book with the hostel directly though and cannot book through any of the booking websites like hostels.com or hostelbookers.com.

It is in a great neighborhood within walking distance of the Bastille area. Then it is a nice walk into the heart of Paris. Paris is just a really walkable area. There are plenty of restaurants in the area and a nice grocery store (Monoprix), plus a few other smaller groceries.

Hi Stew,

My husband and I stayed at St Christophers in Paris for 4 nights when we were in Paris in May. We traveled all through Europe and it was one of our top 3 favorite hostels.

We stayed in a 12 person dorm room. Everything is really new and clean. They beds were comfy and they had privacy curtains, your own light and power outlet.

It was a GREAT place to meet people as there is a very large bar on the main floor. We met tons of other really great people there.

The area it's in doesn't offer too much but it is really close to 2 metro stations and you can get anywhere important in about 15 minutes on the metro.

Hope that helps. Have fun & safe travels!