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It’s no secret that I’m a fan of a solo trip, whether that be a two-week jaunt to Québec to sit on rainy balconies and cosplay a tortured poet or a weekend spree to Warsaw to sing and dance in a crowd of strangers at The Eras Tour.
But as most female travelers can attest, solo trips are all fun and games until the sun sets.
No, our carriages aren’t turning into pumpkins and our elegant slippers aren’t falling off (though we may be leaving a bachelor on the dance floor), but our stranger-danger defenses are certainly going up. What’s a girl to do alone at night in Paris when the world is her oyster but also sometimes her undoing?
Stay safe! But also, recreate. Voilà un petit round-up of four fun (safe) things to do alone in Paris at night:
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1. Dine Like an Elegant Lady at a Table for One
“Table for one” needn’t be an embarrassing sentence you whisper sheepishly to the maître d’—at least not when you’re wearing a fabulous dress (that you didn’t buy on Amazon) and you’re smelling like an alluring blend of sandalwood, ginger lily, vetiver, and lavender.)
Truly, it doesn’t matter what you’re wearing. The beauty of The Merry Loner Lifestyle is that it empowers you to redefine loneliness as chosen independence. You’re not dining alone because no one will have you; you’re dining alone because you want to enjoy an evening out on the town with your own company. (And because you’re hungry.)
If you want to live The Merry Loner Lifestyle (Paris Version), then a prime endroit for a chic French meal is at Le Relais de l’Entrecôte. A friend took me to this restaurant way back in 2017 during my first visit to Paris, and young, green, wide-eyed Merry was surely dazzled.
Here’s how it works:
- You line up outside the door with the rest of the evening’s restaurant-goers.
- You enter with everyone else when the door’s open and are immediately whisked to a table.
- You confirm your order to the waitress. (Spoiler: There’s only one thing on the menu. (Double Spoiler: It’s steak and fries.))
- Within about five minutes, you chow down on the exact same meal as your table neighbors.
It’s elegant, and it’s efficient. (Who knew there was a way to combine the two?) Make sure you get there early! Add this restaurant to your travel loves list.
2. Act Like a Cinephile at a Local Movie House
Bonus points if you wear a turtleneck.
What is it about the movie theater that intimidates the solo traveler? Okay, so you don’t have anyone’s hand to hold during the previews. So what? Maybe their hands are sweaty.
In the age of streaming and ubiquitous short-form videos with impossibly cringe-y content (that the pioneers of the term “cringe-y” somehow fail to find cringe-y), few are those who seek more artful, lengthy films in traditional cinema. But perhaps the tides are turning. The Guardian claims “there is an incredible hunger” for classic films that are slowly crawling their way back into cinemas—and I’m here for it.
Actually, I’m there for it—in a local movie house in Paris. For my fellow women travelers looking for things to do alone in Paris that don’t involve drinking or eating, hitting up a cinema should be at the top of your list.
And if you don’t speak French, fear not. Many movie theaters play foreign films (i.e., non-French films), so it’s not that hard to find an American or English film in a Parisian cinema.
If you do speak French, then woo-hoo. This is your chance to soak up some real francophone action. Even if you’re not fluent, going to the movies is great, authentic exposure to the language to give your listening comprehension a boost.
3. Play Dress Up at a Parisian Cocktail Bar
If you want to feel effortlessly fancy in Paris (I’m assuming you do), then sashay over to a dimly-lit cocktail bar.
You can be mysterious and aloof by bringing a book along—try one of these classic novels if you want to give an allure of intellectual pretentiousness. Or maybe come armed with a luxe leather journal for all your daydreaming and musing.
If you need a little social support, that’s okay. Becoming a Merry Loner is a journey—and flying solo at a bar at night in a foreign city is playing on expert level. Turn to good old Facebook groups or dedicated apps like Meetup to find events for travelers in Paris. These groups usually give you a higher success rate if you’re staying in the city for the long term. But if you’re traveling to Paris solo for a weekend, then you’re better off booking an event in advance.
For example, on TripAdvisor, you can sign up for meetups in Paris like:
- Solo in Paris Meetup in a Bar
- Solo Meetup & Explore Great Cocktail Bars in Paris
- Latin Quarter Pub Crawl
4. Mingle at a Language Café
If drinking isn’t so much your thing and you’d rather focus on meeting new people, why not try a language café?
At language café, you can meet and mingle with other travelers (and even locals, sometimes) to practice your language skills. Naturally, these meetups usually take place in bars, but you can also find daytime activities in coffee shops or parks, if that’s more your style.
If you only speak English, don’t freak out. A lot of people come to language cafés to practice English, so you can usually find someone to talk to. Better yet, if you’re learning another language, this is your golden opportunity to practice chatting with other language learners and native speakers.
Again, you can find these language cafés in Facebook groups or on websites like Meetup.
