Paris

Paris sits on the River Seine in the north of France, a compact and famously walkable capital built in a spiral of twenty arrondissements that wind outward from the islands at its centre. The river is the axis of the whole city, dividing the Right Bank to the north from the Left Bank to the south and threading past most of what draws people here, from the medieval core on the Ile de la Cite to the great sweep of nineteenth-century boulevards that Baron Haussmann cut through the older streets, lining them with the pale stone apartment buildings that give Paris its uniform, elegant skyline.

The city rewards those who explore it quarter by quarter, since each has a distinct character. The Marais keeps its narrow pre-revolutionary streets, mansions and courtyard galleries; Saint-Germain-des-Pres on the Left Bank holds the literary cafes and antique dealers; Montmartre climbs its hill to the white domes of the Sacre-Coeur above the rooftops; and the axis from the Louvre through the Tuileries and up the Champs-Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe lines up the grandest of the monuments. The landmarks need little introduction, from the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre to Notre-Dame and the Musee d’Orsay, but much of the pleasure of Paris is quieter: a morning market, a bakery, a garden bench, a long lunch on a terrace.

There is no wrong season, though there is a rhythm to the year. Spring and early autumn are the most agreeable, with mild days and the parks at their best; summer is warmest and busiest, and famously sees many Parisians leave the city in August, which softens the pace even as the visitors arrive; winter is cool and grey but atmospheric, with the museums uncrowded and the Christmas lights along the boulevards. The city’s real luxury is its density, the way world-class food, art, shopping and architecture sit within a short walk or a Metro stop of one another.

For families and groups who want to live in a quarter rather than pass through it, with space and a kitchen of their own, luxury villa rentals and private apartments in Paris cluster in the most sought-after arrondissements, within walking distance of the river and the landmarks.