8 Things I’d Actually Do on a Girls’ Trip to Paris

If I were planning a girls’ trip to Paris, I would not try to fit every famous sight, museum and restaurant into three days. I would leave some room for wandering. But I would also make sure we had a few plans that felt special. The kind of things that are more fun with your girlfriends, and that you might not necessarily think to book on a regular trip to Paris. After living in Paris for 14 years, these are the things I would actually put on my list.

1. Go to the Crazy Horse

Yes, I know. A cabaret is touristy. I also think a cabaret with your girlfriends in Paris is genuinely fun. Get dressed up. Have a drink. Make a night of it. And personally, I prefer the Crazy Horse to the Moulin Rouge. The show feels a little more cheeky and modern, and, in my opinion, it is more fun. If you have been wanting an excuse to wear the dress you packed but never quite found the right occasion for, this is it. The Moulin Rouge is the classic choice, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. But if you are asking me what I would choose for a girls’ trip, I would pick the Crazy Horse.

Make a night of it: book dinner or drinks before the show, rather than treating the cabaret as just another activity on your itinerary.

2. Book a ridiculously decadent spa treatment

This is your excuse to do something you would probably never book at home. Treat yourself. I am talking about a seriously decadent spa treatment at somewhere like the Dior Spa or the Ritz. Yes, it is expensive. That is partly the point. A girls’ trip to Paris is one of those occasions where I would rather spend money on one memorable experience than fill every day with smaller activities. You do not need to spend half your vacation at the spa. Book one treatment, put on a robe, enjoy the beautiful surroundings and let yourselves be a little extravagant.

And if that is completely outside your budget, you can still have a lovely experience that feels very Parisian without spending hundreds of euros. One of my favorite alternatives is the Grande Mosquée de Paris, where you can stop for mint tea in a completely different atmosphere. It is not a substitute for a luxury spa, obviously. But that is also what makes Paris so fun. You can have a very different kind of afternoon and still feel like you have done something special.

3. Have a two-hour lunch

This might be the most important one on the list. Do not book a quick lunch between activities. Pick somewhere beautiful, order a bottle of wine, and actually sit there for a couple of hours. 

If you’re doing this in Saint-Germain, I have a whole guide to my favorite restaurants in the neighborhood.

Sit down. Talk. People-watch. Stay for dessert. A long lunch is one of the great pleasures of being in Paris, and it is especially good with girlfriends because the meal itself becomes part of the experience. You do not need to be rushing off to the next museum at 2:15. In fact, I would build your day around lunch rather than trying to squeeze lunch into your day. This is one of those small changes that can completely change how your trip feels.

4. Have drinks somewhere with a view

At least once, I would plan drinks around sunset. Find a rooftop, a beautiful hotel terrace or somewhere along the Seine. Order something you actually want to drink and stay long enough to watch the light change. You could make a reservation somewhere fancy, or you could keep it very simple. The important part is that you are not rushing through it. Paris is particularly good at giving you those moments where you look around and think, Oh. We are actually in Paris. A drink with a view is one of them.

A rooftop, a hotel terrace, somewhere along the Seine — ideally around sunset. I have a whole list of my favorite rooftop bars in Paris if you want to find the right one for your group.

5. Go shopping in Saint-Germain

Everyone is going to tell you to go shopping in Le Marais. And I am not saying you should skip Le Marais. But if you are asking me where I would take my girlfriends for a stylish afternoon of shopping, I would make the case for Saint-Germain. This is one of my favorite areas to shop in Paris because you can combine beautiful boutiques, French brands, bookstores, cafés and restaurants without feeling like you are spending the whole afternoon running from one shopping district to another. And this is exactly how I would do it.

I wrote a local’s guide to shopping in Saint-Germain if you want to know where I’d actually go.

Pick a few shops you actually want to visit. Walk. Stop for coffee. Look around. Maybe have a glass of wine. Keep going. The best shopping days in Paris are rarely about seeing every single store. They are about finding a few things you love and enjoying the neighborhood around them.

6. Do a perfume experience

If you are coming to Paris with friends, I love the idea of doing something together that you can actually take home. Go discover French perfumes together, or actually make your own. You can start by exploring some of my favorite French perfume shops in Paris, or book a workshop where you create your own scent. It’s such a fun thing to do with friends, and you get to take something home. There is something particularly nice about doing a perfume experience with girlfriends because it gives you an activity to talk about and compare afterward. Which scents did everyone choose? Who went floral? Who went completely for something unexpected?

And then you get to leave with a little souvenir that is actually connected to the trip. I would take this over another generic shopping afternoon any day.

7. Take a fashion history tour

If you love fashion and luxury, I would absolutely put this on your Paris itinerary. And I do not mean walking down Avenue Montaigne and taking photos outside the big fashion houses. I mean actually learning some of the history behind them. Parisian fashion did not appear out of nowhere. The city has a long relationship with couture, designers, department stores, craftsmanship and the women who shaped French style. A good fashion history tour gives you a completely different way of looking at the city.

Suddenly, you start to understand why certain neighborhoods matter. Why certain names matter. Why Paris became such an important fashion capital in the first place. And, as an added bonus, you may finally learn how to pronounce some of those French fashion brands correctly.

8. Take a Pilates class together

If you are into Pilates, I would absolutely book a class while you are here. My studio of choice is Reformation. They have several studios around Paris and classes in English, so you can actually book something without worrying about taking a French-language class. If you want more options, I also have a guide to the best workout classes in Paris in English, including Pilates studios.

I actually love this as part of a girls’ trip because it gives you a little wellness moment in the middle of all the eating, drinking and shopping.

And you do not have to turn it into a whole fitness morning. Take a class. Go get coffee afterward. Then continue with your day. That is much more my idea of a Paris wellness experience than spending half the trip worrying about whether you are eating too many croissants.

The best girls’ trips to Paris are not completely planned

If you are planning a girls’ trip to Paris, you may be tempted to create a perfect itinerary. I get it. There are so many things you could do that it feels impossible to choose. But I actually think the best trips with friends have a little bit of structure and a lot of breathing room. Book the things that you would be genuinely disappointed to miss.

A cabaret. A special spa treatment. A beautiful lunch. A perfume experience. Maybe a Pilates class. Then leave the rest of the day open.

Because some of my favorite Paris memories have never been things I planned in advance. They are the coffee that turned into wine. The shop we found because we took the wrong street. The two-hour lunch that became three. The conversation that would have never happened if we had been checking the time because we had to get to the next activity.

You are in Paris with your girlfriends. You do not need to see everything. You just need to make enough room to actually enjoy being there.

Planning a Paris trip? Browse my Paris guides for the neighborhoods, restaurants, shops and addresses I actually recommend after 14 years of living here.