What to do in Paris when it's raining (and you don't want to museum)

Paris does rain a lot — about 110 days a year of "yes, you'll need an umbrella." Here's what locals actually do when the weather turns. None of these are museums.

1. The covered passages of the 2nd

Galerie Vivienne, Passage des Panoramas, Galerie Colbert. Glass-roofed 19th-century shopping arcades that connect across a few blocks of the 2nd. Walk them slowly — three or four bookshops, two stamp dealers, a vintage poster gallery, two cafés, no rain. Two hours easily.

2. A long lunch at Le Comptoir du Relais

The bistro Yves Camdeborde made famous. Dinner is impossible. Lunch is walk-in. Order the duck. Sit for ninety minutes. Watch the rain hit the windows.

3. The Galeries Lafayette dome

Skip the shopping floor and head straight up to the rooftop terrace (8th floor). The view of Paris under low clouds is moody in a way the sunny version isn't. The Belle Époque stained-glass dome inside is also worth the elevator ride.

4. Shakespeare and Company, upstairs reading room

Open until 11 PM most nights. The reading room upstairs has armchairs, an old typewriter, a bed (yes), and exactly the right amount of warmth. You can stay an hour. Bring a notebook.

5. Hammam at La Mosquée de Paris

The hammam at the Great Mosque of Paris (5th) — €18 for a steam, sauna, and a mint tea in the courtyard after. Women's days and men's days alternate; check the schedule. The post-hammam mint tea in the blue-tiled courtyard is the actual experience.

6. The basement at Merci

The concept store has a café in the basement that's quieter than the upstairs floors. Get a cappuccino, a soup if it's lunch, and read for an hour. The space is generous, you won't be rushed.

7. A 2 PM glass at Harry's New York Bar

The bar opens at noon. Most days it's empty until five. The 2 PM Bloody Mary in a wood-paneled bar where Hemingway drank — with the rain outside — is one of the rare Paris experiences that actually delivers on the cliché.

8. Inside Saint-Eustache

Larger than Notre-Dame, almost always empty. Free. The 8,000-pipe organ is one of the largest in France. Sunday-evening recitals at 5:30 PM are free. Twenty minutes is enough on a normal day; an hour if it's pouring.

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What to skip

• The Eiffel Tower in the rain. Visibility is bad and the wait is no shorter.
• The Catacombs. People are surprised this exists for the rain — it's underground! But the line is outside, and it's still 60–90 minutes.
• Versailles if it's pouring. The gardens are half the experience.

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Build a rainy-day plan for your dates — we'll route four indoor stops within walking distance.