Making Friends in Paris: A Guide for Newcomers

Arriving in Paris without knowing a soul is more common than you might think: students, expats, French people from the provinces, digital nomads and long-stay travellers all find themselves in the same situation every September. Making friends in Paris is no harder than anywhere else, but it does take a method, because the city is big and everyone already has a full diary. This guide covers the approaches that work in 2026: friendship apps, language-exchange bars, run clubs, workshops, volunteering and expat networks. It also explains the local social codes and lays out an action plan for your first 30 days.

Why it's slower in Paris, and why it's not you

Parisians aren't colder than anyone else, but they are busy and already well surrounded: circles form at school, at university or at work. A newcomer therefore has to create opportunities rather than wait for them. The good news is that the city offers a concentration of group activities unmatched anywhere else in France, and most of it is free. Allow three to six months to build a first solid circle: that's normal, and it applies to everyone.

Friendship apps and platforms

Meetup: the best-stocked platform in Paris. Groups by language, sport and interest; free to join, and most events are free too.
Timeleft: Wednesday-evening dinners for six strangers, matched by a personality questionnaire. A French start-up launched in 2020, now in more than 200 cities. Tickets around €13, monthly subscription around €20, plus the bill (€25 to €40 in Paris).
Bumble BFF: in France, the "friends" mode is found inside the standard Bumble app. Free at the basic level, with a mostly female user base.
Frimake: a free French app (optional subscriptions) where members propose outings: drinks, hikes, concerts. French-speaking crowd.
OnVaSortir Paris: a long-established free site with more than 100,000 active members. Dated interface, very real community, all ages.
InterNations: an expat network, basic membership free, events and Albatross membership paid. Effective for English-speaking professionals.
Couchsurfing: now paid (a modest annual contribution), but the app's Hangouts feature is still handy for a same-day drink with travellers.

Language exchanges and polyglot bars

Language-exchange nights are the fastest way to talk to strangers, since that is the stated purpose.

Polyglot Club: free evening every Tuesday and Saturday, 8pm–2am, at Le Baratin, 41 boulevard Saint-Marcel, 75013 Paris. Tables by language marked with flags, 50 to 130 participants. One drink expected.
Denfert Café polyglotte: 58 boulevard Saint-Jacques, 75014 Paris, Monday to Saturday 8pm–midnight. Each evening has its own focus: German on Monday, Romance languages on Wednesday, Russian on Friday, all languages on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
Language-exchange Meetup groups: several groups with thousands of members, including Franglish-style evenings with "seven minutes per table". Activity varies: check the calendar.

For foreigners, a French course is also a social circle. The Alliance française de Paris (101 boulevard Raspail, 75006 Paris) offers a 72-hour intensive course over four weeks for €1,460. Far cheaper, the city's Cours d'Adultes de Paris offer French as a foreign language in the evenings, from €50 to €350 a year; online registration in late August and in January.

Team sports: run clubs, climbing, padel

Paris Half Marathon

Running has become the capital's number-one social network. Run clubs are almost all free, no registration needed, and they end at the bar.

adidas Runners Paris: free sessions almost every day, track, road or strength work, several locations.
Paris 11 Running Club: Wednesdays at 7:30pm, departing from the Fitzroy, 49 rue du Faubourg-Saint-Antoine, 75011 Paris. Two paces, 5 to 7 km, drinks together afterwards.
Hoka Run Club (Monday in the Marais, Wednesday at Opéra, 7pm), Circle Run Club (Tuesday 7pm, rue de Marseille, 10th) and Paname Run Club (Tuesday evening) round out the offer.

If you're aiming for a race, the Paris Marathon in spring is a unifying goal. Bouldering is the other sport where people naturally talk to each other: the Arkose network has fourteen gyms in Paris and the inner suburbs, entry €18 or €9.99 off-peak, unlimited €59 a month. Padel, played in fours, forces you to find partners: our guide to padel in Paris shows where to book and join friendly tournaments.

Classes, workshops and volunteering

A weekly workshop builds more lasting bonds than a night out, because you see the same people again. The association Paris Ateliers runs year-long pottery and ceramics courses in the 13th, 14th and 19th arrondissements, from €372 to €1,112 a year depending on duration. To try before you commit, platforms such as Wecandoo or Funbooker list one-off taster workshops (ceramics, cooking, drawing) from €25. Social dance classes (salsa, bachata, rock) are ideal: you change partners all evening, and many schools offer the first class free.

Volunteering is the most underrated way to meet committed people.

Benenova: missions of 1 to 5 hours, no commitment, booked online, free. Ideal to start with.
Restos du Cœur de Paris: centres across the city, spontaneous applications online; departmental office at 8 rue Jean-Sébastien-Bach, 75013 Paris.
Serve the City Paris: an English-speaking volunteer network (street outreach, food distribution, language classes), membership of around ten euros a month.
Neighbourhood outreach teams recruit constantly through the public platform JeVeuxAider.

Expat networks, cafés and coworking spaces

Every community has its anchor points. English speakers gather at the American Library in Paris, in the WICE and Message Paris (parents) groups, or at American Church events. Meetup groups by language play the same role for other nationalities, and regional associations for French people from the provinces.

Digital nomads have a trump card: coworking. A space with a shared kitchen and weekly breakfasts changes everything; our selection of coworking spaces in Paris flags those that organise events. The same logic applies to cafés: the addresses with a big communal table, listed in our best cafés in Paris, are far more conducive to conversation than a boulevard brasserie.

Parisian social codes

Canal Saint-Martin, quai de Valmy

The apéro is the easiest invitation to extend and to accept: a drink between 6pm and 9pm, often on a terrace or along the banks of the Canal Saint-Martin in fine weather. Suggest it yourself, without waiting.
The dinner invitation comes later and marks a real milestone. Arrive ten minutes late, bring a bottle or a dessert, and plan for a long evening.
La bise (two kisses, in Paris) is for friends and acquaintances, not for a first professional contact; if in doubt, offer a handshake.
Tutoiement (using the informal "tu") comes quickly among young people, in sport and at parties, more slowly at work. Let the other person switch to "tu" first, or ask "on peut se tutoyer ?".
Time: a Parisian will happily say yes to a second invitation, rarely to a first. Follow up once, without insisting. A few sentences in French, however hesitant, open a lot of doors.

Your first 30 days: action plan

Week 1: install Meetup and Frimake, sign up for a language-exchange night. Get to know your neighbourhood with our guide to the arrondissements.
Week 2: choose a fixed weekly appointment (run club, dance class, climbing) and stick to it four weeks in a row.
Week 3: book a Benenova mission and a Timeleft dinner. Note down first names, follow up with two people by message.
Week 4: organise an apéro or a picnic yourself with three or four people you've met during the month; often newcomers too, and just as pleased to be invited.

If you live in a flatshare, the network starts at home: our guide to finding accommodation in Paris details the flatshare platforms.

Summary

Method	For whom	Cost	Recommended frequency
Meetup, Frimake, OnVaSortir	Everyone	Free	1 outing a week
Timeleft	25–45, alone on Wednesdays	€13 per dinner or €20/month + the bill	1 to 2 times a month
Language-exchange nights	Foreigners, curious French people	Free (one drink)	Weekly
Run clubs	Sporty types, all levels	Free	1 to 2 times a week
Climbing, padel, dance	Sporty types, medium budget	€10 to €60 a month or per session	Weekly
Workshops (ceramics, cooking)	Hands-on, creative people	€25 per session to €1,100 a year	Weekly
Volunteering	Everyone, including non-French speakers	Free or modest membership fee	Twice a month
Expat networks	Foreigners, professionals	Free to paid	Monthly
French courses	Non-French speakers	€50 to €1,460	Several times a week

Prices observed in September 2026.

Going further

The neighbourhood walks, open-air concerts and picnics listed in our free activities in Paris are all good excuses to suggest an outing to your new acquaintances.