How to recreate the Paris trip from Heartstopper
Seeing as they’ve got better love lives than most of us, the Heartstopper kids are clearly doing something right. Here’s how you can have your own romantic trip to Paris à la Nick and Charlie.
Ahhh Heartstopper, the gift that keeps on giving. Every time Nick and Charlie hold hands and those little pastel leaves come floating onto screen, we get yet another healthy boost of serotonin.
The first series of this dreamy Netflix show gave us the struggles and realities of being LGBTQ+ in high school, while also being super romantic. Now, the second series is taking things a step further, as the students of Truham and Higgs take a school trip to the City of Love.
Across three episodes in this latest season (which came out on 3rd August), Charlie and Nick’s gang tour around Paris and see the sites of this iconic city. From the historic Louvre to the vibrant streets of Le Marais, the group see the best that Paris has to offer, and, as you can expect, we get plenty of hijinks, rows, and tender moments on the way.
So, to help you get in the spirit of l’amour, we’ve put together this guide to how to recreate the Paris trip from Heartstopper. With everything from what to wear, how to get there and what to go see, this piece will have you primed for a perfect whirlwind adventure. Plus, we’ve included links, so following the Heartstopper route couldn’t be easier.
Whether you’re travelling alone or planning a trip with a loved one, this guide will tell you everything you need to know. Let’s escar-go!
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How to recreate the Paris trip from Heartstopper for yourself
Step one – Getting there
Keeping in with Heartstopper’s trend of being scarily accurate to real secondary school life, the kids get to France on a coach that goes on the Eurotunnel. We don’t actually get to see this in the episode, but as Cormac Hyde-Corrin’s character Harry says: “So the bus goes on the train?”
In real life, the coach is often the cheapest way to get to Paris; on average it costs £60 each way, although businesses like Omio have prices starting from £32. However, you can also get to France via ferry, train, and airplane. If you were to jump on the ferry from Dover to Calais now, you’d be paying around £80 a trip, according to Direct Ferries. Meanwhile the Eurostar to Paris can cost anywhere between £52 and £400, and flights can range from £21 to £1,000.
Shop ferries to Paris at Direct Ferries
Shop trains to Paris at Trainline.com
Shop flights to Paris at Expedia
Step Two – Find a boujee hotel
Once you’re there, you’ll need to find a nice hotel. Obviously, as a capital city, Paris has hundreds of hotels to choose from, but if you’re looking for that authentic French experience, you might want to try the Grande Hotel Francais, the Hotel Plaza Athenee or the Hôtel Monsieur Aristide. Or, if you’re on a budget, you can find hotels at Booking.com for £42 a night.
Shop Paris hotel stays from £42 a night at Booking.com
Step Three – Get the Parisian look
In the series, it seems that only Imogen, who’s played by Rhea Norwood, makes any effort to get into the Parisienne spirit. She may not be everyone’s favourite character, but she certainly gets the look right with her co-ordinated pink checked blazer and shorts, topped with a lilac beret (which she later swaps for a black one).
If you want to steal this look for yourself, you can find pink and other coloured berets at H&M for £8.99 and a coat that perfectly matches Imogen’s for £18 at Boohoo.
Buy pink wool-blend beret for £8.99 at H&M
Buy bright pink boucle jacket for £18 at Boohoo
Step Four – Take a tour around the sites
Across the three Paris episodes, the Truham and Higgs kids stop off at the likes of the Sacré Coeur Basilica, the Arc de Triomphe and Notre-Dame, all of which are must-sees for first-time visitors. So, to make it easier for you to see all these and more, we’d recommend a hop-on-hop-off bus tour. Paris has dozens of these tours running, like the Tootbus Discovery tour, and the Big Bus Open Top Night Tour – which will truly show you why it’s called the city of lights. You can also couple this with a boat tour of the Seine.
Shop hop-on-hop-off Paris tours at Viator
Want to stay in London, we've got the best London boat tours and best London bus tours to try.
Step Five – Stop by the Louvre
One key scene sees the gang visit the Louvre, home to some of the world’s greatest pieces of art. The Venus de Milo, the Lacemaker and, of course, the Mona Lisa, all reside here. Entry to the Louvre costs just £14.64, although you have the option of paying more for guided tours and skip the line tickets.
Buy The Louvre tickets from £14.64 at Headout
Step Six – Have a romantic moment on the Eiffel Tower
What would a trip to Paris be without a textbook romantic moment on the Eiffel Tower. Well, thankfully, the Heartstopper creators asked the same thing, leading to us getting the perfect moment between Nick and Charlie (Kit Connor and Joe Locke). If you fancy having this for yourself, book the Eiffel Tower climbing experience ahead of time, and save yourself having to queue. Plus, you can pay extra to book a trip to the second floor or the summit.
Buy the Eiffel Tower climbing experience for £36.22 at Headout
Step Seven – Leave a padlock on the Pont des Arts
It’s a cliché but a beautiful one. Like the characters in the show, you’ve got to leave a padlock on the famous Pont des Arts bridge. It’s estimated that over 700,000 locks are attached to this bridge – that’s roughly the same weight as 20 elephants!
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Step Eight – Pick up the perfect souvenir
We all want that feeling Isaac had when shopping at the Shakespeare and Company book shop. So, to get that for yourself you’ll need to come away from Paris with the perfect souvenir. Maybe it’s a T-shirt from a particular landmark or a box of delicate macarons. As long as it’s special to you, that’s what matters.
Shop Paris T-shirts from £8.54 at Etsy
Buy Paris Biscuit tin for £35 at Biscuiteers
For the Paris lovers, we've also got how to get cheap Disneyland Paris tickets. Plus you can please your inner film fan with these film and TV studio tours.
