Moulin Rouge

Bright lights, dazzling outfits and seductive dances are the order of the day (and especially the night) at Paris’s Moulin Rouge. Indulge your senses with a visit to the birthplace of the can-can.

If you’re planning to stay in a hotel near the Moulin Rouge then be sure to plan ahead and catch one of the venue’s unique cabaret shows while you’re in the city. Expect stunning ruffled costumes with rhinestones and sequins, dazzling performances and daring choreography that all harks back to France’s Belle Époque, or ‘beautiful era’.

A night to remember

Nestled in Paris’s Pigalle district, close to Montmartre, the Moulin Rouge is marked out by its bright lights, the famous windmill that sits atop the building’s roof and quite often the queue of people hoping to acquire last-minute tickets to a show. The first performances took place in 1889 and it wasn’t long before word spread and the Moulin Rouge gained an international reputation, thanks in no small part to the iconic work of French painter and printmaker Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.

Hottest ticket in town

Aside from the scores of artists and classically trained dancers who perform on the stage seven nights a week, the Moulin Rouge has attracted international stars too. The likes of Frank Sinatra, Elton John and Ella Fitzgerald have all trodden the boards here. The attraction’s fame was given an additional boost at the start of the 21st century thanks to Baz Luhrmann’s hit film Moulin Rouge!, starring Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman. Following its 125th anniversary in 2014, the show remains one of the hottest tickets in Paris and attracts in excess of 600,000 visitors every year. Each evening there’s a 7pm dinner show, followed by two additional performances at 9pm and 11pm.

Stay nearby

If you’re keen to stay near the Moulin Rouge there’s a great selection of properties in this part of Paris to choose from. Consider accommodation along the Boulevard de Clichy, close to the Metro stations of Blanche and Pigalle, or look a little further east towards Paris’s impressive Gare du Nord railway station.