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Not just a night out, but a whole experience, opera has now returned to its original Paris base after the theatre had a spell as a dance-only venue. The vast stage can hold a cast of 450, and the building itself is an example of excessive opulence, complete with grand staircase, mirrors and marble.

The epitome of Parisian cabaret, the Folies were, for a time, no more than a troupe of high-kicking, bare-breasted dancers. Today, the musical shows have largely returned to the nostalgic days when Maurice Chevalier and Josephine Baker performed here.

Home to the famous troupe of long-legged dancers, the Bluebell Girls, the fabulous special effects include aerial ballets and an on-stage skating rink. There are many who regard this dinner-cabaret as an essential Parisian experience.

The original home of the Can-Can, the theatre’s dancers were immortalized on canvas by Toulouse-Lautrec during the belle époque and are on display in the Musée d’Orsay. The show still has all the razzmatazz, feathers and sequins that it has been dazzling audiences with since 1889. The pre-show dinner is optional.

More risqué than the other big-name cabaret shows, the Saloon has a reputation for putting on the most professional as well as the sexiest productions. Striptease features, along with glamorous dancing girls and other cabaret acts. The computer-controlled lighting effects are spectacular.

The “Agile Rabbit” got its name in 1880 when a painter called Gill came up with the trademark leaping rabbit: lapin à Gill became Lapin Agile. Utrillo once painted the cabaret too (see Pierre-Auguste Renoir). If your French is up to it you’ll enjoy a mixture of songs, jokes and poetry in the heart of Montmartre.

Paris’s oldest theatre was founded in 1680 and is still the only one to have its own repertory of actors, staging both classical and modern drama (in French) from Molière to Tom Stoppard. The current building dates from the 18th century. Around the corner from the main box office, a special window opens 45 minutes before curtain-up, selling reduced price tickets for under-27s and concessions.

Opened in 1992 as the largest opera house in the world, this modern building was heavily criticized, not least for its acoustics and poor facilities. Most problems have been ironed out, but plans for this to be the city’s only opera venue have been changed.

The city’s largest concert hall and fourth-largest auditorium was built in 1862 and has recently been renovated. The repertoire covers classical music, ballet and opera, as well as popular Sunday morning chamber music concerts.

Once known as the Sarah Bernhardt Theatre, in honour of the great Parisian actress who performed here and managed the theatre in the 19th century, today it puts on an eclectic range of modern dance and music shows, with some classical theatre too.