Leptomeningeal carcinomatosis (LMC), or neoplastic meningitis, occurs in about 5–20% of patients with metastatic cancer, depending on the type of the primary malignancy and kind of treatment received. The association of LMC with renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is a rare entity, and only two cases of papillary renal cell cancer with leptomeningeal metastasis have been reported. Leptomeningeal spread usually confers a poor prognosis despite the use of modern treatment strategies as compared to patients with extracranial metastases. We report a case of papillary RCC, a less common type of RCC presenting with LMC.