Paris Digest
Paris city guide since 1997
The 60,000 stores in Paris range from specialty stores to shopping malls. Paris winter and summer sales are great time for shopping. Most Champs-Elysées shops and stores in Le Marais are open on Sundays. Our selection. Shopping in Paris.
Shopping in Paris is not cheap. For fashion, come in January or July, traditionnaly the sale seasons.
The 2023 winter sale season started at 8am on January 11 and will end on February 7. The first day is always the best.
The 2023 summer sale season will start at 8am on June 28 and end on July 25.
If you miss the sale season, go to La Vallée Village near Disneyland Paris, a reputed discount fashion shopping mall. This is easy with Paris to La Vallée Village tour). Alernatively, go to Quai des Marques. A taxi is recommended.
A few fancy streets specialize in high end fashion with specialty shops of the top brands: Champs-Elysées, Rue Saint-Honoré, Avenue Montaigne, Rue de Sèvres.
The well known Department Stores sell two famous products from France: French fashion brands and French perfume brands. They are good venues for fancy shopping. As a cheaper alternative, go to the Shopping Malls.
You have litte time in Paris. Combine a visit to the Eiffel Tower and high-end shopping in near-by Beaugrenelle Shopping Mall. Have lunch there in one of the restaurants (we like Panasia and Noura). Stores in Beaugrenelle are attractive: French and international fashion, perfume, watches, pastry shop. Most shoppers are Parisians. There are few tourists.
Walk in Paris core districts and look around. You find great specialty stores selling things you can only buy in the city. The Shopping Arcades are great for that.
A few well known streets specialize in one trade: rue des Francs Bourgeois in Marais Paris shopping district combines fashion and decoration. The district around Musée d'Orsay is the right place for antique stores. Check Carré Rive Gauche web site. Viaduc des Arts, near Bastille is great for unique craftmanship. Check Viaduc des Arts web site.
You want to bring back home fine french food and wine. We have selected a few shops selling the best food in Paris. Sennelier is the best color store in town. Web site. La Droguerie is an amazing shop selling glass/wood beads, fabric ribbons, fabric flowers, crafted butterflies, craft kits. Web site. Marché Saint-Pierre in Montmartre is the fabrics market, a picturesque district and the paradise of DIY.
Find the best Paris bookstores and music stores.
For centuries, Paris open air shopping venues have been at the heart of Paris unique atmosphere. Go to Paris markets around the corner, where Parisians daily buy fresh vegetables, fruit, meat, fish and flowers.
The Flea Market attracts 70 000 shoppers every week. It has 2000 tiny shops and is famous for antiques and a myriad of old things including clothes and postcards.
There are so many stores it is hard to plan shopping in Paris. We have a few suggestions: If you are looking for very high French and international fashion, Avenue Montaigne, Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, Champs-Elysées and adjacent streets, all within walking distance ,concentrate the majority of the flagship stores of the best brands : Chanel, Dior, Louis Vuitton, Hermès and many others. If you have little time and want the best of France, fashion, perfume and tableware, Le Printemps and Galeries Lafayette Department stores of Boulevard Haussman are the shopping venues of your choice. Next to each other, they have too many added services such as home delivery, personal shopper, detax and restaurants. If you are looking for innovative French fashion, the many tiny stores of Le Marais district feature innovative French fashion brands. Many decoration stores too in a district where most stores are open on Sunday which is not the general rule in the city. You are looking for antiques, the famous Paris Flea market is still one of the most extraordinary shopping venues in town. The Carré des Arts on the left bank concentrates most high end antique stores in the city. You are looking for value for money and articles Parisians buy, the Shopping Malls are the shopping venues of your choice. The largest one are outside the city center, but easily reachable by the metro. You have no plan and want to be surprised, here again, the Marais is a good choice for shopping. Also try Montmartre rue des Abbesses and its diversified assortment of shopping venues.
Shopping in Paris is not cheap. For fashion, come in January or July, the sale seasons. The 2023 winter sale season started at 8am on January 11 and will end on February 7. The first day is always the best. The 2023 summer sale season will start at 8am on June 28 and end on July 25.
