The Left Bank of the cafés and the bookshops, and the best garden in Paris at the end of it. Here is the walk.
The short version
- Start at the church of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, the oldest in Paris, its tower from around the year 1000. Free, and five minutes inside is enough.
- The Café de Flore and Les Deux Magots face each other across the corner. Have one coffee at one of them for the history and pay for the chair; then eat somewhere else.
- Walk rue de Seine and rue Jacob for the galleries and the antique shops, and rue de Buci for the food stalls and the terrace cafés.
- The Musée Delacroix in the painter’s last apartment and studio on Place de Furstenberg is small and quiet, and a Louvre ticket gets you in the same day or the next.
- Finish in the Luxembourg Garden. It opens around dawn and closes around dusk, with the day’s closing time posted at the gates.
- The covered Marché Saint-Germain on rue Lobineau is open Tuesday to Sunday for lunch counters and picnic shopping.
The walk
From the church, cross the boulevard to the Flore and the Deux Magots, then take rue de l’Abbaye to the Place de Furstenberg, the smallest and prettiest square on the Left Bank. The Musée Delacroix is in the corner.
Rue Jacob and rue de Seine run north toward the river with galleries and antique dealers. Turn back south down rue de Seine to rue de Buci, the market street, for coffee or an early lunch.
Then south on rue de Tournon to the Senate and the Luxembourg Garden. Walk to the Medici Fountain on the east side, take a green chair by the octagonal pond, and stay as long as you like.
Or walk it with a guide: our half-day Paris walking tour runs a Left Bank route with a private guide, about three hours, start times from 9:00 to 18:00, through the streets where Hemingway and Sartre lived and worked.
Where to eat
Rue de Buci and the Marché Saint-Germain for lunch: the stalls and the covered market counters are fast and good, and the terraces on Buci are where the neighborhood sits in the sun.
A picnic from rue de Buci in the Luxembourg Garden is the best lunch in this part of Paris. The lawns are mostly off-limits; the chairs are the point.
The old literary brasseries on boulevard Saint-Germain, Lipp among them, are for the room more than the food. Book for dinner.
When to go
A weekday morning, ending with lunch. The galleries open around 10:30 or 11:00, the cafés are full from noon, and the Luxembourg is at its best in the afternoon light.
Sunday is quieter than the Marais: most of the galleries and many of the shops close, but the church, the cafés, the market and the garden are open.
Spring and early autumn are the Luxembourg seasons, when the chestnuts are in leaf and the pond is full of toy sailboats.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are the Café de Flore and the Deux Magots worth it?
For one coffee, yes, for the history: Sartre, Beauvoir, Picasso and the rest. The prices are high and the food is ordinary. Have the coffee, then eat on rue de Buci.
When is the Luxembourg Garden open?
Every day, from around dawn to around dusk; the opening and closing times change with the season and are posted on the gates. Whistles blow about 15 minutes before closing.
How long does Saint-Germain take?
Half a day for the walk above. A full day if you add the Delacroix museum, a long lunch and an afternoon in the Luxembourg.
Saint-Germain or the Latin Quarter?
They are neighbors, and the walk from one into the other is ten minutes. Saint-Germain is the cafés, galleries and shopping; the Latin Quarter is the Sorbonne, the Panthéon and the student streets. Do both in a day.
Is there a tour of the Left Bank?
Yes. Our private Notre Dame and Latin Quarter tour is two hours from the Saint-Michel fountain, up to five people, with the bouquinistes, Shakespeare and Company and a pastry stop on the way.
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