Patisseries, je t’aime.
Louvre, schmouvre. Bring on the baked goods. Here’s the list of the very best Parisian bakeries. These are the best bakeries in Paris, France–boulangeries and pâtisseries–for croissants, bread, elegant sweets, macarons, and more.
How to Find the Absolute Best Parisian Bakery
Paris, France is steeped in centuries of expertise, tradition, and integrity when it comes to its bread and baked goods, making this city the global standard-bearer for some of the world’s best dessert pastries (pâtisseries) and flaky, buttery baked pastries like croissants and pain au chocolat (Viennoiserie), plus award-winning bread from bread shops (boulangeries) still using old-world techniques.
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That said, there is plenty of mediocrity out there in Paris. If you don’t know what to look for, you may end up wasting money on factory-produced fare.
This list of the very best Paris bakeries brings you the best of the best, from bread-making boulangeries to pastry-filled pâtisseries, this list is filled with top-rated, vetted spots that are worth seeking out. Just follow this guide and the smell of butter to baked-good bliss. And if you’re in Paris, have a buttery croissant for me. Bon appétit.
Ed. note: Each one of these bakeries has been personally vetted, researched, tested, and updated each year by me, a professional pastry chef and frequent visitor to Paris, to account for new openings, closures, and quality. This list considers both high- and low price points, types of bakeries, and casts a wide net, with bakeries located throughout Paris.
If you like learning the best bakeries in Paris, France, you’ll also like these French-inspired recipes and articles:
- The Best Trendy Restaurants in Paris
- The Best Places to Eat in Paris
- Recipe for Authentic French Madeleines
- Feel French With These Bastille Day Recipes
The Very Best Bakeries in Paris, France
1. Best Historic Bakery in Paris: Stohrer (2nd arrondissement)
The oldest patisserie in Paris owes its longevity not just to its ancient jewel-box charm, but for the golden-brown array of fresh traditional French baked goods, such as éclairs, financiers, and fruit tarts. Stohrer’s bona fides don’t get better than this: It was founded in 1730 by King Louis XV’s pastry chef.
2. Best Bread: Poilâne (Multiple locations; original location in 6th arrondissement)
The one and only Poilâne makes, hands down, the most iconic bread in Paris. Large, dense, crusty boules of naturally-leavened bread are baked in a wood-fired oven and marked on top with a signature scrolled letter “P.” While you’re in the tiny shop, be sure to also pick up some little butter cookies, or punitions. They’re delicious. Poilâne now has five locations, but I prefer the original on the Rue du Cherche-Midi in the 6th. (Note: Poilâne also ships abroad. For a price.) See also: La Parisienne bakery, below, which has won Paris’s best baguette award twice in less than 10 years.
3. Best Viennoiserie: Du Pain et Des Idées (10th arrondissement)
This very popular French bakery is closed on weekends. But hopefully you’re on vacation, so are able to find a weekday moment to seek out this all-day ode to all things bread and buttery. The croissants and escargots (croissant dough rolled like a snail with folds of filling like praline or chocolate-pistachio) are legendary. This top Paris bakery gets busy, so try to get there in the morning for the best selection.
4. Best Paris Bakery for Comforting Baked Goods: Mamiche (two locations)
Mamiche is not the place for dainty French pastries where a pastry chef has applied gold leaf with tweezers. But if you’re looking for a friendly, butter-scented artisanal boulangerie to stock up on sugared beignets, chocolate babka, hearty bread, cookies, pain au raisin, sandwiches on fresh brioche buns, and homey treats like that, head to Mamiche. It’s one of the best bakeries in Paris for fresh-baked breads.
5. The Best Croissants in Paris: La Maison d’Isabelle (5th arrondissement)
Follow the smell of melted butter to this award-winning Left Bank bake shop on the Boulevard St. Germain (also next door to a fantastic cheese shop, by the way) for a croissant or two. Make that three. Baked throughout the day, the odds of snagging a still-warm croissant are good. Eat one croissant right away, and take another for sustenance as you explore the banks of the Seine or streets surrounding the Sorbonne. Both are nearby.
Tip: I visited in April 2025 and the word is out, with lines forming down the block. Get there early to avoid the wait.
6. Best Donuts: Boneshaker Donuts (2nd arrondissement)
American-in-Paris chef Amanda Bankert wants to “make our customers happy and the community a better place.” How? Through big, creative homemade donuts that happen to be vegan, of course. Boneshaker has been sweetening the 2nd arrondissement with fluffy, custard-oozing donuts layered with flavor that change with the seasons since 2016. Their cinnamon buns are also out of this world, making this not the most traditional but certainly one of the top Parisian bakeries right now.
7. The Best Gluten-Free Bakery in Paris: Chambelland (two locations)
Chambelland is a top Parisian bakery. It is also the best 1oo% organic and gluten-free bakery in Paris. This is the go-to bakery for cakes, tarts, brownies, giant chocolate chip cookies, and crusty artisan breads that are safe for gluten-sensitive patrons without feeling like a let down. (Noglu is another gluten-free Paris bakery, but not as good.)
8. Best Macarons and High-End Pastries: Pierre Hermé (multiple locations; aim for the flagship location in the 6th arrondissement on Rue Bonaparte)
Macarons. Chocolates. Entremets. Tarts. Master pastry chef and chocolatier Pierre Hermé’s eponymous shops are, simply, the best of the absolute best bakeries in Paris for high-end sweets and treats, especially macarons. His très correct, gorgeous offerings are the best example of what Paris bakeries can do when they really flex.
9. Best Classic-With-a-Twist Bakery: Tapisserie (two locations)
If you haven’t managed to score a reservation at perennial hotspot Septime for dinner, you can console yourself with one of the outstanding baked goods or light fare served at their neighboring bakery. Tapisserie puts creative, modern twists on the classics — peanut Paris Brest, baba infused with mezcal — alongside small savory items like croissant sandwiches and vegetable focaccia.
10. Best Baguettes and All-Around Go-To Bakery in Paris: La Parissienne (multiple locations)
This charming Parisian pâtisserie and boulangerie with multiple locations around Paris won Paris’s best baguette award several years ago and again in 2025–no small feat. La Parissienne continues the tradition of selling stacks of crusty baguettes each day, but this Left Bank charmer also makes other glorious breads like soft brioche and Viennoisserie like croissants and the like. The pastry case also is one of the city’s best, whether you’re looking for a fruit tart or classic éclairs.
Before you go to these best Parisian bakeries, here’s some helpful French bakery and pâtisserie know-how and vocabulary:
- Bio = organic (pronounced “BEE-oh”)
- Baguette de tradition = The baguette has been made according to traditional techniques, without additives and never frozen or produced in a factory. Seek these out over a “baguette ordinaire.”
- “Bonjour, madame! Bonjour, monsieur!” = necessary and expected greeting when you enter the shop. When you leave, say “bonne journée!”
- You generally don’t have to buy an entire big loaf of bread. Bakeries such as Poilâne, below, often sell quarters or halves, sold by the kilo, demi-kilo (half kilo), and so on. One pound equals 453 grams, or grammes in French, as a reference. So if a loaf of bread is one kilo and you want a quarter loaf, you’d say, “Je prends 250 (deux-cent-cinquante) grammes, s’il vous plâit.”
- Boulangerie = bakery. Boulangeries will sell both bread and other baked goods such as croissants, chausson aux pommes, and the like. This class of buttery, flaky, laminated pastry baked goods are called Viennoiserie.
- Pâtisserie = This is the word for both pastry and pastry shop. Many French bakeries are both boulangeries and pâtisseries.
Originally published April 2024. Updated May 2025.
