Paris bookshops may not be official tourist attractions, but to me, they are like small shelters scattered around the city. They are timeless places that tell the story of a different Paris, its neighbourhoods, and its people.
I used to spend entire Saturday mornings entering and leaving these doors, and even now, whenever I come back “chez moi“, this itinerary through Paris bookstores feels like a ritual.
I will share my favourite Parisian bookshops with you in no particular order.
At the end of the post, you will also find a dedicated map to help you plan your itinerary based on the neighbourhoods you have planned to visit.
![Le più belle librerie di Parigi](https://silvias-trips.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Schermata-2017-08-28-alle-09.12.56-900x593.png)
The oldest bookstores in Paris
Delamain
The oldest bookshop in Paris, founded in 1700 and now owned by Gallimard, is the Delamain. To me, it is a real historical monument, facing the entrance to the Comedie Française, a stone’s throw from Garnier and the Palais Royal. It is a paradise of old editions that make you dream.
History, literature, theatre, poetry … like an Alibaba cave of French culture.
155, Rue Saint Honore – metro Palais Royal
Jousseaume
One of my favourites, perhaps because it was the first one I fell in love with right after moving to Paris when I crossed the Galerie Vivienne between that cubbyhole that I used to call home and the site of the Master in Avenue de l’Opera. It was founded in 1826, and it still features dark—and rather dusty—shelves and windows—old bound books and editions that cannot be found elsewhere.
Galerie Vivienne (rue Vivienne – rue des Petits Champs) – metro Bourse or Palais Royal or Richelieu Drouot
Leymarie
Founded in 1858 by Allan Kardec, father and theorist of spiritualism and a descendant of the latter, still runs Pierre-Gaëtan Leymarie, this somewhat esoteric library.
In addition to the texts by Kardec, you can find any book that deals with secret societies, magic, divination, and esotericism at all levels. I got some historical texts on witchcraft and tarot cards, a great passion of a dear friend, the great musician of the Paris Opera orchestra with a gift for introspection …
42, rue Saint-Jacques – metro Cluny La Sorbonne
Libre Pensée
A peculiar place: religious association and seat of the Fédération Nationale de la Libre Pensée, born in 1911. It’s a thought movement favouring secularism, among other things. Their slogan is “Ni Dieu ni maître, à la bas la calotte et vive la sociale” and is the favorite library of anarchists, activists, and free thinkers. There are texts on history and politics, essays on economic policy, and The Free Idea, the Federation’s magazine.
10, rue des Fosses-Saint-Jacques – metro Luxembourg
Le Divan
Founded in 1921 by Henri Martineau between the rue Bonaparte and the abbey, a Dior boutique supplanted the bookshop in the early 1990s, but it didn’t close its doors; it just moved a little further, creating a movement of anger among the intellectuals of the neighbourhood, who have done nothing but increase its popularity … A neighbourhood bookshop, which ranges from essays to literature to texts for children to philosophical and artistic postcards that I can’t help but love. A quiet place I can’t resist.
203, rue de la Convention – metro Convention
Joseph Gibert
It’s the most famous and showy, but I don’t particularly like it because it’s noisy and always crowded. It was founded on Quai Saint-Michel by Joseph Gibert, a professor of letters who wanted to create a place dedicated to school texts of all types and levels. Thanks to the perpetual exchange of used books, it’s probably the best-stocked bookshop in Paris, but there are also board games, maps, tourist maps, travel guides, and comics. Today, you can find it in various locations around the city.
26, boulevard Saint-Michel – metro Saint-Michel
![Le più belle librerie di Parigi](https://silvias-trips.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Schermata-2017-08-28-alle-09.12.17-900x499.png)
![Le più belle librerie di Parigi](https://silvias-trips.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Schermata-2017-08-28-alle-09.14.43-900x596.png)
![Le più belle librerie di Parigi](https://silvias-trips.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Schermata-2017-08-28-alle-09.30.00-900x670.png)
![Le più belle librerie di Parigi](https://silvias-trips.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Schermata-2017-08-28-alle-09.37.20-900x597.png)
![Le più belle librerie di Parigi](https://silvias-trips.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Schermata-2017-08-28-alle-09.32.20-900x566.png)
The most fashionable bookstores in Paris
Librairie des Abbesses
One of my favourites! It is managed with love and competence by Marie Rose Guarnieri, a great connoisseur of literature who devours books and knows how to recommend them. It also has an excellent selection of art books!
30, Yvonne-le-Tac Street – metro Abbesses
La Librairie Gourmande
Founded in 1985, this bookshop is entirely dedicated to the world of gastronomy, from diet books to great recipes, from the latest culinary trends to sommelier guides.
96, rue Montmartre – metro Sentier
Librairie Michèle Ignazi
This small independent library in the Saint-Paul district, frequented by intellectuals of various kinds and levels, offers letters, philosophy, psychology, essays on psychoanalysis, history, structuralism, literary studies, and everything related to human thought and soul.
17, rue de Jouy – metro Saint-Paul
Librairie OFR
A super trendy library in the Marais is an actual reference for fashion, design, photography, and architecture books. It also has fantastic international-themed magazines, and downstairs, you can enjoy exhibitions and private sales of famous and trendy artists.
20, rue Dupetit-Thouars – metro Temple
La Belle Hortense
Still in the heart of the Marais is a library with a wine cellar and a trendy wine bar. A refuge from the chaos of the neighbourhood, where you can browse through a book while sipping good Burgundy … perhaps exchanging literary advice with other customers. I love this place!
31, Rue Vieille du Temple – metro Saint-Paul o Hôtel de Ville
Le Merle Moqueur
A beautiful bookshop on the slopes of Ménilmontant, inspired by “Les Temps des cerises“, also sung by Yves Montand.
They sell everything: maps, travel guides, books for children and teens, literature, essays, art books, and texts that tell the neighbourhood’s story. Their reading clubs are an experience to try if, by chance, you can stay in Paris for a few weeks …
51, rue de Bagnolet – metro Alexandre Dumas. Since 2013, they have also run a second bookstore, Le Gai Rossignol, in rue Saint Martin.
![Le più belle librerie di Parigi](https://silvias-trips.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Schermata-2017-08-28-alle-09.40.24-900x549.png)
![Le più belle librerie di Parigi](https://silvias-trips.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Schermata-2017-08-28-alle-09.36.39-900x443.png)
![Le più belle librerie di Parigi](https://silvias-trips.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Schermata-2017-08-28-alle-09.31.22-900x359.png)
![Le più belle librerie di Parigi](https://silvias-trips.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Schermata-2017-08-28-alle-09.12.56-900x593.png)
![Le più belle librerie di Parigi](https://silvias-trips.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Schermata-2017-08-28-alle-09.29.31-900x592.png)
Un regard Moderne
Jacques Noël has managed this library since the early 1990s. Chaos reigns in this library, but they have everything. Jacques knows everything. My Peanuts collection and Giardino comics came out of this fascinating bookish confusion!
10, rue Gît-le-Cœur – metro Saint-Paul
Les Mots à la bouche
An LGBT bookshop in the heart of the Marais, open until late evening, is a valid reference point for the neighbourhood and an inexhaustible source of themed texts, poetry, and art.
6, rue Sainte-Croix de la Bretonnerie – metro Saint-Paul
L’amour du Noir
A true paradise for yellow books, science fiction and cinema lovers!
11, rue du Cardinal Lemoine – metro Cardinal Lemoine
Artazart
I frequent the bookshop almost daily because it’s right in front of my home, on the Canal Saint-Martin. It has been open every day since 2000 (we moved there in the meantime!). It offers a fantastic selection of photography and art books with cool and irresistible fancy accessories!
83, Quai de Valmy – metro République
L’Ecume des Pages
It’s the bookshop of the night owls or, as in my case, of those who choose the birthday present immediately before getting to the birthday party or opt for a good book instead of/ with a good wine bottle to take at friends’ places for dinner … Open every day until midnight, it’s next to world-famous Café Flore.
174, boulevard Saint-Germain – metro Saint-Germain-des-Prés
![](https://silvias-trips.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/artazart9-900x600.jpg)
![](https://silvias-trips.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/image.jpg)
The most tourist bookstores in Paris
Galignani
The first English Bookshop was founded on the continent and is probably one of the largest and most elegant, with authentic antiques and accessories worthy of the best art collections. You can find everything on its bookshelves and meet anyone, from university students to French stars to international ones living in Paris. I used to go there every week when I lived in Paris, and I keep going back whenever I’m in town! The night of the last Harry Potter release, I was in line before the Tuileries …
224, rue de Rivoli – metro Concorde
Shakespeare & Company
The most iconic bookshop in Paris also specialises in English literature. You’ll have seen it in several movies precisely because it is very scenic… perhaps the most famous is Midnight in Paris. Books go from floor to ceiling, everywhere, and it’s magic (less magical when you need to do the cleaning, and I know because that was my first Parisian job!).
37 Rue de la Bucherie – metro Cluny la Sorbonne or Saint-Michel
Obviously, in Paris, there is a bookstore every few hundred meters, so if books are your passion, don’t stop “at my list”
Bon voyage et bonne lecture !