The legendary cafés of Saint-Germain-des-Prés : Flore, Deux Magots, Lipp

These three spots alone embody the history of Saint-Germain-des-Prés: the Café de Flore and Les Deux Magots, neighbors at the intersection of Boulevard Saint-Germain, as well as Brasserie Lipp, right across the street on the opposite sidewalk. From 59 Rue des Saints-Pères, the address of the Hôtel Pas de Calais, you can reach all three in about a 6-minute walk along Boulevard Saint-Germain. These are institutions, not just backdrops. People come here to sit, watch the boulevard, read, or wait for someone. But you still need to know what time to come, what to order, and what sets these three places apart. Here’s how to enjoy them without wasting your morning.

Directions from Rue des Saints-Pères, about 6 minutes

Leave 59 Rue des Saints-Pères and walk south down the street to Boulevard Saint-Germain, about a 2-minute walk. Turn left. Walk along the boulevard toward the east on the left-hand sidewalk, passing by the windows of the long-established fashion houses.

After about a 4-minute walk, the Saint-Germain-des-Prés church appears on your left, its Romanesque tower rising alone above the rooftops. You’ve arrived. The Café de Flore is just a few meters away, on the corner of Rue Saint-Benoît. Les Deux Magots is on the next corner, on the square. Brasserie Lipp is right across from you, on the other side of the boulevard. It takes about 6 minutes to walk from one to the other, all three are within a 200-meter radius.

That’s the great advantage of a spot on Rue des Saints-Pères. You don’t plan visits to these cafés, you just happen to stop by. You pop in in the morning, stop by again in the evening, without ever taking the metro.

Le Café de Flore the first floor rather than the terrace

The Flore’s terrace is picture-perfect, with its red awnings and tables lined up facing the boulevard. It’s also the most sought-after spot. If you’re coming for the view of the street, sit there. If you’re coming for the atmosphere, head up to the first floor.

The upstairs dining room is quieter and more intimate, with its booths and mirrors. That’s where you can read for an hour without being jostled. Few visitors think to go up there; they stop on the ground floor.

Le Flore takes itself seriously without taking itself too seriously. The service is fast, sometimes brusque, but never unpleasant if you know what you want. A coffee, a hot chocolate, an omelet: the menu is that of a French café, not a restaurant.

Les Deux Magots, the square, and the church across the street

Just a few steps away, Les Deux Magots opens onto Place Saint-Germain-des-Prés. The difference lies in their orientation. Le Flore faces the boulevard, while Les Deux Magots faces the church.

It’s the best terrace in the neighborhood to start the morning. The light streams in from the front, the square is still quiet, and the Romanesque church serves as a backdrop. Choose a table on the square side rather than the boulevard side.

The name comes from the two Chinese statues that stand in the dining room, remnants of the old novelty shop that used to be there before the café. They’re still there, though most customers don’t even notice them.

Brasserie Lipp, the other sidewalk, the other atmosphere

Cross the boulevard. Lipp isn’t a café, it’s a brasserie, which changes everything. You go there for lunch or dinner; you don’t linger over an espresso while reading.

The decor of ceramics and mirrors, the banquettes, the waitstaff in uniform: the place has retained its classic Parisian brasserie charm. The unwritten rule is to dine on the ground floor, as the upstairs dining room has long been considered the least prestigious. That doesn’t really matter anymore, but the anecdote still amuses the regulars.

Lipp is the most established of the three. It’s also the only one where making a reservation makes sense.

How much it really costs and what time to arrive

Let’s be frank: these three spots are expensive for what they serve. A cup of coffee there costs several times the price of a neighborhood café. You’re not paying for the drink; you’re paying for the atmosphere, the location, and the time you can spend there without being rushed.

It’s a good deal if you stay for an hour, a bad one if you leave in ten minutes.

Crowds follow a steady pattern. Midday and late afternoon are packed, especially from May through September. The best times are early in the morning, before the neighborhood really wakes up, and then late in the evening when the outdoor seating areas start to clear out. Weekdays are better than weekends. Off-season, these cafés go back to being what they really are: neighborhood cafés with exceptional decor.

Visiting all three on foot, in the right order

The best itinerary can be covered in a single morning. Start early at Les Deux Magots, across from the church, for breakfast and to catch the morning light. Then cross the square to visit the Church of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, the oldest in Paris, about a minute away.

Continue along Rue de l’Abbaye, then Rue de Furstenberg, about a 3-minute walk, to one of the smallest squares in Paris. Head back via Rue Bonaparte, with its arcades and bookstores.

Finish up at Café de Flore, on the first floor, for a light lunch. Save Lipp for dinner on another night, it doesn’t make sense to visit all three in a single day.

What These Cafés Really Used to be

It’s often said that Sartre and Beauvoir used to write at the Flore. It’s true, for a very practical reason: the apartments were poorly heated, while the cafés were warm. People would come to work there in the warmth all day long for the price of a drink.

These venues have seen the Surrealists, the Existentialists, and the left bank publishers, whose publishing houses still line the surrounding streets. For decades, Saint-Germain-des-Prés was the center of French publishing, and in some ways, it still is. The cafés served as their informal offices.

That’s what sets them apart from a staged setting. They weren’t designed to resemble their legend, they created it.

In practice

Hôtel Pas de Calais, 59 rue des Saints-Pères, 75006 Paris.

Café de Flore, Boulevard Saint-Germain, at the corner of Rue Saint-Benoît: about a 6-minute walk.

Les Deux Magots, Place Saint-Germain-des-Prés: about a 6-minute walk.

Brasserie Lipp, Boulevard Saint-Germain, opposite sidewalk: about a 6-minute walk.

Saint-Germain-des-Prés Church: about a 6-minute walk, across from Les Deux Magots.

Place de Furstenberg: about an 8-minute walk.

Metro: Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Line 4, about 5 minutes away. Rue du Bac, Line 12, about 6 minutes away.

Staying in the area

Staying on Rue des Saints-Pères means you can effortlessly pop into Le Flore at eight in the morning, then return in the evening because the terrace has cleared out. These cafés are best savored as a regular, not as a hurried visitor. The rooms and suites at the Hôtel Pas de Calais put the neighborhood within walking distance, which completely changes the way you experience it. After a day out, the hotel bar offers the simplest option for a quiet nightcap.