39 Best Places to Shop in The Marais, Paris

Tea lovers will adore this art-centric tea boutique and salon set in a 17th-century stone building in the upper Marais, near the Centre Pompidou. In contrast to the behemoth sellers—Mariage Frères, Palais des Thés, and Dammann Frères—who focus on quantity over quality, this shop's hand-selected varieties come from surprising places around the world (oolong from Georgia, anyone?) and small artisanal producers. The friendly owners, a husband-and-wife team, love to share their extensive knowledge, and a tasting flight of four pots in the adorable tearoom is a delight. Upstairs is reserved for artists' books and limited-edition artworks. There's also a tempting array of handmade porcelain teaware.

Short for Bazar de l'Hôtel de Ville, Le BHV Marais houses an enormous basement hardware store that sells everything from doorknobs to cement mixers and has to be seen to be believed. The fashion offerings for men, women, and kids feature many of the top labels, and there's a fabulous, not-too-crowded lingerie department on the fifth floor. But BHV is most noted for its high-quality home-decor items, electronics, stationery, and office supplies. If you're looking for typically French housewares (like those heavy, gold-rimmed café sets, gorgeous linens, or Savon de Marseille), this is the place. The extensive men's store is across the street at  36 rue de la Verrerie. Perched on the top level is Le Perchoir, a cozy rooftop cocktail bar overlooking the city skyline.

The raison d'être of the organization Métiers d'Art is to reward and promote French savoir faire—the traditional expertise of France's many fine craftspeople and artists passed down from generation to generation. To this end—and to the delight of local bobos (short for bourgeois-bohème or bourgeois-bohemians) decorating their Marais lofts—Métiers d'Art opened the capital's first crafts "concept store," which assembles the work of dozens of craftspeople and artists on four floors, including impeccably crafted glassware, porcelain, jewelry, leather goods, furnishings, housewares, fine art, and much more. It's an excellent place for a souvenir of French art de vivre.

This small-but-mighty boutique has quickly become chic Parisians' go-to place for affordable, eminently wearable, and ever-stylish urban classics. From stunning leather trenches to flowing suits and elegant evening wear, you'll find all the best in urban basics for home, office, and evening. These beautiful basics will never go out of style.

At this concept store, complete with an adorable café and a section for vintage treasures, you'll find all your wardrobe essentials, from carefully chosen French and European fashions to a great selection of accessories, plus Paris-made jewelry and a curated collection of designer vintage by the likes of Lanvin, Hermès, and Dolce & Gabbana.

Paris's favorite concept store assembles top fashions for men and women, home furnishings (including those irresistible French bed and bath linens), vintage, jewelry, and housewares all plucked straight from top-tier French, European, and American designers. Every two months the store features a new design concept in the main entrance, with themes that range from Merci en Rose (featuring all things pink) to American Surf & Skate. The store's three cafés make lingering among Paris's fashion elite a pleasure.

This elegant little "pharmacy" could have been here for a hundred years, thanks to the genteel ambience of the shop featuring a line of irresistible all-natural fragrances and luscious beauty concoctions for the face and body. Choose from a range of lotions in delicate scents like tuberose, orange blossom, and damask rose, or create your own according to skin type. The charming tea and coffee bar, where you can sit for a snack or drink, was imported straight from Italy.

An absolute favorite address for the kind of beautifully designed, offbeat yet sexy wardrobe staples we've come to expect from Paris designers. First carried only in top boutiques and concept stores, this sought-after label opened its own boutique only recently. You'll find tons here to love that you won't see on anyone else, including shoes and accessories.

Irresistible is the word for this shop's scintillating collection of jewels—from an assemblage of top-echelon international designers—that ranges from the daintiest of diamond rings, bracelets, and necklaces to brilliantly colored stones in edgy settings. This spare boutique, a stone's throw from concept store Merci, may be tiny, but it's had a big impact on fashion jewelry in Paris. If you're looking for a piece to be worn every day or a statement piece that goes from day to night, this is your place. Trunk shows and openings are held at WHITE bIRD's first and larger boutique at  38 rue du Mont Thabor, just off the Rue St-Honoré.

AB33 is like a sleek boudoir—complete with comfy chairs and scented candles—and the clothes here are unabashedly feminine. Separates in luxury fabrics from top designers, irresistible silk lingerie, dainty jewelry, and a selection of accessories celebrate that certain French je ne sais quoi.

Bonton takes the prize for most-coveted duds among those who like to think of children as fashion accessories. (Moms may find some useful wardrobe pointers, too.) Sassy separates in saturated colors layer beautifully, look amazing, and manage to be perfectly kid-friendly. Bonton sells toys and furniture, too.

Like the ready-made Duchamp "artwork" for which it is named, the Broken Arm projects a minimalist cool that puts the concept back in concept store. A hypercurated selection of A-list brands for men and women includes vivid separates from the likes of Martin Margiela, Prada, and the sublime Lemaire. A choice selection of objects and accessories (books, shoes, jewelry, and leather goods) elevates the everyday to art.

This sleek boutique near the Pont Marie carries a selection of 200 handmade papers from around the world, unique stationery, cards, and writing instruments as well as artwork made on and with, yep, paper. It's an oh-so-Parisian source for personalized calling cards and stationery.

One of a slew of cannily resurrected ancient brands, Cire Trudon traces its origins to a Paris candle works founded in 1643, later dubbed the royal candle supplier in 1811. Now this bijoux of a boutique carries elegant tapers and sublimely scented candles in a range of sophisticated fragrances dreamed up by Parisian perfumers and poured into elegant Italian glasses. Cheeky wax busts of French personages—made in partnership with the Réunion des Musées Nationaux, makers of the official replicas from French museums—are de rigueur for chic Parisian apartments. You’ll also find a line of perfumes for you and your home.

COS—which stands for Collection of Style—is the H&M group's answer to fashion sophisticates, who flock here in droves for high-concept, minimalist designs with serious attention to quality tailoring and fabrics at a reasonable price. Classic accessories and shoes look more expensive than they are.

This is Paris’s one-stop-shop for all things Italian—cheeses, charcuterie, fresh and dried pasta, olive oil, sauces, pastries, wines—you name it, it’s here. There’s also a restaurant, café, and two wine bars on the premises. On weekends it’s teeming with neighborhood foodies, so best to go in the morning or linger at apéro hour over specialty olives and a glass of wine.

Here you'll find flattering, of-the-moment styles from Greek designer Erotokritos Antoniadis, who expresses a unique Parisian chicness through comely silhouettes with expertly tailored separates in beautiful seasonal colors. The collections include women’s and men's ready-to-wear items and accessories.

Don't let the chaos at Free 'P' Star discourage you—there's gold in them there bins. Determined seekers on a budget can reap heady rewards, at least according to the young hipsters who flock here for anything from a floor-sweeping peasant skirt to a cropped chinchilla cape. A second Marais branch at  61 rue de la Verrerie is equally stuffed to the gills.

The flagship store features an understated collection of contemporary French-made clothes and accessories for men and women that emphasize quality fabrics, classic style, and cut over trendiness. You'll also find a handpicked collection of exclusive collaborations with cutting-edge French brands (like sleek leather-and-suede booties by Avril Gau for FrenchTrotters), as well as FrenchTrotters' namesake label and a limited selection of housewares for chic Parisian apartments.

This place isn't called the épicerie du monde for nothing. Izraël is a one-stop shop for any spice under the sun, plus those hard-to-find items you'd otherwise spend days tracking down. Bins overflowing with every variety of candied fruit, nuts, beans, olives, pickles, and preserved fish give this tiny shop the air of an exotic bazaar. You'll also find all manner of canned goods, candies, rare spirits, and baking necessities.

Genin offers great chocolate: not too sweet, with handpicked seasonal ingredients for the velvety ganaches. The tea salon is a great spot to sample one of Genin's masterful takes on classic French pastries and a voluptuous chocolat chaud.

This Rue de Sevigné boutique is Paris's touchstone for edgy, up-to-the-second styles. L'Eclaireur's knack for uncovering new talent and championing established visionaries is legendary—no surprise after 30 years in the business. Hard-to-find geniuses, like leather wizard Isaac Sellam, coexist with luxe labels such as Ann Demeulemeester, Jil Sander, and Maison Margiela.

L'Habilleur is a favorite with the fashion press and anyone looking for a deal. For women, there's a great selection from Harley of Scotland, Wax London, and Henrik Vibskov. Men can find elegant suits from Scandinavian designers.

Le Monde Sauvage is a must-visit for home accessories. Expect reversible silk bedspreads in rich colors, velvet throws, hand-quilted bed linens, silk floor cushions, colorful rugs, and the best selection of hand-embroidered curtains in silk, cotton, linen, or velvet.

White tea, green tea, black tea, tea from China, Japan, Indonesia, South America, and more: you can expect a comprehensive tea experience here. Try one of the flavored varieties, such as Hammam, a traditional Turkish recipe with date pulp, orange flower, rose, and red berries.

This is the only hatmaker in Paris where you can see jaunty cloches, fedoras, and flat-topped straw boaters being made with centuries-old techniques in an on-site atelier. Classic models in straw, wool, rabbit felt, or silk in a huge range of colors come in a dozen styles, from a charming pillbox to an elegant wide-brim model so light and graceful it could easily pair with an evening suit or wedding gown.

Wearing a Majestic cashmere-cotton blend T-shirt, dress, cardigan, or blazer is like spending the day cocooned in your favorite jammies. Fans have been known to buy five pairs of the silky-soft leggings in one go, just to be sure they never run out. The fact that you'll look totally stylish is the icing on the cake.

Mariage Frères, with its colonial charme and wooden counters, has 100-plus years of tea purveying behind it. Choose from more than 450 blends from 32 countries, not to mention teapots, teacups, books, and tea-flavor biscuits and candies. High tea and light lunches are served here and at several other Paris locations.

The first Paris offshoot of the famous patisserie and tea salon in Lille (one of France's oldest) specializes in the gauffre, a delicate waffle handmade in the original 19th-century molds and wrapped in gilt-paper packages. Native to Belgium and northern France, Méert's version is treasured for its light cream center perfumed with Madagascar vanilla. There are also chocolates, pastries, and flavored guimauves, the airy French marshmallows.

Kanketsu (simplicity) is the guiding philosophy at Muji, and the resulting streamlined designs are all the rage in Europe. Must-haves include a collection of mini-necessities—travel essentials, wee office gizmos, purse-size accoutrements, plus the best notebooks and pens around. They're so useful and adorable you'll want them all.