The Best Croissants in Paris

Every spring, the bakers of Greater Paris put their butter croissants in front of a jury. The 2026 winner is a small bakery in the Sentier, and four of the next six places went to bakeries inside the city. That contest, not a popularity poll, is the backbone of this list: ten bakeries with an official placing, where they are, which day they close, and what to order.

How we picked

We started from the official results of the Grand Paris butter croissant contest, run by the bakers’ trade body for Paris and its inner suburbs. In 2026, the jury tasted 16 shortlisted croissants on April 7, scoring the bake, the shape, the lamination and the flavor. We kept the six bakeries in the 2026 top ten that are inside Paris, then added four Paris bakeries that placed in the 2025 contest, marked as such. Suburban winners are left out because you would not cross the ring road for breakfast.

Two honest notes. No Paris bakery placed in France’s national croissant contest in 2025 or 2026: the 2026 national winner, L’Épi du Roi, is in Versailles. And the City of Paris runs a famous prize for the baguette, not the croissant.

Opening days were checked on October 26, 2026, on each bakery’s own site where it has one and on directory listings otherwise. Paris bread shops have had to close one day a week since 1997, but a court ordered that rule repealed by November 9, 2026, so closing days may change. Call ahead or check before you go.

The list: ten Paris bakeries with award-winning croissants

1. Boulangerie du Sentier (2nd)

47 rue du Caire, 75002. Métro Sentier. Alexia Berreby’s bakery won the 2026 contest outright. Closed Saturday. Friday closing times differ from one listing to the next, so go early that day. Order the croissant; Time Out also singles out its rugelach.

2. Maison Thevenin, Saint-Placide shop (6th)

5 rue Notre-Dame-des-Champs, 75006. Third place in 2026, credited by the organizers to this shop. The bakery’s own site lists no closing day here or at the brand’s shop at 6 rue de Buci, but check before you go. Some press reports name the Buci shop as the winner; the organizers name Saint-Placide.

3. Gosselin Saint-Germain (7th)

258 bd Saint-Germain, 75007. Fourth place in 2026, and its apprentice, Esteban Janssen, won the apprentice category. Closed Sunday, per its own site. One directory also shows Thursday closed, which the bakery does not, so check before you go.

4. Chez Flo (13th)

4 bd Vincent Auriol, 75013. Métro Quai de la Gare (line 6). Fifth place in 2026. It opens at 6am on weekdays and is closed Saturday and Sunday, so it is a weekday-only stop.

5. Au Castelblangeois (1st)

168 rue Saint-Honoré, 75001. Seventh place in 2026, and the easiest award-winner to fit into a Louvre or Palais-Royal morning. Closed Sunday. One listing also shows Thursday closed, so check before you go.

6. L’Artisan des Gourmands (15th)

60 rue de la Convention, 75015. Métro Boucicaut (line 8). Eighth place in 2026. Directory listings agree that it closes on Wednesday and is open on Sunday.

7. La Parisienne, Faubourg-Poissonnière (10th)

12 rue du Faubourg-Poissonnière, 75010. Its baker, Mickaël Reydellet, won the City’s Grand Prix for the baguette in 2025, and the organizers list this La Parisienne shop second in the 2025 croissant contest, though one press release credits another of its shops. It is a multi-shop brand, so make sure you are at this address. Listings show no weekly closing day, with shorter Sunday hours.

8. Mille & Un (6th)

32 rue Saint-Placide, 75006. Métro Rennes or Saint-Placide. Korean-born baker Yongsang Seo took third place in 2025. Closed Sunday. It is a few minutes from the Thevenin shop above, so you can compare two placings in one morning.

9. Boulangerie Moderne Rabineau (5th)

16 rue des Fossés-Saint-Jacques, 75005. Fourth for its croissant in 2025, and eighth in the City’s 2026 baguette prize, so buy both. Closed Sunday; listings disagree about Saturday, so check before you go.

10. Lorette, Bobillot shop (13th)

48 rue Bobillot, 75013. Métro Place d’Italie (lines 5, 6 and 7), about four minutes on foot. Fifth in 2025. Per its own site, this shop is closed Saturday, Sunday and public holidays.

Croissant vs pain au chocolat: what to order

Start with the plain croissant. It is the thing these bakeries were judged on, and with nothing inside it you taste the butter and the layers. The pain au chocolat is the same laminated dough rolled around chocolate: order it second, not first.

Look for croissant au beurre or pur beurre on the label. Under the French bakers’ code of practice, “au beurre” means butter is the only fat. A “croissant ordinaire” is usually made with another fat, such as margarine. Do not judge by shape: both contests above ask for a curved croissant.

Paris croissants by neighborhood

Area	Bakeries	Closed
Louvre and the Sentier (1st, 2nd)	Au Castelblangeois; Boulangerie du Sentier	Sunday; Saturday
Saint-Germain and Saint-Placide (6th, 7th)	Maison Thevenin; Mille & Un; Gosselin	None listed; Sunday; Sunday
Latin Quarter (5th)	Rabineau	Sunday
Grands Boulevards (10th)	La Parisienne	None listed
13th arrondissement	Chez Flo; Lorette	Saturday and Sunday (both)
15th arrondissement	L’Artisan des Gourmands	Wednesday

None of the ten is in Montmartre. If that is where you are staying, our Montmartre walking tours cover the hill, and a morning bakery run is a good excuse to walk. For early starts in winter, our what to wear in Paris guide covers the cold, damp mornings.

Learn to bake croissants

Making croissants yourself is the fastest way to understand what the jury was judging. This class, in a workshop on Rue de Béarn in the 3rd arrondissement, has you make croissants, pains au chocolat and pains au raisin from scratch, and you take them all home with a recipe booklet. It is taught in English and French, for ages 7 and up.

A second option nearby, on Rue de Bretagne, lets you choose between bread and croissants or macarons, in English, for up to eight. Both are compared with market and macaron classes in our guide to Paris cooking classes.

Pastry and food tours

If you would rather taste than bake, this morning walk through the Palais-Royal and Rue Montorgueil areas is built around a croissant tasting: three croissants from celebrated bakeries, side by side, then baguette with cheese, bean-to-bar chocolate and coffee. Stops vary by day and season, and groups are capped at ten.

For a full meal on foot rather than breakfast, Devour’s Marais tour and the other neighborhood walks are compared in Paris food tours.

Croissant questions

Where is the best croissant in Paris?

By the most recent official ranking, Boulangerie du Sentier at 47 rue du Caire in the 2nd arrondissement. It won the 2026 Grand Paris butter croissant contest, judged in April and announced in May 2026. It is closed on Saturdays.

How much is a croissant in Paris?

There is no official average. As a rough guide, expect to pay about €1.20 to €2 for a butter croissant at a Paris bakery. Prices rose in 2025 with the cost of butter.

What time do Paris bakeries open?

Early. On weekdays, the bakeries on this list open between 6am and 7:30am and close between 7pm and 8pm. Sunday hours are often shorter where a shop opens at all, so go in the morning.

Are Paris bakeries closed on Sundays or Mondays?

Most close one day a week, but the day varies: Sunday, Saturday or Wednesday on this list. A 1997 prefecture order made every Paris bread shop close one day a week; a court ruled it illegal in July 2026 and ordered its repeal by November 9, 2026, so some bakeries may start opening every day. Call ahead.

What is the difference between a croissant ordinaire and au beurre?

A croissant au beurre is made only with butter as its fat. A croissant ordinaire is usually made with another fat, such as margarine. The old rule that straight means butter and curved means ordinary is a myth, so read the label, not the shape.