Historic Bars in Paris

La Palette

Café / Historic Bar

Party Earth Review Although Paris is well known for its café society, the heart of which is in Saint Germain, it is often difficult to know which cafés offer the best experience and which are simply tourist traps. Enter La Palette, an authentic Parisian café that offers the true Saint Germain vibe with a good balance of style and French nonchalance ... more

43 Rue de Seine
75006 Paris

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Café de Flore

Café / Historic Restaurant

Party Earth Review Bursting at the seams with history, Café de Flore was the old stomping ground of iconic French intellectuals Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre, and this unique heritage has attracted a flood of well-heeled and knowledgeable tourists making a pilgrimage to one of THE quintessential Parisian cafés ... more

172 Boulevard Saint-Germain
75006 Paris

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Bouillon Chartier

Historic Restaurant

Reviewed by Susana M.

"It is not easy to find a cheap restaurant, in Paris, where we can try the typical "french cuisine". At the Bouillon Chartier, we not only have traditi ..." more

7 rue du Faubourg Montmartre
75009 Paris

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Le Memphis

Club / Historic Bar

Reviewed by Amanda D.

"My Take: One of the oldest clubs in Paris, open since 1946, and featured in a few movies and in fashion spreads on the pages of Italian Vogue, Le Memp ..." more

3 Impasse Bonne Nouvelle
75010 Paris

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Harry's New York Bar

Cocktail Bar / Historic Bar

Party Earth Review Rumors abound about Harry’s New York Bar, with regulars swearing it’s the oldest cocktail bar in Europe, and doing so with the kind of pronounced assuredness only a silver-foxed Frenchman can portend. The scuttlebutt is equally firm that the Bloody Mary, White Lady, and Sidecar were all invented behind the bar, much to ... more

5 Rue Daunou
75002 Paris

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Café de la Paix

Café / Historic Restaurant

Reviewed by Lily R.

"My Take: Café de la Paix has an unbeatable history; when it opened in the late 1800s, famous clients, such as Emile Zola and Guy de Maupassant, wou ..." more

12 Boulevard des Capucines
75009 Paris

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It’s not hard to believe that there are many historic bars in Paris. After all, this beautiful cosmopolitan town has been known as “Paris” since the Romans were traipsing around.

Harry’s New York Bar is probably the best-known of the Paris historic bars. Maybe it’s because Ernest Hemingway and Coco Chanel used to be regulars, although let’s face it, Ernest was a regular at a lot of bars. Or maybe it’s because it’s reportedly the oldest cocktail bar in Europe. Or maybe it’s because not only the Bloody Mary, but the White Lady and Sidecar were all (VERY allegedly) invented here. In any case, entering Harry’s is like stepping back into the Big Apple circa 1920, with its dapper crowd of sophisticated regulars, white-coated bartenders, and the soft tinkling of a piano streaming from the basement.

Then there’s La Palette, an authentic Parisian café opened in 1905 that was frequented by artists Picasso and Braque, who both established the venue’s initial following of creative types. To this day, the café is still popular with students from the famous French art school, École des Beaux-Arts, as well as actors like Harrison Ford who appreciate the café’s unfussy attitude.

From chichi to casual, Paris historic bars are easy to find, though they may be far more difficult to leave.