Paris and shopping are almost synonymous, for certainly the place is the shopping capital of Europe. If you are travelling from London to Paris for some serious shopping, then expect your wallet to take a pounding; Paris is chic, not cheap, though you can always save some money by catching the iDBUS, rather than the plane or the train.
There are a number of important shopping districts, and one of the most famous is Louvre-Tuileries and Faubourg Saint-Honoré. There you will find the very best in Parisian fashion including designers such as Yves Saint Laurent, Hermes, Versace and Colette.
The Boulevard Haussmann area is where many of the main department stores are located. These include Printemps and Galeries Lafayette with many fashion collections by top designers, interior design, jewellery and cosmetics, and all that you might expect to find in shoppers’ paradise.
The Marais is in the historic quarter and is the place in Paris for fine art and antiques. There are also many jewellery and clothes shops where you will find much eclectic fashion.
Avenue Montaigne and Avenue des Champs-Elysées is also a major designer fashion area and there you will find the likes of Chanel, Dior and Louis Vuitton alongside Zara and many similar trendy chain stores.
The famous Saint-Germain-des-Prés is both chic and intellectual, though many of the old bookshops that used to be found there are now transformed into designer boutiques with names such as Paco Rabanne and Sonia Rykiel. The famous Le Bon Marché department store is located nearby.
Les Halles and Rue de Rivoli was once the location of a huge food market but is now a popular shopping area. Les Halles is a large shopping mall which is mostly underground and has many major chain stores along with several small boutiques.
Bastille is a fairly trendy district and most of the shops are found on Rue du Faubourg St-Antoine. Mainly they are big high street names and chain stores but close by is the Viaduc des Arts with a huge number of specialist craft shops built into the arches of an old railway bridge.
Montmartre is not famous for being a shopping district, but it does have many very interesting shops of various specialities including food, design, fashion, jewellery, and fine art. There are also many small cafes and restaurants and street artists selling their work.
Paris has several flea markets and one of the better known ones is the Saint-Ouen which has been running since the eighteen hundreds. You will find just about anything there including antiques, furniture, vintage clothes, fine art, jewellery, and anything remotely collectable; you can lose yourself for hours in its enchanting labyrinth. So many reasons why you should book your iDBUS London to Paris ticket as soon as possible to discover Paris’s wonders.
This is a guest post by Claire Sim a new Londoner, travel passionate and animal lover. She blogs about Pets and Travelling in Europe. If you want Claire to write you specific content, you can find email her here or contact her on Twitter (Claire_Sim).