Planning your trip to Paris, but feeling overwhelmed by the amount of cafés, patisseries, boulangeries, and amazing restaurants out there?
This post is all about the perfect 3 day eating guide to Paris!
We’ll talk about how to eat well for 3 whole days in Paris without blowing the budget and without wasting too much or your precious little time in Paris.
This 3 day eating guide is divided by meal and is made to follow our Ultimate 3 day Paris Itinerary. In other words, the locations we recommend will be selected to complement this itinerary.
This is a system we have honed over several trips to Paris. Enjoy!
Where to Eat in Paris: Breakfast
My strong recommendation is to skip brunch or other sit-down breakfast options if you only have 3 days in Paris. This is for two major reasons.
First of all, you are in a city famed for amazing bakeries and pastry shops! Checking one (or ten) out is an authentic French experience in and of itself.
And second, Paris is at its most beautiful (and least busy!) in the early mornings. If you want to maximize your short Paris itinerary, I strongly recommend waking up early, getting a quick bite, and exploring rather than sleeping in and getting breakfast at a sit-down restaurant.
So, for breakfast, head to a great boulangerie in the neighborhood you’ll be exploring. Why? For an establishment to call itself a “Boulangerie” means that it makes its own baked goods in-house. So make sure you look for a true boulangerie, and don’t settle for a shop that buys and re-sells! (Learn more about the differences between boulangerie, patisserie, and viennoiserie here).
Day 1: Based on our 3 day itinerary, you’ll want to choose a boulangerie near the Louvre
- Cedric Grolet
- Bo & Mie
- Eric Kayser
- Moliere
Day 2: Based on our 3 day itinerary, you’ll want to choose a boulangerie in the Latin Quarter
- La Maison d’Isabelle
- Boulangerie Guyot
- Boulangerie Archibold
Day 3: Based on our 3 day itinerary, you’ll want to choose a boulangerie in the Marais
- The French Bastards
- Stohrer
- Tout Autour des Pain
What to order:
- Croissant
- Croissant aux amandes
- Pain au chocolat
- Pain Suisse
- Quiche
- any number of sweet or savory treats!!
Eat your purchases at the bakery or at a nearby park, and start exploring!
Where to Eat in Paris: Lunch
For better or worse (but mostly for better), French restaurant service is relaxed and slow. I love this about French dining culture! But you really shouldn’t waste two hours of daylight in a French restaurant eating your lunch. Not when there’s so much beauty outside to explore!
Instead, find either a food market or a cafe with a lunch “formule” to go. Let me explain the “formule” a little more ….
This is your most affordable lunch option outside of self catering. A lunch formule (translated to formula) is usually €8-12 and typically includes a sandwich option, a desert option, and a drink. That’s doable for almost any budget!
Take your awesome lunch to a nearby park, or a bench along the Seine, or to eat while you’re waiting in line for a museum or monument.
Here are our best recommendations for lunch:
Day 1: Based on our 3 day itinerary, you’ll want to find a spot near Palais Royal
- Aki Boulangerie
- Le Pain Quotidien
- Pizzeria Populare
Day 2: Based on our 3 day itinerary, you’ll want to find a spot in St. Germain
- As we said in our itinerary, you could certainly find an outdoor or covered market, such as Marché Couvert St. Germain. This is a quick way to build a fantastic picnic lunch!
- If you don’t want to wander a market, and want to try a lunch formule like we just explained, here are two great options:
- Josephine Bakery
- Cul de Cochon
Day 3: Based on our 3 day itinerary, you’ll want to find a spot in the Marais
- As we said in our itinerary, we can’t recommend Marche des Enfants Rouges enough. So many food options, for various price points. You can eat your purchases in the market or take it to go.
- If you aren’t feeling like a bustling market, try one of these spots instead:
- Carré Pain de Mie
- Caractère de Cochon
What to order:
- Jambon beurre
- Croque monsieur
- Croque madame
- Crepe
- any other sandwich made with fresh bread!
Take your lunch formule to a bench in a nearby park and enjoy your affordable meal on the go!
Where to Eat in Paris: Dinner
Dinner is where French gastronomy really shines. You’ve had a long day of sight seeing, and now you can relax, have a fancy dinner, and enjoy a typical dining experience. I strongly recommend making reservations for dinner when possible, as many of the best places book up quickly.
Day 1: Based on our 3 day itinerary, you want to book a dinner cruise on the Seine
- A dinner cruise on the Seine is touristic … we know. But I’ve got to be honest, this dinner cruise may be the best experience we had the last time we were in Paris. Here are a few options you may want to consider for your dinner cruise:
- Bateaux Parisiens
- Seine River Cruises
- Le Calife
Day 2: Based on our 3 day itinerary, you’ll want to find a restaurant near Notre Dame
Here are our two favorite spots near Notre Dame!
- Au Bougnat
- Chez Rene
Day 3: Based on our 3 day itinerary, you’ll want to find a restaurant in Montmartre
- Le Refuge des Fondus
- Crêperie Brocéliande
- Ose
We hope this has been helpful. Let us know if you would like us to build itineraries and food guides for more days!
This post was all about what to eat in Paris in 3 days!
