A Dessert Lover's Pick of Paris Pâtisseries

Let's go through the best pâtisseries one by one, starting with a Korean bakery. Every year in France, regional competitions choose the bakeries that make the best bread and pastries. Winners post their awards prominently out front and word spreads around the neighborhood at once, so a win carries real weight. This bakery, which has a Korean pastry chef, took first place for flan (Flanc) in all of Paris and the Île-de-France region in 2023. It has since been known by word of mouth as the home of the region's best flan, though it was already famous for selling Korean desserts.

It's called Mille & un. It's a bakery, but there are tables, so you can have anything on the menu with coffee or another drink. Besides French pâtisserie, it sells bingsu (shaved ice), doughnuts, twisted doughnuts, soboro bread and even castella, hard to find in France. Almost everything is good. The flan comes plain or with black sesame; the narrator tried the plain one and called it the flan of a lifetime.

Pâtisserie Carl Marletti is the place for luxurious, classic French desserts at their truest. It isn't just good; "elegantly good" is the phrase that comes to mind. Prices are on the high side, and there's no seating inside. The range of desserts is wide, and the narrator is 99 percent sure anything you pick will be delicious.

Le Valentin Jouffroy serves equally refined desserts, and it's a find that's hard to spot unless you're looking for it. Paris has 21 passages, 19th-century covered arcades with shops and restaurants on both sides and a glass roof overhead. The shops inside are tricky to spot from the street, which makes visiting feel like a treasure hunt. This pâtisserie sits inside Passage Jouffroy and sells a range of elegant pastries. It's a little pricey and often packed, but the narrator remembers a happy meal here and wanted to share it.

Stohrer is well known among travelers too. Opened in 1730, it's called the oldest traditional pâtisserie in Paris, famed for the best baba au rhum in the city. But the one to order here is the éclair. At ordinary bakeries an éclair costs around 3 euros; here it's a little over 5 euros, which is steep, but the quality justifies it. Takeaway only. The shop is on rue Montorgueil, a street famous for its dense cluster of restaurants. Finish a meal there, bite into an éclair for dessert, and you'll know you made the right choice coming to Paris.

La Fabrique aux Gourmandises is a famous Paris spot for the galette des rois. January 6 is Epiphany, the Catholic feast celebrating the manifestation of Jesus, and the galette des rois is what people eat that day. It's a kind of pie with almond filling and a thin, flaky crust. In France, regardless of religion, families and friends have long gathered to share it. Bakeries sell it throughout January, sometimes into February, and almost never outside that window, so don't miss it if you travel then. Bakeries make everything from single-serving minis to large ones for sharing.

Galeries Lafayette Le Gourmet, a pastry-focused food court on the ground floor of the department store's food hall, puts many famous pâtisserie brands under one roof. Being in a department store, the quality is assured, and you can browse several brands before choosing.

The two titans of macarons, Ladurée and Pierre Hermé, also have many branches around Paris. For macarons, these two are clearly better and more refined than most bakeries. Both also have airport shops, so if you're bringing some home, buy them at the airport just before your flight rather than in the city.