Our guides
Literary cafés in Paris, from Procope to the Left Bank
Five literary cafés of the Left Bank with address, what each says of itself and the evidence for 2026: Procope, Deux Magots, Flore, Closerie des Lilas and Tram. Checked October 2026.
Five addresses, three kinds of evidence
A literary café lives on its reputation, which is exactly what we cannot check. So we keep to what the cafés publish and to the dated traces we found. Les Deux Magots, Le Procope and La Closerie des Lilas show a 2026 trace on their official sites. Café de Flore has a site and a Condé Nast Traveler entry but no 2026 date on the pages read, so only its history is given here.
Photo: Celette, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
The addresses
- Le Procope, 13 rue de l’Ancienne-Comédie (6th). A restaurant and café that presents itself as the first in Paris to have brought in coffee and table service in porcelain cups. Open noon to midnight according to its site, which carries a 2026 copyright. No recognised editorial source was available for this visit, so read it as a historical landmark.
- Les Deux Magots, 6 place Saint-Germain-des-Prés (6th). A historic Saint-Germain café. Its site, dated 4 October 2026, announces poetry evenings in September, a weekend brunch from 11 a.m. to 3.30 p.m. and hours from 7.30 a.m. to 1 a.m. Time Out’s card dates from 2012, so it serves as an editorial reference, not as proof for 2026.
- Café de Flore, 172 boulevard Saint-Germain (6th). On its own site, the café appeared “doubtless in 1887”, at the start of the Third Republic. Condé Nast Traveler describes it as a time capsule. The evidence for 2026 is insufficient, which is why we do not give hours.
- La Closerie des Lilas, 171 boulevard du Montparnasse. A literary brasserie-bar open from noon to 12.30 a.m. according to its website, with a 2026 copyright; Time Out: €€€. It sits at the limit of the 6th and 14th arrondissements.
- Tram librairie-café, 47 rue de la Montagne-Sainte-Geneviève (5th). The Latin Quarter’s own address, a bookshop café; its details and the divergent hours are on the Latin Quarter cafés page.
Photo: Beyond My Ken, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
What their own histories say
The dates below come from Wikipedia’s articles on each café and, where they differ, from the cafés’ own sites.
- Les Deux Magots. Founded in 1884 by converting a draper’s shop. Its name comes from an earlier silk shop whose sign bore two Chinese statues; two figures still decorate the central pillar of the room. The Prix des Deux Magots was created in 1933 by surrealists who thought the Goncourt “too academic”.
- Café de Flore. Wikipedia dates its appearance to 1885, while its own site says “doubtless in 1887”; we give both. The name comes from a sculpture of Flora. Sartre and Beauvoir worked there for long days, according to Wikipedia, and the Prix de Flore dates from 1994.
- Le Procope. Founded in 1686 by Francesco Procopio dei Coltelli, listed as a historic monument on 20 January 1962. It closed in 1890, became a Chartier bouillon, and reopened in 1957 as a restaurant. The Cordeliers club of Danton and Marat is said to have met there, according to Wikipedia.
- La Closerie des Lilas. Named after the dance hall of the Closerie des Lilas, which ran from 1847 to 1940. Hemingway, Fitzgerald and Henry Miller, whose presence made the reputation of Montparnasse, are named by Wikipedia, and the café’s own literary prize dates from 2007.
Choosing your hour
Opening hours are those on the official sites, read on 4 October 2026. Les Deux Magots keeps the longest day, from 7.30 a.m. to 1 a.m., with a weekend brunch from 11 a.m. to 3.30 p.m. Le Procope gives noon to midnight and La Closerie des Lilas noon to 12.30 a.m., which makes them lunch and evening addresses rather than breakfast ones. For Café de Flore we hold no hours, so we give none. Because two of the five, Le Procope and La Closerie des Lilas, are also restaurants or brasseries, a visit for a coffee alone is a choice of the terrace, not of a table in the dining room; ask before you sit.
Going from café to café
The first four are all in the 6th arrondissement. Le Procope is near Odéon, Les Deux Magots and Café de Flore face each other across the square of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, and La Closerie des Lilas stands on boulevard du Montparnasse, at the limit of the 6th and 14th. We hold no coordinates for these addresses, so we give no distances: use a map to plan the walk. The Tram café-bookshop is the one address of the five in the Latin Quarter proper, on rue de la Montagne-Sainte-Geneviève in the 5th.
Reading, after the coffee
Two of the literary prizes of these cafés are younger than the cafés: the Prix de Flore (1994) and the Prix de la Closerie des Lilas (2007). The oldest, the Prix des Deux Magots, is from 1933. The nearby Latin Quarter bookshop Shakespeare and Company and the bouquinistes are the book trade on the 5th-arrondissement side of the river.
The church across the square
Les Deux Magots and Café de Flore face each other on the square of the abbey church of Saint-Germain-des-Prés. According to Wikipedia, the abbey was founded in the middle of the sixth century by Childebert I, whose charter of 6 December 558 says “I have begun to build a church”. The bell tower-porch, built by Abbot Morard between 990 and 1014, still stands. The church has been classed as a historic monument since the list of 1862, and its nave and choir are each 35 metres long, under vaults 20 metres high. It is the practical landmark of a literary walk: the cafés keep their terraces on its square.
Going there in 2026
Saint-Michel on line 4 is closed until 19 December 2026. For Le Procope, stop at Odéon. Our Latin Quarter guide places the district around them, and the Shakespeare and Company bookshop has its own page. For a bed, compare the hotels near Odéon.
Hotels near the literary cafés of the Left Bank
Other hotels
- Hôtel Michelet Odéon ★★★ 3 min walk · 200 m
- Hôtel Le Sénat ★★★★ 3 min walk · 200 m
- Hôtel Relais Médicis ★★★★ 3 min walk · 200 m
- Hôtel Fontaines du Luxembourg ★★★ 3 min walk · 250 m
- Le Clos Médicis ★★★ 3 min walk · 250 m
- Hôtel Baume ★★★★ 3 min walk · 250 m
- Hôtel Saint-Paul Rive Gauche ★★★★ 4 min walk · 300 m
- Grand Hôtel des Balcons ★★ 4 min walk · 300 m
Within 700 m as the crow flies, nearest first. Walking times are estimates: straight-line distance × 1.3, at 80 metres a minute, to the station, not to a specific exit.
Frequently asked questions
What is the oldest literary café in Paris?
Le Procope describes itself on its website as the first restaurant in Paris to have introduced coffee, served at the table in porcelain cups. We found no recognised article to confirm this, so we give it as the café’s own claim.
When did Café de Flore open?
Its website says it appeared at the start of the Third Republic, probably in 1887. We read no 2026 date on the page, so we publish no opening hours for it.
Do the literary cafés still hold literary events?
Les Deux Magots announced poetry evenings called the Soirées Apollinaire, the one we read being on 22 September 2026, and a brunch on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.
Is La Closerie des Lilas in the Latin Quarter?
Not strictly. It stands on boulevard du Montparnasse, at the border of the 6th and 14th arrondissements. We include it because it is a literary address of the same bank.
Is there a literary café inside the Latin Quarter itself?
Tram, a bookshop café on the Montagne Sainte-Geneviève, is the one we can document. The addresses and the evidence are in our Latin Quarter cafés page.
When was Les Deux Magots founded?
In 1884, in a converted draper’s shop, according to Wikipedia. Its prize, the Prix des Deux Magots, dates from 1933.
When did Café de Flore open?
Wikipedia dates its appearance to 1885; the café’s own site says “doubtless in 1887”.
When was Le Procope founded?
In 1686 by Francesco Procopio dei Coltelli, according to Wikipedia. It has been a listed historic monument since 20 January 1962.
Which literary café is in the Latin Quarter itself?
Tram librairie-café, at 47 rue de la Montagne-Sainte-Geneviève in the 5th. The others are in the 6th arrondissement or at its limit with the 14th.
Which of these cafés has a literary prize?
Les Deux Magots (Prix des Deux Magots, 1933), Café de Flore (Prix de Flore, 1994) and La Closerie des Lilas (its prize, created in 2007), according to Wikipedia.
Which café stands on the square of the church of Saint-Germain-des-Prés?
Both Les Deux Magots and Café de Flore. The church’s bell tower-porch, built between 990 and 1014, still stands.
Is La Closerie des Lilas in the Latin Quarter?
Not strictly. It stands at 171 boulevard du Montparnasse, at the limit of the 6th and 14th arrondissements; its name comes from a dance hall that ran from 1847 to 1940.
Do we give opening hours for Café de Flore?
No. The evidence we hold for 2026 is insufficient, so we give none; the other addresses are given with the hours on their official sites.