Galeries Lafayette — a Parisian day's shopping

If Paris has one place where you can shop, admire architecture, eat well and finish with a coffee looking down over the roofs, it is the Galeries Lafayette Haussmann.

With more than 3,500 brands — fashion, beauty, watches, jewellery, homeware and food — it works like a small city devoted to shopping.

The useful thing to know is that you should not walk in intending to buy as much as possible. Treat it as shopping à la parisienne: the right houses, the right floors, and time given to the things actually worth having.

« À Paris, le vrai luxe, c'est le temps. » In Paris, the real luxury is time.

What to buy

If this is a first visit, do not rush at the most famous logos. Travellers who have come to Paris many times usually find more pleasure in objects that show savoir-faire français.

Fashion and accessories come first: a silk scarf, leather shoes, a bag, eyewear, a coat, cashmere, or one particular accessory — easy to carry home and made to last. For men, the L'Homme department is worth real time: tailoring, shoes, leather goods, watches and accessories. Great houses and younger labels sit side by side, so this is also a good place to find something less predictable.

Beauty and fragrance are another matter. Paris is one of the capitals of perfumery, and this is a convenient place to compare several houses in one visit. Spend time on niche lines or special editions rather than looking for the familiar bottle you could buy at an airport. A scent chosen in Paris often outlasts any souvenir.

Homeware and food are the finer way to take Paris home: a crystal glass, something for the table, chocolate, tea, pastry, foie gras, spices, or the specialities of particular French regions.

When to go

For an unhurried visit, come in the morning, ideally just after opening. That is the moment to try things on, ask for advice, photograph the Belle Époque dome and complete any paperwork without a crowd.

By late afternoon the atmosphere is livelier — which, if you enjoy the energy of Paris, is its own pleasure.

A good plan: shop at 10:00, lunch at 12:30, shop again at 14:00, coffee on the balcony at 16:30, tax refund and collection at 17:30, then the Opéra quarter or a serious restaurant in the evening. That way the store becomes part of a full Paris day rather than an errand.

The VAT refund — settled in the store

This matters to travellers from outside the European Union. Galeries Lafayette allows eligible customers up to 12% VAT back, on qualifying transactions from €100.01. You must be resident outside the EU, at least sixteen, and have been in the EU for less than six months. You will need your original passport and the required documents.

The convenience is that you do not have to wait until the airport for the store's part. The Tax Refund desk is on the first floor of the Coupole Store. There is also a GoTaxFree app that lets you scan receipts and build the détaxe file on your phone before validating it at customs.

One rule matters: keep the original receipts and the détaxe papers, and remember that the goods must leave the EU correctly — qualifying products have to be exported in their original packaging.

Do not skip the rooftop

After a few hours, go up. It is one of the best rewards the building offers: from the top, Paris opens out in grey-blue roofs, with the Opéra Garnier, Montmartre and the whole skyline.

For the summer of 2026 the roof also carries La Douce Heure, a bar drawing on the art de vivre of the Côte d'Azur, presented by St-Germain, running from 18 June through the season. On the eighth floor, Balcon works in a bistro register, with French and Mediterranean cooking and a wide view.

There is no reason to hurry here. A coffee, a small pastry, a few minutes looking at Paris from above — that is sometimes the best memory of a day's shopping.

Down to Le Gourmet

If the rooftop is where you look at Paris, Le Gourmet is where you taste France. On the Boulevard Haussmann, it is not simply an upmarket food hall but a gathering of carefully chosen producers and specialists: fruit and vegetables, pastry, chocolate, cheese and a great many regional products.

It is the right stop before leaving Paris. Rather than mass-produced gifts from a souvenir shop, choose a few things with a story behind them: chocolate from a serious house, a tea, a regional speciality, or something for a French table.

And so a day at Galeries Lafayette ends not with an armful of bags but with a very Parisian feeling: you found what you wanted, you enjoyed what you liked, and you still had time to sit down and look at the city.