Cafe de Flore

Cafe de Flore has held the corner at 172 Boulevard Saint-Germain since the end of the 19th century, and it is less a bar than a Paris institution that happens to serve cocktails, wine and champagne until the small hours. It built its name as a literary cafe, the working room for Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Camus and Prevert, with Picasso and Georges Bataille among the artists who passed through. That history is the product. You are not buying a cocktail so much as a seat in it.

Who will love it: anyone who treats a slow drink on a Paris terrace as the point of the trip, and readers who want to sit where the existentialists argued. Who might not: value hunters. The Flore charges institution prices, and the service can be brisk with tourists. Go in knowing that, and it delivers exactly what it promises.

The Room

Inside is classic Parisian brasserie: dark woodwork, mirrors and the red leather banquettes that have barely changed in decades. Outside, a heated covered terrace runs along the boulevard, with a second row of seats open to the street. The terrace is the seat to want, because the whole ritual here is watching Saint-Germain walk past.

The Drinks

The Flore is not a craft-cocktail destination, and it does not pretend to be. The smart order is a glass of champagne or a well-chosen wine, both of which suit the room and the pace better than a fussy mixed drink. The bar does pour cocktails and the famous house hot chocolate has its own following, but the move is to keep it simple, nurse one glass and let the table earn its keep. Expect to pay a premium for every line on the bill.

The Crowd

A mix of well-dressed locals holding court, tourists making the pilgrimage and the occasional fashion-week or publishing crowd. Mornings and early afternoons are calmest. By late afternoon the terrace is a scene, and it stays busy into the night given the 1:30am close.

Who It's For

• The traveler who wants one unhurried, iconic Paris terrace drink and the history that comes with it.
• A literary pilgrim happy to pay for the address.
• Skip it if you came for an inventive cocktail program or a quiet local secret; that is a different room in a different arrondissement.

Getting There and When to Go

The Flore sits at the heart of Saint-Germain-des-Pres, right by the line 4 stop of the same name and a short walk from Mabillon on line 10. Come mid-morning or early afternoon for a terrace seat without the crowd, or after dark for the boulevard at its most cinematic.

For another piece of old Paris, Harry's New York Bar in Paris is the historic cocktail counterpart across the river. For a proper Left Bank cocktail after the Flore, Castor Club in Paris and Prescription Cocktail Club in Paris are the neighborhood's modern picks. Browse the full Paris cocktail bars guide or the wider Paris bar guide for more.