A Guide To Paris For Vegan Snobs

This vegan guide to Paris is different than all the other ones out there. It’s a vegan Paris guide specifically for the snobs out there. For the vegans like me, who aren’t happy eating falafel and plain tofu 3 times a day and who love the finer things in life.

I’ve been to Paris at least eight times in my life before this trip so I’ll spare you the must-do sights as according to all the regular travel guides and will only show you my favorite spots. So I’m neither a local, nor a first-time visitor, I’m a vegan snob who loves Paris.

Is Paris Vegan Friendly?

Mmmmmh, I’m going to go with no. Not really. Don’t get me wrong, Paris has a TON of amazing vegan and vegan-friendly restaurants and stores, but it’s still in France, and France as a whole is definitely not vegan-friendly. Nevertheless, it’s definitely worth the trip!

There are hardly any readily available vegan convenience foods at the supermarkets or bakeries and even the hip restaurants catering to a younger audience often only serve one or two dishes that are even vegetarian. Living in Vienna, I’m very used to getting vegan pastries at almost every bakery chain and getting vegan TUNA SANDWICHES at the regular supermarket. So I’m probably just spoiled but Paris requires a lot more planning for vegans. The Happy Cow app will be your best friend.

Getting To Paris

Our go-to way of traveling within Europe is by night train. We left on a Thursday around 7 p.m., after getting some Thai food for dinner at the Hauptbahnhof in Vienna. We brought a few snacks but in general, you won’t starve as a vegan on an ÖBB train. There are two warm vegan dinner options (Vegetable Curry and Chili Sin Carne) and even a vegan breakfast that’s included in the ticket price. The vegan breakfast options on the train include 2 rolls, vegan margarine, jam, and sometimes they have a bread spread. However, there’s no plant milk so I would advise you to bring your own for your coffee and, if you prefer a savory breakfast, some bread spread.

We arrived at Gare de L’Est which was a bit of a vegan disappointment, so don’t rely on any vegan snacks for your ride home. We ended up finding some carottes rapées (french carrot salad, one of my favorites), a lentil salad with smoked tofu, a hummus wrap (not good) at Monop’daily, and some baguette at a boulangerie outside of the train station.

Where To Stay In Paris As A Vegan Snob

For our stay we chose Hotel Les Deux Gares because of two main reasons:

1. It’s gorgeous. It was designed by Luke Edward Hall, who is one of my favorite designers and artists. I adore his happy color palettes and classic details
2. It’s incredibly close to both Gare de L’est and Gare du Nord (Hence the Name “Les Deux Gares”) and therefore easy to reach by metro and bus.

Unfortunately, there are basically no vegan breakfast options but it’s not included in the room rates and we figured, we’d want to try many different places for breakfast anyway.

The rooms are tiny but oh so charming and there’s even a little sauna and gym for you to use.

If you prefer a vegan-friendly hotel, Hoy Paris might be for you. It’s a yoga hotel and the adjoining restaurant Mesa is plant-based (not vegan, as they serve bee products).

How To Get Around Paris

We took public transport and walked a TON (between 16.000 and 22.000 steps a day). Depending on how long you’re staying and how much you’re planning to take the metro, you can choose a pass valid for one or multiple days. We went the single ticket route as we only needed 2-3 tickets per day and person and walked the rest.

Just a heads up: you can only buy tickets in person or at the ticket machines and there’s often a huge line. So factor that into your travel time and buy multiple tickets in advance (a 10-ticket block is cheaper anyway).

Where To Eat In Paris As A Vegan Snob

Breakfast & Pâtisserie

Brouillon Coffee

All-vegan alternative coffee shop offering homemade baked goods and toast. We had the chocolate parsnip tarte tatin (the owner told us it started off as a joke but it was so good, that it became a real thing on the menu) and the tahini cookie, as well as some coffee and buckwheat infusion tea.

You absolutely have to go there to try the parsnip tarte tatin alone, it was unlike anything I’d ever tasted before!

Land & Monkeys

This all-vegan boulangerie & patisserie has a ton of breakfast options. From the traditional French breakfast (croissant and café au lait) to more savory options like quiches and sandwiches as well as intricate little tartelettes.

Land & Monkeys has several outlets throughout the city, but not all of them have seating!

I absolutely loved their pain aux raisins and the tarte au citron!

VG Patisserie

Similar to Land & Monkeys, VG Patisserie has Viennoiseries and tartelettes as well as some savory options like quiche. There are few seats so either come prepared to wait or order for takeaway.

Aujourd’hui Demain

This place truly is vegan heaven. It’s a restaurant, coffee shop, boutique, and grocery store. On weekends they have a few brunch specials on the menu and let me tell you, the breakfast pancakes are DIVINE. Every single component is absolutely perfectly done. Truly a 10/10.

You may have to wait a bit for a table but we just took turns strolling the shop while we waited and the wait time flew by.

Boneshaker Donuts

Small all-vegan donut shop with a seating area. We went there for an afternoon snack and it was packed, but we just ate it outside in the sun. We had a seasonal special filled with lemon cream which was absolutely divine!

Cloud Cakes

We only stopped by this little bakery to get a moment to sit down and rest. We had some tea and a soda and shared a macaron (which was on our Paris bucket list!)

Lunch and Dinner

Cantine de Lotus

This was our first lunch after we arrived and the only place we went to, that was not 100% vegan. It is however vegetarian and 90% of the menu is vegan. Cozy little place close to the Garnier opera with a nice variety of Asian dishes. I had their sour spicy soup (I used to love that as a kid!) and a variety of skewers which were really nice!

Le Potager Du Marais

We reserved a table at Potager du Marais for our first dinner in Paris because the last time my husband and I were in Paris around 8 years ago, we only went there for dessert after getting a burger at Hanks, and the food our neighbors ordered smelled SO GOOD, we’ve been talking about going back there for the past few years. Unfortunately, we were a little disappointed. We had the onion soup, the starter platter, the seitan bourguignon, a salad, and the apricot créme brûlée. Everything was decent, but nothing to write home about. But if you’re looking for traditional French dishes veganized, this is the place to go. It’s been around since 2003 but unfortunately, it feels like it hasn’t changed much since.

BrEAThe Pigalle

There are two outlets of this restaurant. One serves vegan sushi, the other one western dishes, and is set in an old tea room in the infamous red-light district of the belle epoque. It’s worth the visit for the interior alone! My personal highlights were the alcohol-free cocktails (Amaretto Sour!) and the reinterpretation of Raffaelo for dessert. Incredible! Definitely reserve a table however, the place is small and popular.

B.Better

We sort of stumbled into this one and were so happy we did. We went to Ginger Cafe (a vegan restaurant around the corner) first, but the waiter was so rude and it didn’t feel right so we left. And I’m so glad we did! B.Better is a fairly new restaurant run by 2 brothers and 1 brother’s wife. We had the “fish” tacos and the portobello burger. Everyone was super friendly and made us feel like we were almost part of the family. We went there for lunch, but they also serve cocktails.

Plan D – Dwich & Glace

A small kiosk that serves 2 types of sandwiches, sides, and one type of sundae. The flavors change but you absolutely have to take the fries. They’re homemade and some of the best I’ve ever had. Everything was lovely and I personally love places with limited options, especially when everything is as delicious as it was here. A great option for a quick lunch.

Naked Burger

Vegan fast food in a pink neon setting. Good burgers and fries, there’s not much more to say. We had the No Fish and the Baby Naked with Cajun Fries.

Drinks & Co

Ok, listen. This was the most unlikely find of our trip. We were in the area to get some breakfast for the next day at Land & Monkeys and were in the mood for a drink and maybe a small snack in the sun. So we checked Happy Cow and found Drinks & Co, which is actually a fancy liquor store, cocktail, and tapas bar, that happens to only serve vegan food. The best thing: You can order any of their signature cocktails without alcohol, they use Lyre’s and other non-alcoholic spirits in place of the actual spirit. So we both had a cocktail, shared the tapas platter, and listened to their dad-rock playlist.

Picnics

We really didn’t want to go out and eat at a restaurant 3 times a day, so every now and then, we just bought a few things at the supermarket and picnicked. Unfortunately, France is still lacking in vegan-friendly convenience foods. Most pre-packaged salads have cheese, egg, or ham in them and there are no vegan sandwiches in regular supermarkets. Coming from Austria, where you can find vegan TUNA sandwiches at the supermarket, this was pretty disappointing.

So we got some cheese and vegan “foie gras” at Jay & Joy, some more vegan cheese and deli slices at Aujourd’hui Demain, baguette at the boulangerie, and carrottes rapées at the supermarket.

Land & Monkeys is also a great place to get a vegan sandwich or quiche to go.

Where To Shop As A Vegan Snob in Paris

Aujourd’hui Demain

This place has everything. Clothing, shoes, food, beauty, gifts, and all it’s all vegan. This is the perfect place to get some vegan cheese and cold cuts for a picnic!

Confiseries Veggies

Right next to the Louvre inside the Carousel de Louvre mall you’ll find this adorable all-vegetarian candy shop. Everything is labled clearly and you can even find vegan and sugar free gummies.

Jay & Joy

This vegan creamery is a must-visit while you’re here. You can taste all the vegan cheeses and it will be hard not to take all of them home with you. My favorite is the aromatic “Jean Jacques”

The shop also has a ton of other vegan snacks and drinks.

asap – as sustainable as possible

This minimalist italian brand has some very classic sustainable clothing styles, however most of it is not vegan and contains wool or silk.

Kilo Shops

There are so many Kilo Shops all throughout Paris. The concept is that different colored tags mean different price ranges and you pay according to the garment’s weight. I’m personally not a huge fan of this concept as I feel it’s a bit intransparent and unnecessarily complicated. Plus buying clothing by weight may tempt you to buy more than you need.

However some of them have a pretty nice selection and I did end up finding some things that were on my wishlist.

Bobby

A stylish vintage store with lots of exclusive items.

Rouje

Very feminine, parisian fashion by icon Jeanne Damas.

Bon Marché

This department store has several exclusive brands like Sézane, Chateau Orlando (Luke Edward Hall’s brand), Evi Grintela as well as a large selection of cruelty-free beauty.

There’s also a big international supermarket, which we unfortunately missed!

Marché aux Puce St. Ouen

This is hands down one of my favorite places in the world. I’ve been here many times and it’s a magical experience everytime. Don’t be alarmed by the stalls of cheap trash in the beginning, once you’ve made it past the annoying vendors and black market cigarettes and headphones, you’ll be rewarded by a huge flea market and antique mall. It’s almost like a village made up of tons of small antique stalls.

If you like old stuff as much as I do, definitely plan to spend at least half a day here.

My favorite vintage store here is Falbalas in Marché Dauphine.

The Markets are open every weekend of the year, from Friday to Monday at the following times:
Friday from 8 p.m. to 12 p.m.
Saturday, Sunday & Monday 10 a.m. to 18 p.m.

What To See In Paris As A Vegan Snob

As both my husband and I had been to Paris quite a few times before, we skipped most of the regular sights such as the Eiffel Tower, Sacre Coeur, and Arc de Triomphe. Here’s what we saw instead:

Musee du Louvre

I don’t think there’s much I canyou about the iconic Louvre that you don’t already know. So here are some tips:

First of all, learn from our mistake and buy your ticket for the RIGHT DAY. We bought our ticket in advance but unfortunately for the same day instead of the next. Luckily noone actually looked at our ticket so we still got in!

And second of all, skip the lines in front of the glass pyramid (yes, you’ll likely still have to wait in line even if you have a ticket with a time slot) by entering trought the Carousel du Louvre. You can even stop by confiseries veggies on the way!

Musée Des Arts Decoratifs

Paris’ Museum of decorative arts is one of my favorites in the world. There’s usually a large fashion exhibition (we went for the Thierry Mugler retrospective- incroyable!) going on but the permanent collection of jewelry and furniture is also absolutely incredible.

Don’t skip the museum shop, especially the book section!

Chateau de Versailles

For someone who’s seen Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette about 20 times, it’s actually a shame I’ve never been to Versailles before. Usually when I am in Paris I have the choice to either go to Disneyland or Versailles and so far I’ve always chosen Disneyland! This time around I was 15 weeks pregnant, so it was the perfect time to visit the palace instead.

We started the day off by having a nice little picnic in the park, then we strolled the Petit Trianon and Marie Antoinette’s bizarre own fake peasant village amusement park. (Which was absolutely lovely!) and then ended the visit in the Chateau.

Paris for Vegan Snobs: The Map

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Itinerary Notion Board

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Pins for Pinterest

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