Start Your Day Like a Parisian: Croissants, Chocolate and Culture

Mornings in Paris belong to the bakers pulling the first trays from the oven, chocolatiers setting out the day's first pralines, shutters rolling up on streets still cool with shade. This small group tour takes you through the Palais Royal and into the historic passages and squares of the 2nd arrondissement before the crowds arrive. Over 2.5 hours, you'll follow a route built around the rituals that open a Parisian day: a croissant warm enough to fog a window, hot chocolate poured slow and thick, tea from a house blending leaves since the 1600s, cheese cut to order. Along the way, learn about the neighborhood's own history, from Cardinal Richelieu's gardens to a glass-roofed 19th-century gallery. This tour is perfect for your first morning in Paris, or any morning you'd like, with a group of no more than ten, room for questions, and a pace that never feels rushed.

1. 1

   Palais-Royal

   15 min

   Step into a café tucked into arcades where this tradition of morning pastry began. You'll start with a Viennese-style coffee or hot chocolate, piled with cream, alongside a warm homemade waffle.

2. 2

   Jardin du Palais Royal

   Pass by

   Walk through gardens built for a cardinal in the 1630s and later handed to a king. Striped black and white columns and polished metal fountains sit inside arcades once lined with the city's first shops.

3. 3

   Stop 3

   15 min

   Duck into a chocolate workshop where every bar is still roasted on site by hand. You'll try a praline cookie made with couverture ground the traditional way, a quiet contrast to the mass-produced chocolate.

4. 4

   Galerie Vivienne

   Pass by

   Pass beneath a glass roof that's been letting in Parisian light since 1823. Mosaic floors, bookshops, and tearooms line this covered gallery, one of the finest surviving examples of the 19th-century passages that once crisscrossed the city.

5. 5

   Place des Victoires

   15 min

   Stop at a bakery known for its Art Deco tilework as much as its ovens. You'll taste a slice of quiche lorraine here, a savory break in a morning otherwise built around butter and sugar, in a room that still looks like 1900s Paris.

6. 6

   Stop 6

   10 min

   Sample a cup from a tea house that's been sourcing leaves for France since the reign of Louis XIV. A royal decree once made this family the only ones allowed to sell tea in the country, a monopoly that shaped how Paris drinks tea today.

7. 7

   Rue Montorgueil

   15 min

   Meet the pastry that reinvented the éclair before it reinvented the croissant. You'll taste a chocolate cream-filled croissant from a chef who trained alongside some of Paris's biggest names, flavors shifting with the season.

8. 8

   Rue Du Nil

   20 min

   You'll break into a traditional baguette and an all-butter croissant, baked using techniques that predate the ovens they're baked in. Then, enjoy a tasting of half-salted butter, a nutty aged cheese, a soft triple cream, and a spoon of fruit jelly.

9. 9

   Rue Du Nil

   15 min

   Finish where two of the only bean-to-bar chocolate makers in central Paris still work. A water-based hot chocolate, made from a single bean and no added cocoa butter, arrives alongside your last two croissants of the morning.

• Service animals allowed
• Public transportation options are available nearby
• Suitable for all physical fitness levels
• This activity requires a minimum of 2 guests. Should this not be met, we will contact you directly to help you get rescheduled or reimbursed.
• Children under 4 years old do not need a ticket and can join the tour for free. However, food is not included. Paid tickets with food included are available for ages 4 and up.
• Please note that the tastings mentioned are a selection of the delicious foods we often feature. Both offerings and tour stops may vary by day or season, but you're sure to enjoy a delightful array of local flavors!

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.