Step into the enchanting Shakespeare and Company, a legendary Parisian bookstore where every corner invites you to linger, read, and lose track of time.
"A historic English bookstore by the Seine, known for its literary legacy and café." - Lane Nieset Lane Nieset Lane Nieset is a travel writer from Miami who has lived in France for the past decade. From Paris, she covers a mix of lifestyle, wine, food, and design for publications including Food & Wine, Condé N
"Shakespeare & Company, near the 'bouquinistes,' is an independent bookstore where you can spend the whole afternoon with a cup of tea. It's pure charm and considered a hidden gem in the city." - Edward Barsamian
"This legendary independent English bookshop has been in existence for over a century and has seen some of the world’s greatest authors browse its shelves." - Le Guide MICHELIN
"Shakespeare and Company is a historic bookshop in Paris that has been inviting writers to take up residence in its corridors since it opened back in 1951. Through the shop's Tumbleweeds program, writers can sleep in beds hidden away between its bookshelves or in a book-lined apartment that's located upstairs, sharing the space with other guests. In exchange, travelers help for a few hours a day around the bookshop and write a one-page autobiography to add to the shop's collection of past guests. According to the bookstore's website, the program is temporarily paused due to ongoing construction." - Travel + Leisure Editors
"Nestled on a prime slice of real estate across the Seine from Notre Dame, Shakespeare and Company is part indie bookshop, part piece of history. The roster of authors who have lingered among the shelves here reads like canon of 20th-century literature, including Ezra Pound, Gertrude Stein, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and contemporaries like Zadie Smith. Every inch of the space oozes history, from the leaning antique bookshelves to the resident cat to the well-worn piano, which is tucked away upstairs. The café is a great place for people watching—and maybe eavesdropping on a conversation or two while you sip on a café au lait. It still serves original proprietor George Whitman's famous lemon pie, as well." - Julia Eskins, Melissa Liebling-Goldberg
