There are many beautiful covered passages in Paris and you should definitely add seeing them to your itinerary if you’re planning a trip to the city.
The covered passages are incredible to see because of their architecture and many of them are very old. The oldest one opened in the year 1800. The passages often have restaurants, bookstores, antique stores, art galleries, and more. This means that there’s also a lot to do in the passages. You can shop or have delicious food when you’re visiting them.
This Paris covered passages list includes the most beautiful ones that you shouldn’t miss out on.
Best Covered Passages in Paris
Galerie Vivienne
Location: 4 Rue des Petits Champs, 75002 Paris
Galerie Vivienne is one of the most beautiful covered passages in the city. It is located in the 2nd arrondissement next to Palais-Royal.
From Palais-Royal, you can walk to the north and find one of the entrances to Galerie Vivienne along Rue des Petits Champs.
The arcade has a length of 176 meters and a width of 3 meters.
Galerie Vivienne was built in the year 1823 and opened in 1826. When it opened, lots of different stores were located there, including cobblers, tailor shops, and other types of stores.
The gallery was a popular place, but it became less popular when some of the shops moved to other places in Paris.
Later on, it became more popular again, and how you can find various clothing stores and other types of stores at Galerie Vivienne.
The covered passage features a beautiful mosaic floor, a glass roof, and other beautiful elements.
Next to the entrance, you can find Bistro Vivienne, which is a French restaurant where you can enjoy delicious classic French dishes, such as onion soup.
Passage Jouffroy
Location: 10-12 Bd Montmartre, 75009 Paris
Passage Jouffroy is a covered passage that is located in the 9th arrondissement. Its southern entrance is located along Boulevard Montmartre and the other entrance of the passageway can be found on Rue de la Grange-Batelière.
On the other side of Boulevard Montmartre, you can find Passage des Panoramas, so when you visit either one of the passages, I recommend also going to the other one.
Passage Jouffroy has a length of 140 meters and it is 4 meters wide. The passageway consists of two parts that are connected by a sideways part of a few meters with some steps because the streets on which you can find the entrances do not align.
Passage Jouffroy has a metal and glass roof.
One of the venues that you can find at Passage Jouffroy is Musée Grévin. The exit of the museum is located inside Passage Jouffroy. Musée Grévin is a wax museum with more than 400 wax sculptures that depict famous moments and people of French history, as well as other people.
Inside Passage Jouffroy, you can find various fashion stores, a bookstore, a toy store, a supermarket, and lots of other stores. There are also coffee shops and other eateries.
Galerie Véro-Dodat
Galerie Véro-Dodat is a covered passage that is located in the 1st arrondissement. The gallery has a very central location that is close to the Louvre Museum, Palais-Royal, and Bourse de Commerce.
The entrances of the gallery are located on Rue du Bouloi and Rue Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
Galerie Véro-Doda dates back to the year 1826, which was during a time when the covered passages in Paris were very popular and there were many more passages in the city than there currently are.
The gallery fell into decline but was restored at the end of the 20th century. It has a neoclassical architectural style with a black-and-white-tiled floor.
Inside the passage, there are many unique boutiques. From stores offering fashion accessories to perfume stores to art galleries, there’s much to see at Galerie Véro-Dodat.
Also, because of its location, I recommend adding it to your itinerary when you are visiting any of the nearby popular sights.
Passage des Panoramas
Location: 11 Bd Montmartre, 75002 Paris, France
Passage des Panoramas is the oldest covered passage in the city. The passage is located in the 2nd arrondissement. Its northern entrance is on Boulevard Montmartre, which is next to Boulevard Haussmann.
On the opposite of the northern entrance, across from the street, you can find Passage Jouffroy, which is also on this list.
Passage des Panoramas was one of the oldest covered passages in Europe, and it opened in the year 1800. The passageway was named for an attraction that used to be located there. There were rotundas here that displayed panoramic paintings of various famous cities, such as Paris and Rome.
Passage des Panoramas is home to various restaurants and a large variety of unique stores.
This is also one of the busiest covered passages in the city, so if you want to go here without the crowds, you have to arrive early.
Passage des Deux-Pavillons
The Passage des Deux-Pavillions is a very short covered passage in Paris. You can find this one on the opposite side of the southern entrance of Galerie Vivienne, it is located between Galerie Vivienne and Palais-Royal.
The passageway opened at the beginning of the 19th century.
Although the passageway is very small, you can still find some shops here. Next to the entrances, you can also find restaurants. One of these is Le Pain Quotidien, which is a wonderful place where you can have breakfast or lunch. You can get great yogurt here!
Also, during the holiday season, you can see beautiful Christmas lights at Passage des Deux-Pavillons.
Passage Verdeau
Passage Verdeau is a covered passage in the 9th arrondissement that was established in 1846.
The passageway is located across the street from Passage Jouffroy and close to Passage des Panoramas, so when you visit those ones I recommend going to this one too. The street on which you can find the entrance is Rue de la Grange Batelière.
Passage Verdeau has a length of 74 meters and a width of about 4 meters. It has a glass roof that lets a lot of light come in and the passageway has a neoclassical architectural style.
Inside Passage Verdeau, you can find a bookstore, various restaurants, antique stores, art galleries, and many other places.
Galerie de la Madeleine
Galerie de la Madeleine can be found in the 8th arrondissement of the city. Its entrance is located at Place la Madeline, and it ends up at Rue Boissy-d’Anglas. The gallery was opened in 1846.
This passageway is one of the smaller passageways in the city, as it has a total length of 53 meters.
The gallery has a beautifully decorated entrance, but a simpler interior than other covered passages.
Inside, you can find several luxury boutique shops as well as some other places.
Passage du Havre
Location: 109 Rue Saint-Lazare, 75009 Paris
Passage du Havre is a covered passage that is located close to Gare Saint-Lazare.
The covered passage was renovated at the end of the 20th century and is now a popular indoor shopping mall. In contrast to the other covered passages on this list, this is a much more modern and much larger passage.
Inside, you can find well-known retailers such as FNAC, The Body Shop, SEPHORA, and many other stores, including independent stores.
You can also find various eateries and coffee shops inside Passage du Havre, such as Starbucks and Pret.
Passage Choiseul
Close to Palais-Royal and Galerie Vivienne, you can find the Passage Choiseul. The gallery is the extension of Rue de Choiseul, as its entrance is located on that street. Its other entrance is located on Rue Dalayrac.
The passage was built at the start of the 19th century, and the passage was renovated through the years. For example, at the start of the 20th century, the roof was replaced.
At Passage Choiseul, you can find many different types of stores, such as bookstores, jewelry stores, art galleries, and clothing stores.
Besides that, there are also many restaurants inside Passage Choiseul as well as places where you can have a drink, such as bubble tea.
Passage du Grand-Cerf
Passage du Grand-Cerf is a beautiful covered passage in Paris that is located in the 2nd arrondissement. The two entrances of the passageway are located on Rue Saint-Denis and Rue Dussoubs.
This covered passage was constructed at the start of the 19th century.
What’s unique about Passage du Grand-Cerf is that it is very tall. It is one of the tallest covered passages in the city and is more than 10 meters tall.
There are often unique art installations hanging in the air from the ceiling.
Although the passageway is very tall, it isn’t very wide, which looks very beautiful.
At the Passage du Grand-Cerf, there are many unique boutique clothing stores, as well as many other types of stores.
You can find Passage du Granc-Cerf close to Westfield Forum des Halles, so when you decide to shop at that large indoor shopping mall with large retailers, I recommend also checking out the passageway and shopping at independent stores.
Passage Brady
Passage Brady is a covered passage that can be found in the 10th arrondissement. Passage Brady was built in the 1820s.
What’s unique about this passageway is that it consists of two parts that are separated by Boulevard de Strasbourg. This means that when you want to go from one end of the passageway to the other end, you have to go outdoors.
The westernmost entrance is located on Rue du Faubourg Saint-Denis and the easternmost entrance is located on Rue du Faubourg Saint-Martin.
The covered passage is home to many Indian restaurants, as well as other restaurants, and some stores.
Other Paris Travel Guides
One day in Montmartre itinerary
Paris Covered Passages Map
These were my favorite covered passages in Paris. I hope you liked them!