Just across the river from Notre-Dame stands one of the most famous bookshops in the world: Shakespeare and Company. This wonderfully atmospheric English-language bookstore, with its creaking floors, crammed shelves, and literary history, is a place of pilgrimage for book lovers from across the globe. Part shop, part shrine to literature, it’s a magical spot to browse, soak up the bohemian spirit of the Left Bank, and pick up a beautifully stamped souvenir book.
A Literary Legend
The shop carries the name of a legendary earlier bookstore run by Sylvia Beach, which was a hub for writers like Hemingway, Joyce, and Fitzgerald in the 1920s, and famously first published Joyce’s Ulysses. The current shop, opened by George Whitman in 1951, took up that bohemian torch, becoming a gathering place for the Beat poets and generations of writers. Its history gives it a unique, almost sacred literary aura.
Tumbleweeds and Beds Among the Books
One of the shop’s most romantic traditions is that it has long let aspiring writers and travelers — known as “Tumbleweeds” — sleep among the bookshelves in exchange for helping out and reading a book a day. Tucked between the stacks you can spot little beds and benches, and messages left by the many who have passed through. It’s this living, lived-in quality that makes the place so special.
Browsing the Shop
Spread over two floors connected by narrow, winding staircases, the shop is a wonderful warren to explore. Downstairs is a well-stocked bookshop selling new titles; upstairs is a cosy, library-like reading area with antiquarian books, a piano, and reading nooks. Every corner invites you to linger. Don’t forget to have your purchase stamped with the shop’s famous logo — a lovely free keepsake.
The Cafe and the Setting
Next door, the shop runs a charming little café serving coffee, snacks, and treats, perfect for a break with a newly bought book. And the setting could hardly be better: the shop sits on a quiet street right by the Seine, with a lovely view across to Notre-Dame — making the whole experience quintessentially, romantically Parisian.
Planning Your Visit
Shakespeare and Company is on the Left Bank in the Latin Quarter, near the Saint-Michel station, just across from the Île de la Cité. It’s free to enter and browse, though it’s very popular, so expect it to be busy — visit early to enjoy it at its calmest. Photography inside is sometimes restricted, so be respectful. It pairs perfectly with a walk along the Seine and a visit to Notre-Dame.
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