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Number 19 of 20 in Paris

The covered passages: the secret arcades of Paris

Before there were department stores there were the passages: narrow streets roofed in glass, cut through the middle of city blocks and lined with shops. Twenty-five of them are still open, and you can walk half a dozen in an afternoon without getting wet.

The Passage des Panoramas, a narrow arcade with a chequered floor, café tables and shop fronts under a glass roof.
Nicolas Vigier, CC0
What it is
Walk
Time to allow
1.5 to 2 hours
Cost
Free
Best time
A rainy afternoon

Paris this week

    Why the covered passages is worth it

    The passages were built mostly in the first half of the nineteenth century, when Paris had no pavements and the streets were mud. A covered arcade, lit by gas, with a clean floor and shop windows on both sides, was a new kind of luxury. People came to stroll as much as to buy.

    Then Haussmann drove his boulevards through the city, the department stores opened, and the passages went out of fashion. Most were pulled down. The ones that survived are almost all on the Right Bank, in the 2nd and 9th arrondissements, within a short walk of each other.

    They are still what they were: places for small trades. Stamp dealers, second-hand bookshops, toy shops, wine merchants and tea rooms, under iron and glass, with mosaic underfoot.

    What to see

    1. Galerie Vivienne

      The most elegant of them, opened in 1823, with a mosaic floor, a glass rotunda and an old bookshop. It is behind the gardens of the Palais-Royal.

    2. Passage des Panoramas

      One of the oldest, opened in 1800, and the liveliest: a tangle of narrow arcades full of small restaurants and stamp and postcard dealers.

    3. Passage Jouffroy

      Straight across the boulevard from the Panoramas, built in 1845, 140 metres of toy shops, walking sticks and old cinema posters.

    4. Passage Verdeau

      The quiet continuation of the Jouffroy, opened in 1847, with dealers in old books, prints and cameras.

    5. Galerie Colbert

      Beside the Vivienne and built to rival it in 1826. It has no shops now, only a great glass rotunda, and is free to walk through.

    How to do it well

    • Walk them in a line from south to north: Galerie Vivienne and Galerie Colbert, then the Passage des Panoramas, across the boulevard to the Jouffroy and on into the Verdeau.
    • Keep them for a wet day. Almost the whole walk is under glass.
    • Most passages are locked at night and many shops are closed on Sunday. Go on a weekday or a Saturday afternoon.
    • Eat in the Passage des Panoramas. It has more good small restaurants than any street around it.
    • Look up. The roofs, the clocks and the old shop signs are the best part.

    Where it is

    Address

    Between the Palais-Royal and the Grands Boulevards, 2nd and 9th arrondissements

    Nearest station

    Bourse, on line 3, or Grands Boulevards, on lines 8 and 9

    Museums and sights nearby

    Distances are in a straight line.

    Tickets and tours: Covered Passages

    Covered Passages: common questions

    What are the covered passages of Paris?
    Shopping arcades roofed in glass, built through the middle of city blocks, mostly in the first half of the nineteenth century. Twenty-five are still open to the public.
    Which is the most beautiful covered passage in Paris?
    The Galerie Vivienne, opened in 1823, for its mosaic floor and glass roof. The Passage des Panoramas, of 1800, is older and livelier.
    Are the covered passages free?
    Yes. They are public walkways during the day, free to enter. Most are locked at night.
    How much time do you need for the covered passages?
    Allow 1.5 to 2 hours. That is this site's estimate for an unhurried visit.

    What visitors say about the covered passages

    Rating from Google

    4.6

    6,653 ratings on Google

    Google's figures as read on 4 October 2026.

    Read every review on Google

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