Tour Details
Duration
2.5 hours
Product Type
Tour
Venues
Various Chocolate and Pastry Shops in Saint-Germain-des-Prés
Photos & Highlights
Make Paris tangible through taste. Led by a food expert, this tour introduces the whole family to the craft and cultural meaning behind French sweets, offering familiar flavors with context that appeal to adventurous minds and cautious palates alike.
- Reframe pastries and chocolate as cultural artifacts, helping your teen see how technique, history, and ingredient choices shape what ends up in the display case.
- Delight teens with flavors they recognize and enjoy, while gently expanding their understanding of how French baking and chocolate-making became global benchmarks.
- Cut through the noise with an expert who knows food from the inside out, explaining how things are made, why they taste the way they do, and what makes each stop worth your time.
- Visit thoughtfully selected pâtisseries and chocolatiers where quality and approachability go hand in hand, making this an ideal experience for cautious eaters who still want to feel included and confident.
- Leave with shared reference points, new vocabulary for taste, and stories your teen will actually retell, proof that learning can be both rigorous and genuinely fun.
Select a date
Tour Description
Truffles, pralines, ganache...What's the difference? Beginning in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, your pastries and chocolates tour with a food expert will answer these questions and more. You'll indulge your sweet tooth at several chocolate shops, and maybe even stop to admire the whimsically detailed chocolate sculptures at a classic chocolaterie. As you taste their wares, you'll discuss the process behind the transformation from cocoa bean to the various chocolate delicacies sold in shops today, and maybe touch on chocolate's transformation from luxury good to affordable treat.
Next, you'll go on to discuss the rich dessert history associated with Paris and, more importantly, the evolution of the celebrated Parisian treat, the macaron. Stopping at a variety of these confectionery shops, you will compare and contrast the flavors, products, and techniques used. You may visit a top boutique to sample their flavorful take on the macaron, or try a colorful array at a family-owned boulangerie. From marvelous meringue and tartes to rich pure chocolate, this walk will tantalize every one of your senses.
This edible adventure through an upscale and iconic Left Bank neighborhood will enhance your appreciation for this sweet treat, as well as open your eyes to the complex science involved in the chocolate-making process.
Experts
- You have a serious sweet tooth. Not only will you get your fill of sweets on the tour itself, but you’ll come away with a list of shops and other specialties to try during your time in France.
- You want to visit the beautiful Left Bank of Paris in a fun and different way, by discovering its sweetest shops.
- You love deep diving into particular subjects and want to learn about the history of pastries and chocolates in France.
- Macarons- what trip to Paris would be complete without tasting an elegant macaron? Your guide will introduce you to some of our favorites.
- Chocolate-some of the world’s best chocolate makers have set up shop here, you would be remiss not to pay a visit.
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Seasonal specialties-bûche de noel in December, tarte aux fraises in late spring, part of life in France is savoring what is available according to the season.
- While the number of tastings can vary depending on the guide and your tastes and interests, we can guarantee you will not come away from this tour hungry. As one client recently put it, "We thought we would never want to eat again!". You may want to plan for something savory after the tour is over, however, to mitigate the sugar rush!
- We are taking you to local establishments that are often family-run, hours and availability may vary.
- Dietary restrictions should be shared in advance in order to possibly adapt the tour. We don’t recommend this tour for gluten allergies or those with illnesses which make them sensitive to sugar.
Additional Trip-Planning Resources
- For more information on planning your travels to Paris, take a read through our Context Stories.
- If you are looking to learn more about … prior to a visit, check out our online lectures at Context Learning.
Where do we meet? Where does it end?
The walk begins near the Église St-Germain-des-Prés in the 6th arrondissement on the Left Bank, and stays in a concentrated area in the neighborhood. Your confirmation email will have the exact meeting point details along with a map.
What if it’s raining?
Tours operate rain or shine, but in the case of inclement weather, your guide will modify the tour so more time is spent indoors. It never hurts to have an umbrella on hand.
Is this tour good for kids?
Yes! We have some excellent family friendly guides who can appeal to the learning styles of children, and what kid wouldn’t want to spend half the day eating chocolate?
There are 7 in my group but your website won't allow me to include more than 6 participants. Can't you make an exception?
Unfortunately not. The small independent shops we visit on our tour are small and prefer we keep our group sizes to 6 maximum for the best experience.
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We understand that some of our valued guests may have mobility concerns, and we want to ensure you have a comfortable and enjoyable experience throughout your tour. If there are any accessibility concerns that your tour guide will need to be aware of, please let our team know at the time of booking.
Is this tour wheelchair-friendly?
Some of the shops we visit are small and many will have a step up to access them. The general route may include small streets with narrow sidewalks; please contact us if you have any questions regarding accessibility.
Book with confidence — see Context's flexible cancellation policy here.
Where You'll Start
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424 Reviews
Reviews can only be left by Context customers after they have completed a tour. For more information about our reviews, please see our FAQ.
An unforgettably lovely couple of hours spent wandering St. Germain in the company of a charmingly knowledgeable and companionable guide to some of Paris’s lesser known, at least to us, chocolatiers and pastry houses. More than just the delight of discovering these off the beaten track gems, Rachel proved to be a knowledgeable guide to the history of each of the establishments we visited, thereby giving us a fuller appreciation of the chocolates and pastry we sampled as we wandered, as flaneurs in search of things we would never have discovered on our own, even if we were residents of the labyrinthine streets of the Left Bank. Particularly memorable, unforgettable in fact, was the chocolate sorbet at Plaq, which if not life changing was certainly life affirming. Highly recommended and worth the investment of time in broadening our experience of Paris and the Parisians.
Pamela
Reviewed on:
Apr 8, 2026
Susan gave a wonderful tour! She was very knowledgeable, and so friendly! My 16 yr old daughter and I had a magical tour and enjoyed every minute of our trip. We are extremely happy with our guide and the tour.
Ginette
Reviewed on:
Apr 7, 2026
This was our second tour with Marie. She is incredibly knowledgeable and passionate about her work. I highly recommend her.
Deborah
Reviewed on:
Apr 5, 2026
