# Shakespeare and Company, Paris > Shakespeare and Company is the most famous bookshop in Paris, an English-language store on the Left Bank of the Seine directly opposite Notre-Dame. The American George Whitman opened it in 1951 and named it after Sylvia Beach's legendary 1920s shop. Inside are narrow passages between floor-to-ceiling shelves, a staircase to a free reading library and beds where young writers sleep. Beat poets and great authors came here, and it appears in the films Before Sunset and Midnight in Paris. Entry is free. Web page: https://yesgo.io/france/paris/shakespeare-and-company - City: [Paris](https://yesgo.io/france/paris), France - YesGo score: 51/100 (Yes, go) - Time on site: 30 min - With kids: Fine with kids - Entry: Free - Hours: Daily, day and evening - Books: In English: new, second-hand, antiquarian - Café: Next door, since 2015 - Duration: ≈ 20–40 minutes - Location: 5th arrondissement, metro Saint-Michel - Coordinates: 48.85250, 2.34694 - Facts checked: 12.11.2026 ## Key facts - **1951** — the shop opened (source: English Wikipedia) - **1964** — renamed Shakespeare and Company (source: English Wikipedia) - **30,000+** — people have slept among the shelves (source: English Wikipedia) - **2015** — the shop's café opened (source: English Wikipedia) ## About Shakespeare and Company Shakespeare and Company is an English-language bookshop at 37 Rue de la Bûcherie in the 5th arrondissement, steps from the Seine and Place Saint-Michel, facing [Notre-Dame](https://yesgo.io/france/paris/notre-dame-de-paris). The American **George Whitman** opened it in **1951** as 'Le Mistral', on the site of a 16th-century monastery. It took its present name in **1964**, in tribute to **Sylvia Beach's** famous shop of 1919, where Hemingway, Joyce and Fitzgerald gathered in the 1920s and 1930s. Whitman modelled his store on hers, and Beach herself passed the name on to him. Today the shop is run by Whitman's daughter Sylvia, named after Sylvia Beach. ## What to see - **The book rooms** — narrow aisles, shelves to the ceiling. - **The upstairs reading library** — free, with a piano. - **Beds among the books** — for young writers. - **The motto above the door** — on welcoming strangers. - **The shop's café** — with a view of Notre-Dame. - **Square René-Viviani** — next door, with one of the oldest trees in Paris. ## Inside the shop Inside is a maze of cramped rooms with books from floor to ceiling, in stacks and in every corner. It sells **new and second-hand books** in English, as well as antiquarian editions. A creaky wooden staircase leads up to the **free reading library**: sit in an armchair, take a book off the shelf and read as long as you like, while someone may be playing the old piano. Above the entrance to the library is the shop's motto: 'Be not inhospitable to strangers lest they be angels in disguise'. Whitman called his shop 'a socialist utopia masquerading as a bookstore', and Henry Miller called it 'a wonderland of books'. > **When to come** By day, and especially at weekends, a queue forms outside, as the shop is small and visitors are let in gradually. It's quietest right after opening and late in the evening. Photography inside isn't always welcome, so check the signs and respect the readers. Ask for the shop's stamp in any book you buy, a favourite souvenir. ## Tumbleweeds: writers among the shelves The shop's quirk is its **beds**, tucked between bookshelves. Young writers and artists can sleep here for free in exchange for helping in the shop, promising to read a book a day and writing a one-page autobiography for the archive. Whitman called these guests 'Tumbleweeds', who 'blow in and out on the winds of chance'. Over the years more than **30,000** people have slept among the shelves. Literary evenings, writing workshops and Sunday tea parties still take place, and the shop even has its own literary prize. ## Famous visitors Whitman's shop quickly became the hub of English-language literary life in Paris. **Beat** poets came, Allen Ginsberg, Gregory Corso, William S. Burroughs, along with James Baldwin, Anaïs Nin, Julio Cortázar, Richard Wright and Lawrence Durrell. The journal Merlin, published from the shop, was the first to print Samuel Beckett in English. The shop has starred on screen too, in Richard Linklater's Before Sunset, Julie & Julia and Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris. Many people come here because of these films. ## The café and what's nearby In **2015** the Shakespeare and Company **café** opened next door, with mostly vegetarian food, coffee, pastries and a view of Notre-Dame across the Seine. Whitman had dreamed of a literary café here since 1969. Nearby is little **Square René-Viviani**, home to one of the oldest trees in Paris, and the ancient church of Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre. From here it's easy to walk into the [Latin Quarter](https://yesgo.io/france/paris/latin-quarter) with Rue de la Huchette and Rue Saint-Séverin, or across the bridge to the Île de la Cité. ## How to get there 1. Metro line 4 and RER B, C to **Saint-Michel**, a 3-minute walk. 2. Metro line 10 to **Maubert – Mutualité**, 5 minutes. 3. From Notre-Dame, across the Petit Pont, 2 minutes. 4. The address is 37 Rue de la Bûcherie, along Quai de Montebello. ## Tips for your visit The shop pairs naturally with Notre-Dame and a walk through the Latin Quarter, as it sits right between them. Twenty to forty minutes is enough unless you linger in the reading library. For a keepsake, choose a book about Paris or a classic written here, and ask for the shop's stamp. New book prices are standard for English editions. Watch the events programme on the shop's website: readings with well-known writers are sometimes free with registration. ## Before you go Tick off what's ready — your ticks are saved in this browser. - [ ] Arrive early to skip the queue - [ ] Go up to the reading library - [ ] Find the motto above the door - [ ] Buy a book with the stamp - [ ] Have coffee at the café next door ## Places in Paris: compare and choose Places in Paris rated by YesGo. - [Notre-Dame de Paris](https://yesgo.io/france/paris/notre-dame-de-paris) — YesGo score 74/100 (Yes, go) · 1 h · Free; optional timed booking - [Eiffel Tower](https://yesgo.io/france/paris/eiffel-tower) — YesGo score 65/100 (Yes, go) · 2 h 30 min · Timed ticket, lift or stairs - [The Louvre](https://yesgo.io/france/paris/louvre) — YesGo score 62/100 (Yes, go) · 3 h 30 min · Timed ticket, online - [Arc de Triomphe](https://yesgo.io/france/paris/arc-de-triomphe) — YesGo score 62/100 (Yes, go) · 1 h · Roof on a ticket - [Place de la Concorde](https://yesgo.io/france/paris/place-de-la-concorde) — YesGo score 60/100 (Yes, go) · 30 min · Free - [Sainte-Chapelle](https://yesgo.io/france/paris/sainte-chapelle) — YesGo score 57/100 (Yes, go) · 1 h · Timed ticket, online - [Montmartre](https://yesgo.io/france/paris/montmartre) — YesGo score 56/100 (Yes, go) · 3 h · Free - [Hôtel de Ville](https://yesgo.io/france/paris/hotel-de-ville) — YesGo score 56/100 (Yes, go) · 30 min · Square free, halls by tour - [Palais Garnier](https://yesgo.io/france/paris/opera-garnier) — YesGo score 54/100 (Yes, go) · 1 h 15 min · Visit ticket for the building - [Place Vendôme](https://yesgo.io/france/paris/place-vendome) — YesGo score 54/100 (Yes, go) · 25 min · Free - [Palais-Royal](https://yesgo.io/france/paris/palais-royal) — YesGo score 53/100 (Yes, go) · 40 min · Garden and courtyard free - [Musée d'Orsay](https://yesgo.io/france/paris/musee-dorsay) — YesGo score 52/100 (Yes, go) · 2 h 30 min · Timed ticket, online - [Pont Neuf](https://yesgo.io/france/paris/pont-neuf) — YesGo score 52/100 (Yes, go) · 25 min · Free - [Shakespeare and Company](https://yesgo.io/france/paris/shakespeare-and-company) — YesGo score 51/100 (Yes, go) · 30 min · Free - [Île de la Cité](https://yesgo.io/france/paris/ile-de-la-cite) — YesGo score 51/100 (Yes, go) · 2 h 30 min · Free, it's a city island - [Saint-Germain-des-Prés](https://yesgo.io/france/paris/saint-germain-des-pres) — YesGo score 50/100 (Yes, go) · 1 h 30 min · Quarter and church free - [Place des Vosges](https://yesgo.io/france/paris/place-des-vosges) — YesGo score 50/100 (Yes, go) · 45 min · Free - [Palace of Versailles](https://yesgo.io/france/paris/versailles) — YesGo score 46/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 6 h · Timed ticket, online - [Le Marais](https://yesgo.io/france/paris/le-marais) — YesGo score 46/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 3 h · Free, it's a city district - [Latin Quarter](https://yesgo.io/france/paris/latin-quarter) — YesGo score 45/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 2 h 30 min · Free, it's a city district - [Musée de Cluny](https://yesgo.io/france/paris/musee-de-cluny) — YesGo score 40/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h 45 min · Ticketed, free under 18 - [Château de Vincennes](https://yesgo.io/france/paris/chateau-de-vincennes) — YesGo score 38/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h 45 min · Ticket for the keep and chapel - [Palace of Fontainebleau](https://yesgo.io/france/paris/fontainebleau) — YesGo score 30/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 4 h · Palace ticket, gardens free ## Don't mix it up Today's shop on Rue de la Bûcherie opened in 1951; Sylvia Beach's original Shakespeare and Company ran from 1919 to 1941 on Rue de l'Odéon. ## Tips - Early to skip the queue. - Library upstairs. - Get the stamp. - Notre-Dame opposite. ## Questions ### Is there an entry fee for Shakespeare and Company? No, entry is free; books are for sale. ### Where is the shop? At 37 Rue de la Bûcherie, facing Notre-Dame. ### Is this the shop Hemingway visited? Hemingway frequented Sylvia Beach's original shop; this one opened in 1951 and was named in its honour. ### Why is there a queue outside? The shop is small and visitors are let in gradually; mornings are quieter. ### How do I get to Shakespeare and Company? By metro or RER to Saint-Michel. ## How we checked Facts from English Wikipedia. Opening hours and entry arrangements weren't confirmed with an official source — hence the 'checking' badge. ## Sources - English Wikipedia: Shakespeare and Company (bookstore) - Shop official website, shakespeareandcompany.com --- This is the Markdown version of a YesGo page for AI assistants. Quote the web page link above, not this file.