Private guided walk, one party only
Le Marais, a food walk: a private walking tour of Paris
Paris, Paris and its region
Guided by Erwan
A half day on foot through Le Marais, eaten in the order of a meal: something sweet from a baker, falafel on the rue des Rosiers, the oldest covered market in Paris, a picnic bought along the way, and chocolate or a glass to finish. Private group, tastings settled on the spot.
- 3 hours on foot
- 2 to 3 km
- Private group, up to 10 people
- Guided in English
- Flat, and easy going
- Cobbled lanes for much of the way, flat, with pavement on the larger streets
City walk
190 EUR
for your group, up to 6 people, for 3 hours
- 40 EUR for each extra hour
- 20 EUR per person, for participants 7 to 10
- 90 EUR for the guide to stay at your table, their own cover included
- 30 percent deposit at booking, balance before the walk
- Free cancellation up to 7 days before the walk
The walk
A private walk with a guide of your own, through a quarter chosen for what it sells rather than for what it looks like. Le Marais is where the centre of Paris still buys its food in the street instead of in a supermarket, and it is small enough to cross on foot between stops.
The walk is eaten in the order of a meal. It starts with something sweet from a baker by the place du Marché-Sainte-Catherine, goes on to the rue des Rosiers, the heart of the old Jewish quarter and still the street for falafel and Yiddish pastry, then up to the Marché des Enfants-Rouges, the oldest covered market in Paris. Along the rue de Bretagne, bread, cheese and charcuterie are bought as you go, and eaten together on a bench in the square du Temple. It ends with chocolate or a glass, in a room small enough to talk in.
Between the counters, the quarter itself: the mansions the nobility built here in the seventeenth century, the Jewish quarter its residents call the Pletzl, and the market streets that fed both. Two times of day work: a late morning start that ends as lunch, or a late afternoon start that ends at the hour of the apéritif.
What you taste is decided at the stall, on the day: nothing is pre-booked, nothing is padded, and your guide says what is worth stopping for that day. You pay for what you take, and the walk itself costs what every other walk costs. Say when you book what you love and what you would rather skip, and the stops are set around it.
What you see along the way
- A croissant or a pastry to start, from a bakery that still bakes its own on the premises
- The rue des Rosiers, the heart of the old Jewish quarter: falafel, Yiddish pastry, and the queue that goes with them
- The Marché des Enfants-Rouges, the oldest covered market in Paris, still feeding the street
- A picnic bought as you go along the rue de Bretagne, bread from the baker, cheese from the cheesemonger, charcuterie from the counter, eaten on a bench in the square du Temple
- The seventeenth-century mansions of the Marais, seen from the street between two stops
- A last stop for chocolate or a glass: a small room, a short list, and someone who pours
This walk is for you if
- You travel to eat, and would rather taste a quarter than photograph it
- You want someone who knows which stall is worth the queue that day
- You are travelling as a couple, a family or a small group of friends
- You have half a day in Paris and want to spend it at street level
- You would rather build your own picnic than follow a fixed tasting menu
Look elsewhere if
- You want a set tasting menu with everything paid in advance: here you choose and pay at each stall
- You are looking for a cheap seat on a shared tour: the price is per group, not per person
- You want the monuments of the centre: the half day along the Seine and across the islands is the walk for that
- Someone in the party has a serious food allergy that a market counter cannot guarantee against
Good to know
What the price covers
- A private guide, for the whole walk
- Stops chosen on the day, for what is good that day
- Answers as you go: what to buy, what to take home, where to eat afterwards
- The guide's own meal, if you take the table option
- Tastings, food and drinks, each guest settles their own at the stall
- Anything you take home
- Personal spending
- Metro tickets and getting to the meeting point
Where you meet
Once the booking is confirmed, the exact meeting point is sent as a pin on Google Maps, with walking directions from the nearest metro stations and a phone number you can call or message on the day. It is always on the route itself, never somewhere you have to double back from.
What to bring
- An appetite, and no big breakfast beforehand
- Comfortable shoes: the lanes of the Marais are cobbled
- A card and a little cash, for the stalls along the way
- A bag, if you want to take cheese or bread home with you
- A word about any allergy or dietary rule, sent when you book
If plans change
Free cancellation up to 7 days before the walk
See the full conditions
- Cancelling 7 days or more before the walk: free of charge, and the deposit is refunded in full.
- Cancelling less than 7 days before the walk, and 48 hours or more before it: the deposit is retained.
- Cancelling less than 48 hours before the walk: the full price is due.
- One reschedule is free of charge, provided it is asked for 48 hours or more before the walk.
- If the weather makes the walk unsafe or genuinely unpleasant, the choice is yours: reschedule, or a full refund.
Questions people ask
No, it is for the group. The price covers the guide for one to six people. From the seventh participant onwards, a supplement per person is added, up to a firm ceiling of ten people. The tastings are separate: each guest pays for what they take.
Because they are chosen on the day, at the stall, by you. A tasting paid in advance is a tasting chosen in advance, and the point of this walk is to stop where it is good that day and skip what does not appeal. You spend as much or as little as you like.
Both work, and they are not the same walk. Late in the morning, the bakeries are full and the market is at its busiest, and the picnic is your lunch. Late in the afternoon, the pace is slower, the picnic becomes a snack, and the last stop is a glass at the hour when the quarter stops work. Say which one you prefer when you book.
Yes, as far as a market allows. Say so when you book, vegetarian, halal, no pork, no alcohol or a specific allergy, and the stops are chosen around it. For a serious allergy, bear in mind that a market counter cannot guarantee a kitchen free of traces.
In English. Erwan guides this walk from the meeting point to the last stop.
Light rain is not a problem: the covered market and the counters along the way are good places to wait it out. If the weather makes the walk unsafe or genuinely unpleasant, you choose between rescheduling and a full refund.
Yes. The distance is short, the stops are frequent, and a market is a good place to be young. The last stop can be a chocolatier rather than a bar. A pushchair works, with some patience on the cobbles.
Walks are sold by MYWAY SAS, the operator behind Collectif My Way, of which we are a member: registered with Atout France under number IM059190009, it is the company that enters into the contract with you. Its financial guarantee is provided by Groupama and its professional liability is insured by Generali IARD.
Tell us your dates
Write with the dates, how many of you there are and what you would like to get out of the walk. You will get a straight answer about whether a guide is free, and the price for your group.
Ask about this walkGuided by Erwan
Drawn to wide open spaces, I am the team’s nature specialist. A former guide at Mont Saint-Michel and trained ecologist, I know France through its trails and hidden landscapes. I design grounded trips for you, where nature discovery meets local history.