VIBE

As the classic Joe Dassin ballad puts it, “il y a tous que vous voulez aux Champs-Élysées”…there’s everything you could possibly want on the Champs-Élysées. This is Paris’s most pricey strip of real estate, a two-kilometer stretch of tree-lined boulevard running from the elegant Place de la Concorde (near the presidential palace) all the way to the Arc de Triomphe. The eastern end passes through a lovely park, but further up it explodes into a shopping bonanza, where luxe brands (think Louis Vuitton and Cartier) jockey for attention with cinemas, cafés, and an increasingly large number of mainstream offerings (like Gap, H&M, and Disney).

USE A PURCHASE FROM HERE FOR

Gifts and souvenirs; a splurge from one of the fashion house flagships

WHY WE LIKE IT

Sure, it may be something of a tourist trap, but you can’t shop in Paris without hitting the Champs-Élysées. Definitely check out the Louis Vuitton flagship–its window displays are incredible.

GOOD TO KNOW

Parisians are increasingly concerned about the “banalisation” of the boulevard as global megabrands continue to snap up any free retail space, and due to public pressure, H&M was temporarily banned from opening stores on the Champs-Élysées. (They now have one here.) Besides being a shopping mecca, the Champs-Élysées is also the site of innumerable important parades and events, like the Tour de France final stretch, the Bastille Day parade, and Remembrance Day ceremonies.

CLOSEST COMPS

Fifth Ave. (New York)

Click here for our full-form mobile travel guide, The Purple Passport to Paris