Paris has some of the biggest and best vintage/antique flea markets in the world! While we were visiting the beautiful city we stopped by to explore one of their most famous, St Ouen Flea Market.
How to get to St Ouen:
If there’s one piece of advice I can give you about this flea market… it’s a little tricky to find! We wandered all the way from Montmartre, but if you’re coming by subway, get off at the metro stop Porte de Clignancourt (line 4). From there once you emerge from the underground look for the sign saying “Les Puces” which means “The Fleas”. Follow the road along, you’ll pass some dodgy looking fellow’s trying to sell you random junk and iPhones, on the left hand side will be a dirty swap-meet market (the kind that sells cheap and nasty trinkets). This is not the flea market! It’s easy to get disorientated at this point and many tourists have made the mistake of thinking this market is the flea. Instead keep walking, go underneath the big overpass, and just on the otherside you will find a green sign with arrows pointing left, reading “marche …” etc, this is the start of Rue des Rosiers, the road that leads you into the flea market!
From here you can start exploring. The best way to look through the flea is just to get lost within the winding alleyways.
We made our way to the flea by walking from Montmartre. If you’re up for some extra walking, this was a great way of seeing some beautiful streets of Paris! It’s about 25 minutes walk from the top (near Sacre Coeur), and luckily it’s all downhill! There are some great ‘lookouts’ at the of stairs along this route that make great places for taking pictures.
If you follow the above directions, once you reach Rue des Rosiers you can slip down any of the alley’s on your right and you’ll be greeted with a view like this picture above! All of a sudden you are surrounded by junky antique stalls selling everything from old toys, vintage clothes, beautiful ceramics and much more. It was basically my kind of paradise!
I’m on a strict ‘backpack only’ buying rule. Meaning basically I can’t buy anything… So I settled for collecting some beads and gemstones at this incredible stall. How often do you get to rummage through thousands of beads in Paris?
A perfect example of this maze-like flea. It’s the Diagon Alley of flea markets (if you don’t get that HP reference, I can’t help you…)
From the main street Rue des Rosiers, run several smaller alleyway’s. Some of which are: Marché Dauphine (furniture, ceramics), Marché Malassis (toys, vintage cameras and furniture), Marché Biron (expensive lighting, furniture and objets) and Marché Vernaison (with fashion, books, prints and kitchenware). Flea market junky stuff can be found on Marché Lecuyer.
There are more than 3000 vendors, and up to 180,000 visitors each weekend to the St Ouen Flea.
Top Tips:
Make sure you have cash! But keep an eye on your wallet. I imagine this market would be a hotspot for pickpockets.
Don’t get put off by the dodgy stuff happening on the streets around the market. Just keep to yourself, and politely decline if offered something from a street seller (usually junk anyway). I just don’t make eye contact and I never have a problem.
Opening hours:
Every Saturday from 9am – 6pm
Every Sunday from 10am to 6pm
Every Monday from 11am to 5pm
Sometimes photographs are the best souvenirs! This market is full of wonderful picture opportunities, just look out for “No Photo” signs incase stall holders don’t allow photographs.
If you’re anything like me, make sure you go in with robust self-control and a limited amount of money in your pocket 😉
