Galeries Lafayette

What it is

This is the group's newest flagship, not the domed department store on Boulevard Haussmann most visitors picture at the name Galeries Lafayette. It opened on 27 March 2019 at 52-60 Avenue des Champs-Élysées, a short walk from the Arc de Triomphe, on the site of a former Virgin Megastore.

Danish firm Bjarke Ingels Group designed the building around a curved, translucent glass canopy and an open central atrium rather than the historic stained-glass dome that defines the Haussmann branch.

Galeries Lafayette itself dates to 1893, when cousins Théophile Bader and Alphonse Kahn opened a small draper's shop near the Opéra before the group grew into the chain it is today.

Checked 2026-08-24 · Source

What's inside

A department store spread across several floors around the central atrium, carrying fashion, accessories and beauty brands rather than the broader household and furniture ranges some Galeries Lafayette branches also stock.

The atrium itself is the interior landmark: a spiralling glass form that runs through the middle of the building and is lit from above by the canopy roof, with the floors arranged as balconies looking into it.

A rooftop terrace and food space sit at the top of the building, one of the few places on this stretch of the avenue with an open-air view back down the Champs-Élysées toward the Arc de Triomphe.

Checked 2026-08-24 · Source

How long to spend

Forty-five minutes to an hour covers a walk through the main floors and the atrium without lingering in any one department.

Budget longer if the rooftop terrace and food area are part of the plan, since reaching them and finding a spot to sit adds its own queue at busy times.

This branch is far smaller than the Haussmann flagship, so it does not take the half-day some visitors set aside for that store; it fits comfortably into a stop between other things to do on or near the Champs-Élysées.

Checked 2026-08-24

Season and crowds

Weekday mornings, shortly after opening, are the quietest time to see the atrium without a crowd of shoppers moving through it.

The Champs-Élysées itself is busiest in the afternoon and evening, and this store shares that rhythm — Saturdays and the run-up to Christmas are the most crowded stretches, when the illuminated windows also draw a separate crowd of onlookers who never go inside.

The rooftop terrace is most worthwhile in clear weather, when the view down the avenue toward the Arc de Triomphe is unobstructed.

Checked 2026-08-24

Tickets

Entry is free, as at any department store; there is no admission charge to walk through the floors, the atrium or the rooftop terrace.

A tax-refund desk for non-EU visitors is on site, as at the group's other Paris branches, for purchases over the relevant threshold — check current thresholds and paperwork requirements with the desk directly rather than assuming they match another country's rules.

No separate ticket or booking is needed to browse; only specific in-store events or the food area's own seating may involve a wait rather than a charge.

Checked 2026-08-24

Getting there

The 8th arrondissement, on the Avenue des Champs-Élysées between the Arc de Triomphe and the Rond-Point.

George V on Métro line 1 is the closest stop, a few minutes' walk down the avenue. Franklin D. Roosevelt on lines 1 and 9 is a similar distance in the other direction.

The Métro runs 16 lines across 321 stations, with stations 548 m apart on average — a two-stop journey is usually faster walked.

Checked 2026-08-24 · Source

What to watch out for

This is the Champs-Élysées branch, not the domed Haussmann flagship — checking which one a photo or a recommendation refers to before travelling across the city avoids a wasted trip.

The Champs-Élysées is one of the densest tourist and pickpocket environments in Paris, and the crowd around this store's entrance and windows is part of that same foot traffic, independent of anyone actually shopping.

Weekend afternoons and the holiday season bring queues at the tax-refund desk and at the busiest counters; a weekday morning avoids most of it.

Checked 2026-08-24

Photography

The spiralling glass atrium, shot looking straight up from the ground floor, is the interior photograph this branch is known for and the reason many visitors come in at all.

The rooftop terrace gives a straight-line view down the Champs-Élysées toward the Arc de Triomphe, best in clear weather and in the hour before sunset.

The curved glass canopy is also worth a look from outside on the avenue, where its shape reads differently against the classical stone facades on either side of it.

Checked 2026-08-24

Where it is

• 45 min

  1 min walk · Paris 8e Arrondissement

  avenue des Champs-Élysées

  • Must see
  • Historic monument
• 1 hour

  2 min walk · Paris 8e Arrondissement

  Maison de l'Alsace

  • High
  • Restaurant or café
• 45 min

  2 min walk · Paris 8e Arrondissement

  Guerlain

  • Notable
  • Market

External links

• Official site
• +33 1 83 65 61 00
• View on Wikidata