Is a cooking class in Paris worth it?

Is it worth taking a cooking class in Paris?

For most visitors who like food, yes. You get hands-on time with a French chef, you eat what you make, and every bakery window makes more sense afterwards.

The value is in what you learn to see. After a croissant class you notice the layers, the shine of the glaze, whether the ends are straight or curved, and why the butter croissant costs more. One guest at the Latin Quarter class wrote that “what we thought would be very complicated, was made easy to understand.”

Guests rarely complain about the price, and often about wanting more time. Fiona, after the bakery tour: “the thing we all most enjoyed during our time in Paris.” Janice, after the Montmartre class: “what's better than making croissants in Paris.”

The Latin Quarter croissant class: laminate, shape and bake croissants and pains au chocolat in a Left Bank pastry school.

★ 4.9 · 2.5 hours · from $113

Explore the Latin Quarter croissant class → Class details

Croissant, macaron, bread or a full cooking class: which should you take?

Croissants for technique and the most Parisian result, macarons for children, bread for a short morning in a real bakery. A full cooking class teaches a meal rather than a pastry.

Here is what each kind of class on this site gives you.

Full cooking classes, a market visit and a three-course lunch, are a different product. They suit people who want to cook French food at home, not bake it.

What do you get for the money?

Two to three hours of a chef's time in a group of six to twelve, all ingredients and equipment, what you bake and, on most classes, the recipe. You do not get a croissant from flour to oven.

• Time at the bench: 1.5 to 3 hours. Per hour, the classes run from about $37 near Montmartre to $123 at Le Petit Mitron.
• Group size: six near Sacré-Cœur, eight at most classes, nine on the bakery tour, twelve on the Emily class.
• What you take home: a box of croissants on most classes; guests report 15 pieces after the Montmartre class. A baguette on the bread classes, financiers on the baguette class.
• Extras: the recipe at the chef studio, recipes by email at Le Petit Mitron, a tote and a Polaroid on the Emily class.

The thing you do not get is the full process. Croissant dough rests for hours between folds, so every class bakes dough the chef prepared ahead. Thilde: “Everything was ready upon arrival, so you just had to bake.”

How much is a cooking class in Paris?

Baking classes on this site cost $102 to $246 per person. Pastry school workshops start at €295 at Le Cordon Bleu, and three days at the Ritz cost €1,500.

Prices scale with length and setting.

For a visitor, the short classes are the sweet spot: in English, under three hours, and bookable a week or two ahead. Our pastry schools guide covers the long courses.

Are there cooking classes in Paris in English?

Yes. Every class on this site is taught in English, and Le Petit Mitron also runs in French, Japanese and Spanish. The big schools teach in French with English translation.

Le Cordon Bleu's workshops are taught in French and translated consecutively into English, and the Ritz does the same. Ferrandi's amateur classes at Galeries Lafayette are in French. Its professional intensive programmes are taught in English.

Translation slows a class down. On a short morning, an English-speaking chef gives you more time with your hands in the dough.

Who should skip a baking class in Paris?

People avoiding gluten or dairy, anyone who cannot stand for two hours or climb stairs, children under the class's age limit, and anyone expecting to master croissants in a morning.

• Diets: flour and butter are the lesson. The Emily class says outright that it does not suit gluten or lactose intolerance, and macarons and financiers contain almonds.
• Mobility: you stand for most of every class. The working bakery class is up 15 steps with no lift; the baguette class does not suit wheelchair users.
• Young children: croissant classes start between 5 and 15. See croissant classes with kids.
• Your last day: a box of croissants and a suitcase do not mix.
• Perfectionists: you will understand croissants after a class. Baking them well alone takes a few weekends of practice.

Is a pastry school workshop better than a tourist class?

Longer, not always better. A Le Cordon Bleu workshop gives you five and a half hours for €295 to €299, adults only, in French with translation. A short class gives you an English-speaking chef and a smaller group for less.

Le Cordon Bleu's Freshly Baked Pastries Workshop covers croissants, pains au chocolat and brioche in one afternoon, for participants of 18 and over. The Ritz class takes ten people for one and a half or three days. Both suit serious home bakers with an afternoon to spare.

For a first taste, the short classes win on language, price and flexibility: free cancellation up to 24 hours before, and a morning that leaves the afternoon for the Louvre.

How do you get the most out of a cooking class in Paris?

Book a morning early in your trip, arrive ten minutes early, ask the chef which dough you are baking, and photograph the layers after the folds.

• Morning, early in the trip. Your croissants become breakfast, and you will read every bakery window differently for the rest of your stay.
• Ask questions. Which dough is ours? How cold should the butter feel? Chefs like curious guests.
• Take photos of the cut edge. The layers are the lesson.
• Eat them the same day. Or revive them for a few minutes in a hot oven the next morning.
• Then go tasting. Compare yours with the contest winners in the best croissants in Paris.

Frequently asked questions