Pastry schools in Paris

Is there a pastry school in Paris?

Several. Le Cordon Bleu, Ferrandi Paris and the École Ritz Escoffier are in the city, and the École Lenôtre is in Rungis, just south of it. All four teach professionals and run shorter courses for amateurs.

Their profiles differ:

• Le Cordon Bleu Paris: international and English-friendly, with diplomas in pastry and in boulangerie and a long list of half-day workshops.
• Ferrandi Paris: the school of the Paris Île-de-France chamber of commerce, training French students from the CAP to master's level, plus intensive programmes in English.
• École Ritz Escoffier: inside the Ritz Paris, with professional courses and amateur classes taught in French with English translation.
• École Lenôtre: the school of the Lenôtre pastry house, focused on professionals, with amateur workshops at its Rungis site.

Outside Paris, the INBP in Rouen is the national bakery and pastry institute and runs trade qualifications such as the tourier certificate for laminated dough.

What is the most famous cooking school in Paris?

Le Cordon Bleu, by name recognition. It was founded in Paris in 1895 by the journalist Marthe Distel and now has more than 35 institutes in over 20 countries.

Le Cordon Bleu's own history page gives the founding story. Its main Paris campus is at 13-15 quai André Citroën in the 15th, and it also teaches at the Hôtel de la Marine on Place de la Concorde. The fame comes partly from its spread: a diploma from Paris is recognised by people who have never heard of a French CAP.

Inside France, Ferrandi Paris carries as much weight. It has trained cooks and pastry chefs since 1920 and counts about 2,500 students plus 2,000 adults in continuing training.

How much is Le Cordon Bleu Paris, and is it hard to get into?

The Pâtisserie & Boulangerie Diploma costs €44,500 for 12 months, application fee included. Entry is open to beginners aged 18 or over with a baccalaureate or equivalent and B2 English or A2 French.

The diploma page lists 12 months, or nine in the intensive format, and states that “experience or practical knowledge is not required”. The hard part is the fee, not the selection.

All fees include the application fee, per the school's fee schedule. The certificate fees sit on a schedule dated from January 2024, so check the current figure when you apply.

What is Ferrandi Paris, and what does it cost?

A chamber of commerce school founded in 1920 with its Paris campus in the 6th. Its English-taught intensive pastry programme costs €24,500 for 16 weeks, and the bread and viennoiserie programme €18,500 for 12 weeks.

The Intensive Professional Program in French Pastry runs 16 weeks plus an optional three-month internship, entirely in English. You need to be 18, hold a high-school diploma and speak English fluently. The bread baking programme covers croissants, pains au chocolat, brioche and Danish, with bicolore and cross-laminated croissants on the syllabus, for €18,500 over 12 weeks.

For a shorter taste, Ferrandi lists two-week Introduction to the Fundamentals courses of 70 hours. Some of its amateur cooking and pastry classes run at Galeries Lafayette Haussmann, 35 boulevard Haussmann, on the third floor, in two to two and a half hours and in French.

What about the École Ritz Escoffier and the École Lenôtre?

The Ritz school, founded in 1988 on Place Vendôme, runs amateur viennoiserie courses over one and a half or three days, adults only. The École Lenôtre trains professionals in Rungis and offers amateur workshops of a few hours to a day.

The Ritz viennoiserie class covers croissants, pains au chocolat, pains aux raisins and brioche, with two-tone variations, for ten people at most, taught in French with consecutive English interpretation. A three-day “My viennoiseries!” session was listed at €1,500 in its 2025 run. It is the most expensive way to learn a croissant in Paris, and it comes with the Ritz kitchens.

Lenôtre, the pastry house that dates from 1957, moved its culinary arts school into new premises in Rungis in April 2021. It is a professional school first; its amateur workshops are cooking-led and booked direct.

Can amateurs take a croissant course at a Paris pastry school?

Yes. Le Cordon Bleu's Freshly Baked Pastries Workshop costs €295 to €299 for five and a half hours, adults only, taught in French with English translation. Croissant classes outside the schools cost $102 to $137 for two to three hours.

Here are the croissant-focused options side by side.

The school workshops give you longer at the bench and a famous name on the apron. The short classes teach in English from the start and fit into a sightseeing day. Neither format bakes a croissant from flour to oven in one session; the dough needs its overnight rests.

Laminate, shape and bake croissants and pains au chocolat in a Left Bank pastry school, with a private option.

★ 4.9 · 2.5 hours · from $113

Explore the Latin Quarter croissant class → Class details

What qualification do you need to bake croissants professionally?

In France, the standard route is the CAP boulanger or CAP pâtissier, a two-year trade certificate. Bakers who specialise in laminated dough can add the tourier certificate.

The CAP boulanger takes two years after the end of middle school and trains you to make “des pains et des viennoiseries”, croissants included, through school or an apprenticeship. A tourier is the baker who laminates the dough. The INBP's CQP tourier is a 300-hour course in Rouen for holders of a CAP, aged 18 or over, at €6,984 including VAT for the main module.

For a career abroad, the private diplomas from Le Cordon Bleu and Ferrandi are the usual choice, because they teach in English and need no French qualification to enter.

What is the best pastry school in France, or in the world?

No official ranking settles it. Le Cordon Bleu is the best known internationally, Ferrandi is the reference inside the French trade, and the Ritz and Lenôtre schools are the prestige names for short courses.

Pick on the course, not the crest. Ask how many hours you spend at the bench, how large the class is, whether teaching is in English or translated, and whether an internship is included. On those terms Ferrandi's English programmes and Le Cordon Bleu's diplomas suit career changers from abroad, and the CAP route suits anyone ready to train in French.

Which country is best to study baking? For croissants and viennoiserie, France, because the trade, the contests and the daily customers are here. The national butter croissant contest alone draws regional winners from across the country every year; see the best croissants in Paris.

Frequently asked questions