The best ice cream in Paris

A chic hybrid of ice cream parlour and tearoom near the Odéon square, this Italian gelateria offers a vast array of home made ice creams (from €5.30 a scoop) and sorbets (from €4.80). Expensive they may be, but each ice is exquisite. Whether it’s the vibrant green of the pistachio...

It can be difficult to choose among the many ice cream parlours in the Marais, but as soon as you enter Une Glace à Paris on Rue Sainte-Croix de la Bretonnerie, you know you’re in safe hands. One of the chicest and best ice creams in Paris, lead by a patissière who was previously at Pierre Hermé and Harrods...

It might be trek over to La Muette, but if you do one of the best ice creams in Paris awaits you. Pascal le Glacier takes pride in using the very best ingredients to create his ice creams and sorbets. You can tell there's fresh egg yolk whipped into the vanilla ice cream when it tastes this good. Try the forest fruit (full of juicy blackberries and strawberries)...

Most people associate La Maison du Chocolat with luxurious boxes of chocolates; but come here in summer and you’ll discover (in addition to the chocolate stands) a superb ice cream section with endless tubs of mouth-watering glaces and sorbets. Chocolate ice cream takes pride of place – there’s even a low-fat chocolate... 

A walk through the Tuileries wouldn't be complete without stopped at an Amorino cart for an ice cream in Paris. Since opening the first on Île Saint-Louis back in 2002 the French business has really thrived...

If traditional ice cream cones just aren’t enough any more, head along Rue du Faubourg Montmartre to A la Mère de Famille. As well as traditional scoops, this 250-year old sweet shop (filled with bonbons, jellies and chocolates) serves scrumptious homemade ‘Exquimaux’ (frozen ice cream lollypops, coated in chocolate, caramelised...

Tucked down a cobbled alleyway near Abbesses, this hole-in-the-wall ice cream boutique adds a splash of real colour to the touristy 18th arrondissement. With its lemon-yellow, cartoonish frontage and squiggly shop logo (apparently reflecting the aesthetic of the 1954 film of the same name)...

Pozetto might not be the most famous gelateria serving up ice cream in Paris, but it’s one of the best, serving classic Italian flavours like gianduia torinese (a Turin speciality of chocolate and hazelnuts from Piémont), fior di latte (made from milk, cream and sugar) and pistacchio (a creamy Sicilian blend)... 

You can recognize the Berthillon ice-cream parlour and tearoom from the queues of people outside, except (somewhat strangely) in summer when the shop is closed! The flavours change throughout the seasons, but if it’s available don’t miss the strawberry sorbet, or the bitter chocolate sorbet made without and dairy products...

In Paris, the number of pop-up food vans increases by the day. The latest is Un Igloo Dans la Ville, which has pitched right outside the Mk2 Quai de Loire cinema and restaurant, meaning film fans can cool off with a specially made frozen yoghurt before or after a showing. Like many other frozen yoghurt...

Paris ice cream might be world-renowned, but the Italians still know a thing or two. Created by two young Italians in 2003, Grom has grown into an international ice cream chain with boutiques in Europe, the States and Japan. But don’t let that put you off: their caramel ice cream with pink Himalayan salt and cioccolato fondente made from Venezuelan chocolate are still as good as ever...

At Bac à Glaces, Paris ice cream maker extraordinaire Sylvain Roël wows customers with consistently delicious ice creams and sorbets – all home made with only the choicest ingredients and no artificial colourings. Popular flavours include Créole (rum and raisin), chestnut, pineapple and coconut... 

This ice cream boutique is from the same experimental team behind the roving Glaces Glazed van, which has steadily become a summer fixture in Paris. They’ve chosen the Rue des Martyrs as their HQ and now offer their speciality ices in a permanent setting. Painted entirely black, the little shop has only one little table inside and one outside...

You’ll be hard-pushed to find thicker, creamier ice cream than at Martine Lambert’s parlour on Rue Cler, where Normandy lait cru (unpasteurised milk) and crème fraîche are used in most of her recipes. Her sorbets are top-notch too: since she opened her first boutique in Deauville in 1975, Lambert has selected the best fruits from around the world...

An alternative to ice cream in Paris, the frozen yoghurt at Baci Bisou is not only healthy but also fun, since you can create their own concoctions with a variety of fruit, Nutella sauce, nuts and Haribo gummies. Choose from either plain yoghurt or the flavour of the day and then go crazy with the candies and toppings...

Ice cream lovers comes to Gelati d’Alberto for two things: the delicious ice cream and to watch the employees turn your scoops into a flower-shaped work of art before your very eyes. Once you’ve tasted the classic flavours, try the Nutella, green tea or even the vodka Red Bull varieties. The more flavours you choose, the prettier your ice cream...