Discover the Lost Generation: 6 Bars in Paris Where Hemingway & His Friends Hung Out

After WWI, a group of expatriates, disillusioned by the war, moved from the United States to Paris. Gertrude Stein called them The Lost Generation. Among these expatriates was Ernest Hemingway, who lived in Paris for a number of years in the 1920s. 

Many of the famous Hemingway bars in Paris, where the writer hung out with fellow artists and members of The Lost Generation are still around to this day and are available for a visit. 

During the 1920s, Hemingway, along with other literary figures of The Lost Generation, called Paris home. The city served as a backdrop for his creative pursuits, where he networked with other editors and authors while sharpening his own craft. 

Here are six places you can visit and walk in the same steps as Ernest Hemingway in Paris.

6 Hemingway Bars in Paris

In the 1920s, writers and artists emigrated to Paris, France, which was the creative capital of the world at that time. Nicknamed The City of Light, Paris was a melting pot of intellect, fostering a sense of camaraderie among these expatriates who discovered new avenues for artistic expression and redefined the boundaries of traditional norms.

Hemingway’s Parisian years were marked by a bohemian lifestyle. He famously wrote during the day and drank during the night, enjoying Eiffel Tower views and getting his creative juices flowing.

He was known for making connections in the Paris bar scene and crafting characters based on the individuals he met.

Hemingway was an iconic figure in American literature, and at no discount was also a notable figure within the Parisienne bar scene. Along with other members of The Lost Generation, he put several Paris bars on the map.

What Brought Ernest Hemingway to Paris? 

Ernest Hemingway served on the Italian front of WWI as an ambulance driver and was seriously wounded by a piece of flying shrapnel. Recently heartbroken by a woman whom he had fallen in love with during the war, he decided to move to Paris on the advice of a friend. 

Hemingway took a job for the Toronto Star as a foreign correspondent and worked his way in a stable, consistent job. However, Paris proved to inspire more than his written articles. We know for certain that his books The Sun Also Rises (1926), A Farewell to Arms (1929), and A Moveable Feast (1964) were inspired by Paris, but Hemingway alluded to the fact that Paris stayed with him. 

He famously quoted in the last book, ““If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast.”

Quick Link: Consider taking a Hemingway walking tour in Paris. This one starts near the Luxembourg Gardens, which was a favorited writing spot for the writer.

1. Harry’s New York Bar

There may not be a more famous bar in Paris than the legendary Harry’s. Opened by a Scotsman in Paris, but called a ‘New York’ bar because it’s literally made of dismantled wood pieces deconstructed from New York and brought across the Atlantic to France. It opened on Thanksgiving Day in 1911, a year when America was still suffering miserably through prohibition.

If that isn’t iconic enough, Harry MacElhone, the original owner and mixologist, is said to have invented the Bloody Mary. Over the past century and change, Harry’s New York Bar has been a popular stomping ground for a variety of notable characters, including Ernest Hemingway.

Besides him, there was also Simone de Beauvoir, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and even Coco Chanel, who enjoyed a drink here.

2. The Dingo Cafe (Now Auberge de Venise)

Located a few blocks in front of the Montparnasse Cemetery is an old-world Italian restaurant serving pasta, risotto, and other unassuming menu regulars.

What you might not expect is that this is the exact location of the former Dingo Cafe (or simply, The Dingo), a bar that was famously the location where Hemingway and Fitzgerald first met. Although the restaurant goes by a different name, you can still sit at the same bar where these two infamous writers exchanged their first words together.

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3. Cafe de Flore

This cafe has become incredibly popular over the past few years and has seen a massive boom since the end of the pandemic. While it’s a bit of a tourist trap with incredibly long wait times during the peak traveling seasons, the interior is simply astounding.

The layout of the cafe, including the fixtures and decorations, is nearly the same as when The Lost Generation inhabited Paris over a hundred years ago.

4. Les Deux Magots

Situated directly across the street from Café de Flore, Les Deux Magots is another well-preserved hangout for famous artists over the past century.

The interior displays red leather benches lining the walls and delicate molding on the walls. The lamps give off a warm, almost sepia, hue that’s reminiscent of a time when great writers of the 20th century would come here to discuss literature.

5. Hemingway Bar Ritz

Aptly named after the author who loved this beautiful space, Bar Hemingway is tucked inside a small room and seats about fifteen at a time. The decorations are less reminiscent of the Lost Generation era and more about new-age luxury. It is, of course, a very fashionable place to hang out if you can grab a seat at the bar. 

While this spot is regarded as the most famous bar in Hemingway’s Paris, the bar is easy on the eyes, but not the wallet. It’s situated on the ground level of the Ritz hotel, so expect cocktails to cost over 30 euros.

6. La Closerie des Lilas

This well-known brasserie serves up oysters and expensive wine, but was once a quiet hangout spot for Ernest Hemingway. It’s believed that he came there frequently and chose a quiet table to get some work done, perhaps having also completed the first draft of The Sun Also Rises at this restaurant.

Now there’s a chair with his name on a metal plaque. His face also graces their menu as a reminder that this spot was one of the writer’s well-frequented spots in Paris.

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What Was The Lost Generation?

The Lost Generation in Paris refers to the migration of expatriate writers, artists, and intellectuals who found refuge in the city during the aftermath of World War I. Coined “Lost” by fellow writer Gertrude Stein, these creatives found solace in the French lifestyle after being scarred by the war. 

The term was first coined by Gertrude Stein, the pioneer of Modernism in France of that time. When referring to those who had served in the war and moved to Paris after, she said, “All of you young people who served in the war. . . . You are all a lost generation.’

Who Was in the Lost Generation?

It wasn’t just Ernest Hemingway who packed his belongings and moved to Paris after the war. Other American luminaries living there included Ezra Pound, F. Scott Fitzgerald, E.E. Cummings, and Sylvia Beach. 

There were opportunities to rub shoulders with numerous other artists and authors who defined the early twentieth century. James Joyce, Pablo Picasso, and Gertrude Stein.

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A Story Born from a City

Art has a way of maturing in Paris, as it’s often considered one of the most artistic and culturally movable cities. Consider that the city has over a hundred museums and numerous more art galleries, exhibits, and installations. 

If you plan to visit a bar or restaurant in Paris when Hemingway and other members of the Lost Generation visited, know that inspiration for some of the 20th century’s best literary works were likely born in that very establishment.