Best Time to Visit Paris: Month by Month, Crowds, Prices and Weather (2026)

The best time to visit Paris depends on which trade you are willing to make, because the city has no month that wins on every count. Spring and fall are the standard answer, and they are a fair one for weather. They are also the seasons of the Fashion Weeks, Roland-Garros and the largest trade fairs at Porte de Versailles, which push hotel rates higher than in July for some weeks. Paris sorts along six axes: temperature, rain, daylight, crowds at the monuments, hotel prices and what is open. They do not line up, and the right month is the one where the axis you care about most falls your way.

Search results on this question tend to repeat one paragraph: go in April or September, avoid August because everything closes, go in December for the Christmas lights. They skip the numbers. May is the wettest month in Paris by volume, not November. The sun sets at 4:54 p.m. in mid-December and at 9:55 p.m. in mid-June, which is five hours of evening. August closures hit neighborhood bakeries and bistros, not the Louvre. And dates move: the Bastille Day fireworks were fired on July 13 in 2026, and Nuit Blanche, long an October event, has been held in early June in recent years.

Climate figures below are Météo-France’s 1991-2020 normals for the Paris-Montsouris station in the 14th arrondissement. Sunrise and sunset times are calculated for central Paris on the 15th of each month. Prices, hours, event dates and booking rules below were checked against official websites in November 2026.

Spring or Fall Is the Right Answer to Half the Question

“Visit in spring or fall” answers a question about temperature and rain. It says nothing about the four other things that decide a Paris trip.

Temperature. Paris is mild. The coldest month, January, averages a high of 7.6°C (46°F) and a low of 3.2°C (38°F). The warmest, July, averages 25.7°C (78°F) and 16.2°C (61°F). The real risk is at the top: heat waves in July and August, in a city where many older hotels and most apartments have no air conditioning.

Rain. It rains in every month, and in similar amounts. The annual total at Montsouris is 634 mm over about 109 days. The wettest month by volume is May, at 69 mm. The month with the most rainy days is December, at 11.4. The driest by day count are July and September, at 7.4 and 7.5. A Paris trip of five days will see rain on one or two of them in almost any month, which is why the rainy-day plan is a planning tool rather than a contingency.

Daylight. This is the axis travelers underrate most. Mid-December gives 8 hours 17 minutes of daylight, mid-June 16 hours 9 minutes. In June, an evening walk along the Seine at 9:30 p.m. happens in daylight. In December, a 4:30 p.m. visit to the Sacré-Cœur steps happens at dusk.

Crowds. Monument lines track school holidays in France, Europe and North America, not weather. The heaviest stretch runs from mid-June to late August, with peaks at Easter, the May bridge weekends and the Christmas-to-New Year week.

Hotel prices. They track events more than seasons. Fashion Weeks, Roland-Garros, the Air Show in odd years and the big fairs at Porte de Versailles create price spikes of a few days to two weeks, sometimes in the “quiet” months.

What is open. Museums close on fixed weekdays all year, Tuesday at the Louvre and Monday at Orsay and Versailles. Independent shops and restaurants close for part of August. Most of the city shuts on May 1 and December 25.

The month-by-month section below gives the figures for each axis. For booking windows that apply whatever the month, the what to book in advance guide is the companion to this page.

The Year in One Table

Temperature, rain, rainy days (1 mm or more) and sunshine hours are the Météo-France 1991-2020 normals for Paris-Montsouris. Sunrise and sunset are calculated for central Paris on the 15th of the month in 2027, in local time with daylight saving from March 28 to October 31, 2027. Crowd and hotel columns are a reading of school-holiday calendars, published event dates and the Paris tourist office’s monthly barometer, not a measured index. No public body publishes a monthly crowd count for the city as a whole.

Month by Month

January

The cheapest month for a room and the darkest for a walk. Average high 7.6°C, low 3.2°C, 48 mm of rain over about ten days, and 59 hours of sunshine for the whole month. Paris-Montsouris records seven frost days in an average January, but snow that settles in the city is rare. Sunrise is at 8:38 a.m. on January 15 and sunset at 5:21 p.m., so a full day of sightseeing has about eight and a half hours of light.

The first days of January 2027 still belong to the holidays. French schools return on Monday, January 4, 2027, and the Christmas markets close between January 3 and January 6. Then the city empties. The winter sales run from Wednesday, January 6, to Tuesday, February 2, 2027, and the department stores on boulevard Haussmann in the 9th arrondissement are at their fullest on the first two Saturdays. The Paris sales dates guide explains how the national calendar is set.

The exception is fashion. The men’s Fashion Week runs January 19 to 24, 2027, followed directly by Haute Couture week from January 25 to 28. Upper-end hotels in the 1st, 8th and 16th fill for those ten days. The Louvre closes on January 1 and every Tuesday. Verdict: January is the month for museums, restaurants and price, and the wrong month for long walks and photographs.

February

Slightly milder and noticeably lighter. Average high 8.8°C, low 3.3°C, 42 mm of rain, the lowest monthly total of the year, over about nine days. Sunshine rises to 84 hours. Sunrise moves to 7:59 a.m. and sunset to 6:10 p.m. on February 15, which adds more than an hour of daylight against mid-January.

French winter school holidays are staggered by zone. Paris and its region, zone C, go first in 2027, from Saturday, February 6, to Monday, February 22. Families from the regions then arrive for zones A and B later in the month, and the Louvre and the Cité des Sciences feel it. Valentine’s Day on Sunday, February 14, 2027, raises dinner prices and makes restaurant reservations harder that weekend, not the rest of the month.

The month ends with the largest consumer event of the Paris year. The Salon International de l’Agriculture runs from Saturday, February 27, to Sunday, March 7, 2027, at Paris Expo Porte de Versailles in the 15th arrondissement. It draws hundreds of thousands of visitors from across France, fills hotels in the 15th and the southwestern suburbs, and packs metro line 12 to Porte de Versailles. Verdict: the first three weeks of February are the quietest and cheapest of the year, with the caveat of short, gray days.

March

The month when the light changes. Average high 12.8°C, low 5.6°C, 45 mm of rain over about ten days, and 135 hours of sunshine, more than double January. Sunrise at 7:04 a.m. and sunset at 6:55 p.m. on March 15. Daylight saving begins on Sunday, March 28, 2027, which moves sunset past 8:00 p.m. overnight. The magnolias in the Jardin des Plantes and the first cherry trees in the parks flower in the second half of the month in most years, depending on the winter.

March 2027 opens with the end of the agriculture fair and the women’s Fashion Week, March 1 to 9, 2027, the busiest of the four fashion sessions for central hotels. The Semi de Paris half marathon runs on Sunday, March 7, 2027. Easter falls early: Easter Sunday is March 28 and Easter Monday, March 29, 2027, is a public holiday. Notre-Dame’s Holy Week and Easter services draw long lines on the forecourt in the 4th.

Verdict: the second half of March is undervalued. Rates fall back after Fashion Week, the spring crowd has not yet arrived, and the days are long enough for a full schedule. The limitation is the weather, which swings between 18°C afternoons and cold rain in the same week.

April

Spring proper, and the start of the crowd. Average high 16.6°C, low 7.9°C, 46 mm of rain over about nine days and 177 hours of sunshine. Sunrise at 7:00 a.m. and sunset at 8:41 p.m. on April 15, with daylight saving now in force. Light jackets in the afternoon, a coat at night.

The Paris Marathon, its 50th edition, has been announced for Sunday, April 4, 2027. Its route closes roads across central Paris for the morning, and hotels near the start and finish sell out for the weekend. Paris region schools are on spring holiday from Saturday, April 3, to Monday, April 19, 2027, and British and North American spring breaks overlap. The Louvre, Versailles and Sainte-Chapelle time slots sell out earlier than in March. The Foire de Paris, the city’s big consumer fair, runs at Porte de Versailles from April 30 to May 10, 2027.

Giverny reopens its gardens for the season in spring, which makes April the first month the Giverny day trip works. Verdict: worth it if the dates fall outside the April 3 to 19 holidays, when the weather and the crowds are both moderate. Less so inside them.

May

The month of bridges and of the most rain. Average high 20.2°C, low 11.1°C, and 69 mm of rain, the highest monthly total of the year, often in short thundery bursts rather than steady drizzle. Sunshine averages 201 hours. Sunrise at 6:09 a.m., sunset at 9:25 p.m. on May 15.

May 2027 has three public holidays, and two of them fall on a Saturday: May 1 (Labor Day) and May 8 (Victory in Europe Day). May 1 is the one day of the year when almost everything closes, including the Louvre, Orsay and Versailles. Ascension falls on Thursday, May 6, 2027, and Paris schools are closed on Friday, May 7, creating a four-day weekend when French travelers fill trains and the city fills with visitors from the provinces. Whit Monday, May 17, 2027, is the third holiday. The public holidays guide lists what closes on each one.

Roland-Garros begins on Monday, May 17, 2027, with qualifying, and the main draw starts on Sunday, May 23. The tournament runs to the men’s final on Sunday, June 6, at the Stade Roland-Garros at Porte d’Auteuil in the 16th, on metro line 10. Hotels in the 16th and the 15th, and much of the city’s upper range, are at peak rates for those two weeks. The Roland-Garros tickets guide covers the official sale. Verdict: early May, from about May 10 to 16, 2027, is the spring sweet spot. After May 17, the tennis sets the price.

June

The longest days and the best evenings of the year. Average high 23.4°C, low 14.2°C, 51 mm of rain over about eight days and 204 hours of sunshine. Sunrise at 5:46 a.m. and sunset at 9:57 p.m. at the June 21 solstice, which gives 16 hours 11 minutes of daylight. Paris-Montsouris averages 2.5 days at 30°C or more in June.

The calendar is dense. Roland-Garros ends on Sunday, June 6, 2027. The Paris Air Show, held in odd years at Le Bourget north of the city, is scheduled for June 14 to 20, 2027, with trade days first and the public admitted over the closing weekend. The men’s Fashion Week follows from June 22 to 27, 2027. Those weeks put June among the most expensive months for a Paris room in most years. The summer sales start on Wednesday, June 23, 2027.

The Fête de la Musique falls on Monday, June 21, 2027. Free concerts play on street corners, in courtyards, in churches and on large stages across all twenty arrondissements from late afternoon until well past midnight. The metro is packed, and the busiest streets in the Marais, the Latin Quarter and around Bastille are hard to cross after 9:00 p.m. The Fête de la Musique guide covers where to go. Nuit Blanche, the free all-night contemporary art event, has been held in early June in recent years: on Saturday, June 6, in 2026. Its 2027 date had not been announced in November 2026, and the Nuit Blanche guide will carry it.

The Paris 2024 Olympic cauldron balloon returned to the Jardin des Tuileries in the 1st from June 21 to September 14, 2026, rising each evening at sunset, free to watch. Its operators announced a final summer season for 2027 without dates. Verdict: June is the best month for long evenings and outdoor life, and among the dearest for a room.

July

The warmest and sunniest month, and the busiest at the monuments. Average high 25.7°C, low 16.2°C, 59 mm of rain over only 7.4 days, often in thunderstorms, and 222 hours of sunshine. Sunrise at 6:02 a.m., sunset at 9:49 p.m. on July 15. Paris-Montsouris averages 5.5 days at 30°C or more in July, and its all-time record, 42.6°C, was set on July 25, 2019.

The Paris tourist office’s barometer, using MKG data, put Paris hotel occupancy at 85.1% in July 2026. French schools break up on Friday, July 2, 2027, and European and North American holidays overlap from then until late August. Haute Couture week runs from July 5 to 8, 2027.

Bastille Day is Wednesday, July 14, 2027. The military parade on the Champs-Élysées in the 8th takes place in the morning, with a flyover. The fireworks are traditionally fired from the Champ-de-Mars in the 7th at 11:00 p.m. on July 14. In 2026, the Ville de Paris moved them to the evening of Monday, July 13, to keep July 14 for the commemoration of the tenth anniversary of the 2016 Nice attack, and the Eiffel Tower closed to visitors on July 13 for the preparation. The 2027 date had not been announced in November 2026. The Louvre is free on July 14. The Bastille Day guide covers where to stand. The Tour de France finishes on the Champs-Élysées on Sunday, July 25, 2027, after a final stage from Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines that passes over the Butte Montmartre in the 18th.

Paris Plages turns the riverside and the Bassin de la Villette in the 19th into summer beaches, from July 4 to August 30 in 2026. Verdict: worth it for long days, outdoor events and the river, not for anyone who struggles in heat or dislikes lines.

August

Two different cities in one month. Average high 25.6°C, low 16.0°C, 58 mm of rain over about eight days and 215 hours of sunshine. Sunrise moves from 6:23 a.m. to 7:05 a.m. across the month and sunset from 9:29 p.m. to 8:35 p.m., so the evenings shorten fast. Paris-Montsouris averages five days at 30°C or more, and the August record of 39.5°C dates from the 2003 heat wave.

The sights are full: the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Versailles and the river cruises see summer visitors from abroad all month. The neighborhoods are quiet. Many Parisians leave, and independent bakeries, bistros, wine bars and small shops close for two or three weeks, most often in the first three weeks of the month and around the August 15 holiday. August 15, 2027, a Sunday, is Assumption Day. The section on August below gives the detail, and the Paris in August guide maps what stays open.

The Seine swimming sites, opened as a legacy of the 2024 Olympics, ran from July 4 to August 30 in 2026 at three free, supervised spots: Bercy in the 12th, Bras Marie in the 4th, facing the Île Saint-Louis, and Grenelle in the 15th. Opening depends on daily water quality and river flow, and the Ville de Paris posts the status at paris.fr. The Seine swimming guide covers the rules. Verdict: a good month for sightseeing travelers who book ahead, a weak one for anyone coming for neighborhood food.

September

The best all-round month for many travelers. Average high 21.5°C, low 13.0°C, 45 mm of rain over 7.5 days, tied with July for the fewest rainy days, and 175 hours of sunshine. Sunrise at 7:26 a.m., sunset at 8:04 p.m. on September 15. Paris schools return on the first days of the month, and the city’s restaurants and shops are all back open.

The Journées européennes du patrimoine, when ministries, embassies, the Élysée Palace and private mansions open to the public, took place on September 19 and 20, 2026. The event is held on the third weekend of September, which points to September 18 and 19, 2027, once the Ministry of Culture confirms the date. Many sites require free advance registration in the weeks before.

The last week brings the women’s Fashion Week, from September 27 to October 5, 2027, and trade fairs push rates up further. In 2026, the tourist office’s barometer recorded an 8.7-point jump in hotel occupancy on September 29 alone, during the Batimat building fair at Porte de Versailles. Verdict: September 1 to 25 is the window this guide would pick for a first visit with no other constraint. The last days of the month cost more.

October

Autumn color and the return of short days. Average high 16.5°C, low 9.9°C, 55 mm of rain over about ten days and 119 hours of sunshine. Sunrise at 8:10 a.m. and sunset at 7:01 p.m. on October 15. Daylight saving ends on Sunday, October 31, 2027, and sunset falls from 6:34 p.m. on October 30 to 5:30 p.m. on November 1. The plane trees along the quays and the chestnuts in the Luxembourg Gardens turn in the second half of the month.

The first week continues the Fashion Week. Paris region schools take their autumn holiday in the second half of October, from October 17 to November 2 in 2026, and French families come to the city. Trade fairs at Porte de Versailles and at Villepinte, near Charles de Gaulle airport, keep business demand high on weekdays.

Verdict: the middle two weeks of October are among the best of the year for museums and walks, with fair weather more often than not and moderate prices. The limitation: the rain becomes more frequent from the third week, and November’s darkness is close.

November

The quietest month for crowds, with the early start of the Christmas season. Average high 11.1°C, low 6.2°C, 54 mm of rain over 10.4 days and 70 hours of sunshine. Sunrise at 7:59 a.m., sunset at 5:10 p.m. on November 15.

All Saints’ Day on Monday, November 1, 2027, and Armistice Day on Thursday, November 11, 2027, are public holidays. The Armistice ceremony is held at the Arc de Triomphe in the morning. The Christmas markets begin in the middle of the month. In 2026, the market at Paris La Défense opened on November 12 and the Tuileries market on November 14.

November is the month the Paris weather and packing guide matters most: a waterproof jacket with a hood beats an umbrella on the bridges. Verdict: worth it for travelers who want museums with fewer people and lower prices, and who accept early darkness and frequent drizzle.

December

The most atmospheric month and, from about December 20, the most expensive. Average high 8.0°C, low 3.8°C, 62 mm of rain over 11.4 days, the most rainy days of the year, and 57 hours of sunshine, the fewest. Sunrise at 8:41 a.m. and sunset at 4:55 p.m. at the December 21 solstice, for 8 hours 15 minutes of daylight.

The Christmas markets run through the month. In 2026, the Tuileries market in the 1st runs from November 14, 2026, to January 3, 2027. The market at Paris La Défense, the largest in the region, runs from November 12 to December 31, 2026, and is reached on metro line 1 or RER A to La Défense Grande Arche. The Notre-Dame market in square René-Viviani in the 5th runs from November 26 to December 27, 2026. Organizers have announced a Champs-Élysées market from November 22, 2026, to January 4, 2027. The Christmas markets guide compares them.

French schools break up on Saturday, December 19, 2026, and return on Monday, January 4, 2027. Christmas Eve, Thursday, December 24, 2026, brings early closures in shops and restaurants. Christmas Day, Friday, December 25, 2026, closes the Louvre and most shops. New Year’s Eve fills the Champs-Élysées and hotels reach their highest rates of the winter. The December guide and the New Year’s Eve guide take each half separately. Verdict: December 1 to 18 gives the lights and the markets at ordinary prices. December 20 to January 1 is worth paying for only if the dates are fixed.

The Dated Calendar, 2026 to 2027

Dates below are those published by organizers or fixed by law as of November 2026. An event marked “not announced” happens every year but had no confirmed date when this guide was checked.

Hotel Rate Peaks: What Actually Fills the City

Paris hotel prices respond to a short list of events. Knowing them is worth more than knowing the season, because a room in the 8th can cost far more in the women’s Fashion Week of early March than in a sunny week of late April.

Fashion and couture. Six sessions a year, listed above, set by the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode. The women’s weeks in March and at the turn of September and October have the widest effect, because buyers, press and brands book the whole central city. The men’s weeks in January and June and the couture weeks in January and July concentrate on the 1st, 3rd, 8th and 16th.

Sport. Roland-Garros fills the west of the city for three weeks from mid-May. The Paris Marathon fills hotels near the start and finish for one weekend in April. The Tour de France finish fills the area around the Champs-Élysées for a Sunday in late July. Concerts and matches at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis spike rates on single nights.

Trade fairs. Paris Expo Porte de Versailles in the 15th and Paris Nord Villepinte near Charles de Gaulle host fairs most weeks of the year. The largest consumer fairs at Porte de Versailles, the agriculture fair in late February and the Foire de Paris around May 1, fill the 15th and the southwestern suburbs. Professional fairs fill weekday nights. The Air Show at Le Bourget in odd-year Junes is the largest of all.

Holidays. Christmas to New Year, Easter, and the Ascension and Whitsun bridges in May bring French and European leisure travelers. New Year’s Eve is usually the most expensive single night of the winter.

The soft periods. January outside Fashion Week, the first three weeks of February, the second half of March, the second half of August, mid-November and early December. Rates also soften at weekends during the business months, when trade-fair visitors leave, and rise at weekends in summer, when leisure travelers arrive.

The where to stay in Paris guide compares the arrondissements, and the tourist tax guide gives the per-night charge, which does not change with the season.

August: What Actually Closes

August is the most misunderstood month in Paris. The city does not shut. It splits.

What stays open. Every major museum and monument keeps its normal schedule, closing days included: the Louvre on Tuesday, Orsay and Versailles on Monday. Department stores, chains, supermarkets, cinemas, river cruises and most restaurants in the 1st, 4th, 6th, 7th and 8th stay open. Paris Plages and the Seine swimming sites make the riverbanks busier than in June.

What closes. Independent bakeries, bistros, wine bars, cheese shops, butchers, bookshops and small boutiques, usually for two or three weeks. The closures concentrate on the first three weeks of the month and around the August 15 holiday. A handwritten sign on the shutter gives the reopening date. The old police rule that staggered bakers’ holidays so that each street kept one open was lifted in the 2010s, and residential streets can now be left with a single open bakery for part of the month. Some restaurants close for the whole month.

What it means for a visitor. Sightseeing works normally, with summer crowds and summer heat. Food-focused trips are weaker, especially in residential areas: a restaurant list written in May may be half closed in August. Booking restaurants ahead and checking their summer dates is the fix. Hotel rates in the second half of August are often lower than in July, because business travel stops and many European visitors have gone home. The Paris in summer guide covers the heat, and the Paris on a Sunday guide covers the same shutter problem on any week of the year.

How Far Ahead to Book, Season by Season

The month changes the booking window more than the price of a ticket.

Peak weeks. For Fashion Weeks, Roland-Garros, the Air Show, Christmas to New Year and the May bridges, book the room as soon as the dates are fixed. Central hotels at fair prices go first.

Summer. Louvre, Eiffel Tower and Sainte-Chapelle time slots for July and August sell out further ahead than in any other season. Book them the day the trip is set, not the week before. The Eiffel Tower tickets guide gives the release pattern.

Winter and shoulder weeks. In January, February, mid-November and the second half of March, a few days ahead is usually enough for museums, and many restaurants take same-week reservations.

Free events. Fête de la Musique, Bastille Day and Nuit Blanche need no ticket. Some Journées du patrimoine sites require free registration in the weeks before.

By Situation

You are visiting for the first time and the dates are flexible

September 1 to 25, or May 10 to 16 in 2027. Both give long days, reliable opening, mild temperatures and rates below the peak weeks. Book the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower time slots as soon as the dates are fixed, and read how many days Paris needs before choosing the length. The Louvre tickets guide has the booking window and the 2026 prices.

You want the lowest price

January 4 to 18, or the first three weeks of February 2027 outside the February 6 to 22 school holidays. Rooms are at their softest and museums are at their quietest. Accept sunsets between 5:00 p.m. and 6:15 p.m., and plan indoor afternoons. The Paris travel budget guide shows what a day costs once the room is set.

You cannot tolerate heat

Avoid mid-July to mid-August, when Paris-Montsouris averages five or more days a month at 30°C and many rooms have no air conditioning. May, early June and September give warm days without that risk. If the dates are fixed in summer, confirm air conditioning with the hotel in writing and plan museums for the afternoon.

You are traveling with children

The Paris school holidays are the busiest weeks at family sights, so a trip outside them is easier: avoid February 6 to 22 and April 3 to 19, 2027, if the home calendar allows. Late June, before French schools break up on July 2, 2027, combines long evenings, open parks and lighter lines. The Paris with kids guide covers the parks and carousels that work in each season.

You want a specific event

Book the room the day the event date is confirmed. Fête de la Musique, Bastille Day and Nuit Blanche are free and do not need tickets, but hotels near the center fill. Roland-Garros and the Paris Marathon need tickets or bibs months ahead. For the Christmas markets, a weekday evening in early December gives the lights without the crush.

You are coming back for a second or third time

November, January or March. The sights are quieter, the restaurants are full of Parisians rather than visitors, and the smaller museums can be done without booking. The best small museums guide has the list.

What It Actually Costs

The season changes the price of a room. Almost nothing else moves.

Ticket prices are from louvre.fr and ratp.fr, and the tourist tax from service-public.gouv.fr, checked in November 2026. The Louvre’s 2026 rates apply from January 14, 2026. Hotel rates are deliberately not quoted, because they change weekly and the same room can cost two or three times more in a Fashion Week than in a quiet week of the same month. The budget guide gives ranges by traveler type.

Two seasonal costs never appear on a receipt. In winter, a museum day costs more in taxis and cafés, because the walking between sights is less pleasant at 5°C in the rain. In summer, a room with air conditioning can cost more than one without, and the difference matters more than the view.

What Other Guides Get Wrong

1. “Spring and fall are the best time” with no mention of what they cost. Those seasons include the women’s Fashion Weeks, Roland-Garros and the largest trade fairs at Porte de Versailles. Some weeks of March, May and late September cost more for a room than most of July. The season is half the answer. The event calendar is the other half.

2. “Avoid November, it is the rainy season.” Paris has no rainy season. Météo-France’s normals give 54 mm in November and 69 mm in May, the wettest month by volume. December has the most rainy days, at 11.4. Rain is spread almost evenly across the year, at about 634 mm in total.

3. “Paris closes in August.” The museums, monuments, department stores and most restaurants in the central arrondissements stay open all month. The closures hit independent bakeries, bistros and shops, mostly in the first three weeks of the month and in residential areas. A sightseeing trip in August works. A food trip to the 11th or the 17th needs a check of each address.

4. Undated event advice. “Fireworks on July 14 at the Eiffel Tower” was wrong in 2026, when they were fired on July 13. “Nuit Blanche in October” has been wrong since the event moved to early June. An event date without a year is a guess. Every date on this page carries one.

5. Ignoring daylight. A December day has 8 hours 15 minutes of light and a June day 16 hours 11 minutes. A three-day plan built in June does not fit in December, where the Seine at dusk is at 4:45 p.m. Guides that compare months only by temperature miss the variable that decides how much a day holds.

6. “Go in the off-season to avoid crowds” as if crowds were seasonal. Monument lines follow school holidays and events, not weather. The Louvre is busy during the Paris February holidays and quiet in the second half of March. Christmas week is crowded in the coldest month of the year. The school calendar, published years ahead, is the better guide.

Detailed Guides

• Paris in December settles which half of the month to choose: the lights and markets at normal prices before December 20, or the holiday weeks at peak rates.
• Paris Christmas markets settles which of the 2026 markets are worth a trip, with opening dates, closing dates and the metro to each.
• Paris in spring settles when the cherry trees flower, what Easter and the May bridges close, and how to plan around the rain.
• Paris in summer settles how to handle heat waves, which hotels and apartments need air conditioning, and what Paris Plages offers.
• Paris in autumn settles the trade-off between September’s weather and October’s colors, and which weeks the fairs make expensive.
• Paris in winter settles whether short days are worth low prices, with a daylight plan for each sight.
• Paris in August settles what closes, what stays open and which arrondissements feel the summer break least.
• New Year’s Eve in Paris settles where to watch on December 31, how to get home and what the Champs-Élysées show involves.
• Bastille Day in Paris settles where to stand for the parade and the fireworks, and how to check the year’s fireworks date.
• Fête de la Musique settles how June 21 works, which neighborhoods have the best stages and how late the metro runs.
• Nuit Blanche Paris settles what the free all-night art event is, when it falls and which routes to follow.
• Roland-Garros tickets settles how to buy through the official sale, what the outer courts offer and what resale risks to avoid.
• What to pack for Paris by season settles shoes, layers and rain gear, month by month.
• Paris public holidays and closures settles what closes on each holiday, from May 1 to Christmas Day.

Where to Go Next

Once the month is chosen, the next decision is the neighborhood, and the where to stay in Paris guide compares all twenty arrondissements by traveler type. For a trip built around specific sights, the Eiffel Tower best time to visit guide gives the hour-by-hour pattern at the tower, and the what to book in advance guide gives the booking windows that apply in every month. For the river season, the Seine swimming guide covers the summer sites, and the 3-day itinerary turns any of these months into a plan.