The adage “Paris is always a good idea” will have you believing that there actually isn’t a best time to visit Paris, that anytime is great. But that would be wrong! Depending on what you want to get out of your trip, certain seasons are definitely going to be better than others.
I’ve visited Paris several times in both winter and summer and I assure you these experiences couldn’t be more different. I mean, I have done a lot of the same stuff in both, but one season involves a lot more alcohol and curse words, while the other one involves a lot more sunshine and roses (but still a lot of curse words because this is still Europe in the summer).
So, when it comes to summer vs. winter, when is the best time to visit Paris? This post will break down the pros and cons of each to help you decide. (You being those who don’t have the luxury of visiting Paris in the shoulder seasons of spring or fall. I’m looking at you, teachers!) Enjoy!
Choosing between winter and summer
When will be the best time to visit Paris for you greatly depends on where you prefer to vent your frustrations. Is it at frostbite, or is it at tourists taking pictures with an iPad? Is it at not being able to see anything from the top of the Eiffel Tower, or is it at not being able to see the Mona Lisa, like at all?
Visiting Paris in the winter has both its advantages and disadvantages—like cheaper everything but also that thing where you have snot on your face but you don’t know it because it’s too cold to feel anything. And while Paris in the summer is great for things like sunshine, flowers, and the ability to feel your extremities, you also have to deal with things like long lines, shoving, and the increased threat of petty theft. Here’s how you choose…
What are your priorities?
The best time to visit Paris for you will depend on your specific overall goals and priorities. Do you like to spend time outdoors? Are you a photographer? Do you prefer to walk instead of Uber? Or do you prefer museum hopping and shoe-shopping? What you can do in Paris in the summer vs winter is absolutely mutually exclusive.
Whenever you do decide to visit Paris, be sure to pick up a Paris GoCity Pass so you can save tons of money on your visits to all the most popular attractions here plus wine tastings, river cruises, and more. See the full list of inclusions here.
Also read: The Best Paris Bucket List for First-Time Visitors
Paris costs: Summer vs. winter
Where overall costs are concerned, the winner of Best Time to Visit Paris is winter. One huge benefit of visiting Paris in the winter is all the ways you can save so much money. Think of a trip to Paris during the winter like the movie matinee of international travel. Everything is cheaper in Paris in the winter: airfare, hotels, shopping, tours, etc.
Airfare
For example, I just searched some hypothetical one-way flights from Boston to Paris in both February and June. Average airfare in February ranges from $291-$534. Average airfare in June ranges from $494-$848. This is just one tiny specific sample, but it does seem to speak for the overall seasonality of airfare in general.
Those examples are the same airports, same inclusions, just different months. Do you even know how many macarons you can buy with all that extra cash? (Actually, not that many really; those things are expensive. Pro tip though: McDonald’s macarons are better than Ladurée. I said what I said.)
Hotels
Likewise, the same hotels on the same nights of the week are a fraction of the cost in winter vs. summer. I just did some quick searches on Booking.com and what I found was the average 1-night stay in central Paris on a Friday is €141 in February. In June, it’s €452. Same hotel, same room, same inclusions.
Car rentals
The same goes for car rentals too. A 5-day car rental in Paris in February is around $164 total. In July, that total becomes $229. Do your own rental car searches here to see more examples.
Winter sales
Les Soldes! You’ll see these signs in every window of almost every shop in Paris in the winter. If both shopping and yet also traveling on the cheap is what you’re into, winter wins. From the Marais to the Champs-Elysées, you can save on everything from clothing, jewelry, cosmetics, and luxury brands to home goods, art, souvenirs, and yeah probably macarons too. Discount noms.
Paris crowds: Summer vs. winter
Where crowds are concerned (and they are definitely a concern in Paris), the winner of Best Time to Visit Paris is winter. The same way you can stretch out and relax at a matinee, you can just as easily make yourself at home in a relatively people-free Paris in wintertime.
Want to get up close and actually see the Mona Lisa? No problem! Want to get into the Musée d’Orsay with no wait at all? No sweat! Want to go a whole week without having your face shoved into someone’s sweaty armpit on the Metro? *Sigh* One can dream.
Summer crowds in Paris
Crowds in Paris during the summer are the sorts of things travel nightmares are made of. Imagine thousands of people all trying to take selfies with a painting the size of sheet of paper. Imagine twenty different tour groups (and their leaders all waving their signs and umbrellas in the air) packed into the tight halls of Versailles.
Now imagine something like 30% of those people are trying to pick your pockets. I don’t know about you, but I need my breathing room—something Paris critically lacks in the summertime.
No crowds in the winter
If you dream of visiting Paris for the art (as you should), please consider visiting in the winter. Being able to take your time in the museums, spend as long with each piece as you want, and actually get to see the works unobstructed by cell phones and selfie sticks is priceless. (And yet, still somehow cheaper than the summer?)
The same goes for restaurants and all kinds of other attractions too. You won’t have to wait long for a table and top attractions like the Eiffel Tower or Notre Dame won’t require you to devote an entire day to them. You can take a Seine river cruise and have an entire boat to yourself! And you can have entire rooms in the Louvre to yourself! And yes, it echoes.
You can even wing it with your plans and not have to have every minute of your trip pre-planned and pre-booked. If this is your idea of a great trip, consider visiting Paris in the winter.
Paris weather: Summer vs. winter
Ah, yes. This is the true test of when the best time to visit Paris will be. All the things I mentioned above are great… IF you can stand winter weather in Paris. If you’re okay with frigid cold temps, ice and snow and slush, and wearing tons of smothering layers, then you’ll be fine. Otherwise, where weather is concerned, summer is the best time to visit Paris.
Paris in the summer is exactly what you’d dream—blue skies, green trees, colorful fragrant roses at every turn. There’s music in the air, beautiful people sipping espresso at outdoor cafés, and, because there’s no threat of a blizzard in the forecast, you can actually see things when you go out sight-seeing.
More outdoor time
It’s nice to be able to stroll the Champs-Elysées instead of speed-walk against the icy wind, looking down the whole time so your eyelids don’t freeze in the open position. It’s much more fun to hang out at the Eiffel Tower under a blue sky than it is huddling into the one heated corner of its tiny gift shop to maintain a safe internal body temperature.
You can actually enjoy your Seine river cruise and sit out on the open top-deck of the sightseeing bus. You can take some of the most amazing Paris food tours without freezing to death. And you can wear cute outfits that don’t include parkas, scarves, gloves, mittens, and a perpetually red, crusty schnozz.
Better pictures
If taking beautiful pictures when you travel is important to you (as it is me), then summer is definitely the best time to visit Paris. If you’re going to Paris for the atmosphere, the street scenes and floral schemes, the architecture and the monuments, visit in the summer.
All those beautiful Parisian aesthetics—picnicking along the Seine, strolling through Montmartre, strolling through the tucked-away parks—don’t exist in the winter. Instead, you get lifeless, leafless trees, chairs stacked up outside restaurants, low-lying cloud cover, and brown slush on the sidewalks. No amount of post-editing can improve this.
Less luggage
And because you won’t need nearly as many thick layers to stay alive, you can pack much, much less. Sandals and t-shirts take up so much less space than winter boots and sweaters. For some, this will mean the difference between a carry-on and checked bag.
One thing though…
However, one caveat to this is that Paris in the summer can get quite hot, depending on when you visit exactly. And one important thing to know about this is that many places in Paris, if not most, don’t have air conditioning. It’s like they don’t even know what it is. I’m talking hotel rooms, restaurants, museums, all of it.
With this in mind, follow the lead of my friend Amanda who doesn’t go anywhere in Europe in the summer without her small portable fan. You can also filter your hotel searches for hotels with A/C.
Winter is the best time to visit Paris if…
Summer is the best time to visit Paris if…
I hope I’ve been able to point out some things you may not have considered. Just keep in mind that while a trip to Paris is usually worthwhile, it’s maybe not always a good idea.
More info for your trip to France
Like this post? Have more questions about visiting Paris? Let me know in the comments below. Have fun in France!
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