Best time to visit Paris?

Mid-May I would suggest......

Late September can enjoy very pleasant weather too. Winter is when the crowds aren't there, sorry. It's not just tourists that visit in the nice months; commercial activities such as the fashion shows in the fall can keep hotel prices up.

In truth, the best time for Paris is when you have the time and the money to go.

Last trip to Paris was in October. It was less crowded. The weather was charming; brilliant sunshine and cool but not cold temperatures. The city was lovely in its Fall colors.

We will be in France in three weeks. I'm looking forward to being there in the late Spring. We will be in Paris for just a few hours, long enough to catch the Eurostar to London.

When you go, be sure to budget in as much time as possible. Too often folks just run from one major attraction to another. For me, the charm of Paris is the ambience. You can't experience it if you are always at a dead run. Also, think about using Alcoves and Agapes to find your lodging. We did and found not only a charming, reasonable room but also new friends with whom we still stay in touch. I wish I could post a photo of their cat "Boo Boo" sitting in my wife's lap as we sat around their breakfast table sharing good conversation and wonderful croissants!

I would also suggest mid to late May.

I've been to Paris in every season. I prefer the Fall. Late September and into October. The weather is pleasant and it's not as crowded. I was there last June (only sort of Springtime trip) and found it to be crowded. If I go again in the spring I'll do it late April or May. I have a trip planned for next February. Less crowds...

Both times I went was in October and I'd likely choose that time for my next visit. Or else, April/May.

Late September by far and October is usually lovely. September is also the most expensive month and the hardest one for booking hotel rooms. May is also usually pretty nice although the weather is not as reliable. We visited Paris in May for years since that was a time that worked in our work schedule. Now that we are retired we go in September or October if we can and sometimes both May and fall.

Hi Randa, I have been in Paris in the months of April, June, August and September. April was lovely with Spring flowers beginning and the crowds were less. Definitely needed my raincoat a couple of days. June had one rainy night but otherwise a nice trip - wore a cardigan in the morning when heading for breakfast but didn’t need it afterwards. Crowds were there, but they didn’t deter us from anything we planned to see. August was with the 1-week RS Paris tour. I noticed less locals than other months, and yes, it was hot! Trips in September have always been very nice weather with again manageable crowds.

The only place where I’ve noticed crowds at a level that affected seeing the site has been Versailles. (I book reservations on-line for the Eiffel Tower.)

We have been to Paris in Feb, March (twice), April, May, June and October with our best trips, overall, in March. Weather has been cool, but not cold and very little rain. Very few crowds, pleasant weather and reasonable prices. Here are some observations from the other months:

April - gorgeous flowers, but it rained (hard) almost half the 8 days we were there (that's why it was so pretty I guess). It was also our busiest trip from a crowd perspective. More tourists and lines than any other trip

May and June - crowds were surprisingly not bad, but it was already getting pretty warm. We hit 87F our first day off the plane and it was a bit uncomfortable with limited A/C. Sunset is very late in Paris and it was difficult to experience the City of Lights when you go to bed after a long day of sites and walking :)

October (last 2 weeks) - nice fall colors, but was rather colder than we thought. The city was pretty crowded and we were not expecting that being so far out peak season.

February - Really loved this period because we had the city to ourselves. Trees were leafless and really allow you to see the city (love green things, but with them lacking foliage you really get to see a different Paris). Also sunset is very early (5PM) and that coupled with limited/no foliage, you get a spectacular vantage of the city. However, it was quite cold, but dressing appropriately made it not much of an issue.

Our next trip is scheduled for Nov/Dec this year in order to see Christmas lights and will be curious as to crowds, weather, etc.

As others have said, there is no bad time at all :) It is just a series of trade-offs (crowds, cost, weather) to deal with such an incredibly popular destination.

Enjoy!

This is excellent information! Thanks so much!

I'm surprised that you had fewer crowds in May than in April... I'm curious, did you go in late May, early May or in the middle of May?

Thanks again for such a complete analysis of the various months! We're desperately trying to find that balance of weather vs. crowds--with crowds being more important to us to avoid than cooler weather. (Sounds like March might be our month!)

Thanks again,
Randa

Our April trip was nearer the end of the month (I believe the 23 - May 1). It surprised us as well at how busy everything was. The lines and crowd levels caused us to alter several days' activities. Still not a bad thing because just wandering around and finding, hopefully, less touristy things to do was just as great. Our May and June trips were the last week of May and the other was the first week of June. The end of May is our anniversary and we tried to match travel around that date. However, after our March trip we decided to start hitting different seasons. Hence my (and other's comments) 'there is no bad time for Paris'!

Both of our March trips were around March 10 - 22 or so and experienced a little rain, most days were a mix of cloudy, mostly cloudy, or partly sunny and a handful of days with full sun. High temps during the day were a very reasonable mid 50's to low 60's (maybe a little warmer on the full sun days) and very pleasant for walking around and just using layers (something we do not get to do in Phoenix very often. I think that is why we liked Feb as well since we could actually wear coats and scarves). We even rented an electric boat on one of the canals (https://www.boating-paris-marindeaudouce.com) with our 2 boys and were totally fine with jeans and light shirt. March gets you about 12 hours of daylight (sunrise is about 7 and sunset is about 7). Overall March is great.

We had been to Paris 3 other times prior to our April trip and 2 more times since and yes, April was probably by a long shot the busiest we had experienced. I'd be interested in anyone else's opinion or experience as to why April might be so busy or if we just hit a fluke.

One thought on April: France has a nationwide standardized school calendar and the two-week spring holidays fall in April, although the country is divided into three "zones" with staggered scheduling so as to spread the impact a little bit.

For example, this year the "zone B" spring holidays are 6 to 23 April; the "zone A" spring holidays follow at 13 to 29 April; and the "zone C" spring holidays (which include Ile-de-France, the region that Paris is in) are from 20 April to 6 May.

Otherwise, I agree that late September is a lovely time. The other thing that might be worth thinking about briefly is also sunlight -- remember that Paris is quite far to the north (it is farther north than Quebec City and is just about as far north as the western, straight-line part of the US-Canadian border) so sunlight will vary a lot through the course of the year. You can check websites like this one to know when the sun will rise and set at the time of year you're thinking of.

I'll be headed to France for two weeks in late May so we'll see how the weather holds up!

Each month, each year, in Paris can be very different from previous years. I’ve lived there and visit often. Hearing about past years temps are helpful only to make an educated guess. Google for historical data and average temps and rainfall is more helpful i think.
February is historically the least rainy month. I’ve experienced the whole month of April being heavy rain, all day, every day. I love Paris no matter what... well, in the 100s in August not so much...

The fact that it gets dark at 5pm in winter months makes no difference to me because Paris is totally lit up and is actually more magical after dark. It’s “City of Light” as in enlightenment, not “City of Lights” as a previous poster wrote... : )

Even when it’s cold out, there’s lots of life going on all around you. Outdoor café terraces are still full of people, with heat lamps and blankets. My favorite month is February. Virtually no tourists. Heaven. In 2017, Feb had no rain and most days were in the high 40s to high 50s, some days low 60s. Many days were sunny w blue skies.
June 2018, 4-5 days of heavy rain, about a week of humid days, and a few hot days... one day was 95.

About April being crowded, usually Easter is in April so a lot of tourists visiting.

When we went is was in April. The weather was great. Mid-April to mid-May, or mid-September to mid-October should be decent weather and temperatures, and the crowds shouldn’t be too bad. I do like Southam’s response; when you have the time and money.