Paris in August

I was in Paris in August several years ago. Paris was still busy with tourists, but not mobbed. Most restaurants were open. Some small boulangeries were closed. All tourist-frequented establishments were open. Make sure you have a hotel with A/C.

I have been in Paris in August from 2013 to 2019 -- some years for a week or so, some for most of the month, and some for long weekends. Some (not the majority or even close to the majority) restaurants, local retail establishments, etc. were closed while we were there each time. Some Parisians, meaning the ones who can afford it, are out of town but not most. It's not a big deal unless you really want to buy something you have seen in the window of a store on Rue du Cherche Midi that is closed for "vacance" for the entire month of August and then when you return to Paris in October, it's been sold.

Plan on Paris being very HOT.

Oh yeah, AC is a must.

it is really not recommended, wait until fall

We were there in the heat wave of 2003 for a month and it reminded us why we rarely travel in summer in Europe. The old bit about the city being empty and everything closed is really out of date. Some small shops or restaurants will be closed and I think inexplicably Berthillon which sells ice cream closes up then. but most tourists won't notice any difference. But it can be really hot and absolutely get a hotel with AC.

My first and second visits in Paris were in early July and 4 years later in mid-August.

In August most likely you could run into a heat wave. Expect the trains to be packed on the 1st and 2nd of August. I like being in Paris in June and July. You just have to put up with the crowds and the heat, if those factors are a matter of concern. It's a trade-off for me, no problem. August is considered low season, and if the particular hotel offers any sort of rate reduction at all, that will be in August.

We've got friends who often travel there in July/August. If you can, push to last days of July, beginning days of August; by mid-August many restaurants and shops are closed for several weeks for their summer vacation. It can get very hot. There are a lot of summer activities; the Paris 'beaches', fountains running in Versailles...

To me, it is not the best time to go, alas. Hot, many cool shops and restaurants closed, unusually high tourist/local ratio which changes the vibe.
However, the usual activities and sights are all available, and it is a good time to visit the outlying sights like Versailles or Fontainebleau.

Thanks everyone for your insight. Clearly, Paris in August is not an option. Once we know the pension reform situation status after the court decides, we will reschedule for late April/early May.

JHK, "It's not a big deal unless you really want to buy something you have seen in the window of a store on Rue du Cherche Midi that is closed for "vacance" for the entire month of August and then when you return to Paris in October, it's been sold."
Ugh! Would you mind going down painful-memory lane to say what the item was?

To those asserting that AC is a must in August, I also request a fan to move that 78-80 degree AC air around. I have been in Paris mid-June and visited many museums, some of which either did not have AC or there were so many people that it did little. Still, we are returning for two weeks this September 5-19 with a few days in Lyon. I'll take it when I can.

@ Lindy: It was a small metal bird that was looking down and to the side. I have two very similar birds that I inherited from my mother-in-law who in turn inherited them from an aunt. When I went back in October, "my" bird was gone and the person in the store told me that it was originally part of a set of three, which makes total sense if you could see my two and the one that got away. It's been five years, going on six, and I still remember it so clearly -- LOL!

JHK, it's not even that you have "non-buyer's remorse" since the shop was closed! Here's hoping that whoever bought it is in love with it and gave it a good home.

On visiting outlying sights, there have been times I was at Fontainebleau in August when the weather was an absolute broiler.

Every year, when my son was in school, we spent summers in Paris. I’ve been there for many unbelievable heat waves. The one in 2003 when 15,000 plus people died from the heat, another in 2005 and 2006. We left Paris one day when we just couldn’t handle it anymore, went to Rouen for the day thinking it would be cooler there, it was not. It was hotter and more humid than Paris. There is just no relief in 103-105F heat in a city with virtually no AC. When you’re a tourist it’s frustrating cuz you can’t really walk, go places, see things, all we can do in that heat is sit outside at cafés drinking cold Perriers. I love doing that but not all day, every day.
Never again will i go between mid June and mid September.

As Ella Fitzgerald sang, " I love Paris in the summer, ....when it sizzles. " No doubt it does sizzle.

In the summer of 2003 we were in Europe but in early July no longer in Paris but along the Baltic in Gdansk. Often times I went towards Belgium when in Paris a broiler was taking place staying Arras, which "normally" would be 5 degrees lower than that in Paris.