France during Christmastime or January or February

Expect cold, short daylight hours and if traveling in the two week Christmas/New Years period it is considered high season and lodging will probably be the same price as peak summer season. If you come after the first week of January you can hit the sales in Paris. They only have sales in January and June. Unlike our constant sales here. My daughter was excited to score some cute boots when we were there. We rented an apartment in Paris for 10 nights including New Years a few years ago. We were glad to have an apartment, as we spent more time there than we would have other times of the year. Airfare should be lower, but you should try for direct flights to minimize weather delays. Where besides Paris were you considering? That time of year I would stick to cities with plenty of indoor activities.

Hi Andrea,
Thanks for your reply. In your opinion, when is the best time of year to visit Paris? I am still thinking of other cities to see. What do you recommend? In combination with Paris, I want to see some of the quaint countryside towns, villages, etc. Ruth

I have been to Paris in the summer, fall and winter. Although it was beautiful at holiday time, it was way too cold for me. Over New Years it was also crowded. Summer is very crowded. I enjoyed the fall. It was less crowded, but the days were longer than winter. I think sprig would be good too. Some day I will try that. Paris is my favorite city! Last fall I was in Provence prior to arriving in Paris. Provence was warm and beautiful. You can take the train between those areas, but I recommend a car to tour in Provence. There are other areas not far from Paris, such as Burgundy or the Alsace regions that you might try instead.

Christmas time would be ideal, because of the decorations (quite a bit more tasteful than the US) and the markets. The weather will likely be similar to Seattle- damp, overcast and cold, but not freezing.

I noticed this comment: " In combination with Paris, I want to see some of the quaint countryside towns, villages, etc." This is a very low-yield strategy in the winter, except for perhaps the south of the country, for a few reasons. The sun rises late and sets early. Outside of the cities in much of Europe (Belgium being a notable exception), artificial illumination is kept to a minimum. Once the sun goes down, there's little that you can see. And even during the daylight hours, the sun traverses along a shallow arc across the sky. Together with the usually overcast and damp air, this gives everything a very dull gray hue with limited visibility. So those postcard views that you would travel so far to see simply aren't there. Unless you plan some winter sports activities in the mountains, I recommend sticking to the cities at that time of year.

I know it was probably colder than usual, but in my 2 week trip to Amsterdam, Bruges and Paris over the holidays the warmest it ever got was 33 degrees. We were prepared for the cold, but not THAT cold. Maybe because we are from a warmer climate, but as much as we love Paris and as beautiful as it was, it was hard to be outside for long. You never know what the weather will do these days!

Andrea and Tom are making a lot of sense; listen carefully to what they have to say. My parents came to visit once at Christmastime, and while they enjoyed it, they said they wouldn't do it again because the days are too short and cold and dark to really enjoy Paris.

Many thanks to everyone for all your wonderful replies! Thanks for making me feel welcome on this site (after spending all my time on the Italy site). The "weather" is pretty nice here! Ruth