Paris in the summer

Are you committed to June? If not and you can, consider early September. The weather is great and the locals are just back from holidays and refreshed. it is still busy but has a different feel and everyone seems more patient. We have been there in May and September and by far September is the best.

Duane I have been there (Paris) in May, June , July , September, and early October. Numerous times in each month. No real difference between any of them, except , no hotel deals in June or September( sometimes deals mid July thru August) ,,and early October did seem a bit quieter( but not quiet. If you hate lines there are so many ways to avoid waiting in them. Prepurchase timed entry ticket for Eiffel Tower. Buy tickets for Orsay either the day before you want to use them( cannot be used day of purchase),, or buy them as a combo at the Rodin( must be used same day, and Rodin rarely has long lines ).
Louvre is a no brainer to avoid long lines, I personally have been at least 7 -8 times dead summer and by using alternate entrance to the Pyramide have never waited more then 10 minutes ( and that was for security , unavoidable). A Museum Pass also gives line skipping privilidges,, but not everywhere,, so do check.

I haven't been in May, but I have been in June. The advice about the pass above is solid. Also whatever you do, GET A HOTEL WITH A/C. There's no guarantee there will be a heat wave while you're there, but if there is and you're in a hotel without A/C you will hate yourself and hate life and hate Paris.

It was terribly crowded when we were there at the end of May, 2009 and June, 2010. Also it is terribly hot.

Duane, I will repeat, there are ways to avoid waiting in most lines,, tell us a few of the places that you are most interested in visiting this time and see if we can make some suggestions to avoid long lines. Being in Paris on June 21st will be pretty cool, they do a music festivale celebrating the first day of summer, street bands and concerts( free mostly) all over the city!

I wouldn't worry about it. i've been twice during those times and never had a problem. Museum pass is a must if you want to see a bunch. As for restaurants, maybe avoid the tourist traps and go for where the locals eat. I never had to wait long. It will be hot, but honestly what's wrong with experiencing how Parisians live - with no ac? Drink water and you'll be fine.
I agree with previous comment - Fete de la Music is awesome.

June is a big month for school field trips. During school hours, you will probably encounter these (generally noisy) groups in most museums.

TC have you been to Paris in a heat wave? I mean a serious heat wave? Where it's 95 degrees in your room at midnight? I am not even slightly exaggerating. "Living like the locals" is a useless buzz phrase. If you want a comfortable trip in June that involves getting good sleep, you need to plan for the fact that there may be a horrible heatwave and that unless you are very, very tolerant of heat and humidity a room with A/C will make your stay far more pleasant. I live happily without AC in stuttgart, I lived most of my life in the bay area without AC either. but I would never, ever again travel to Paris during summer without getting a room with AC. It was that bad.

I agree with Sarah on this one. 95 degrees at midnight? No way. 95 during the day is bad enough, but when I want to sleep, I need it to be 30 degrees cooler than that. Admittedly, I don't deal with the heat well (I live at 9000'), but 95 at midnight is a bit much to ask of anyone, in my opinion.

The thing is ,, it could be hot hot hot,, or it could be like the year I sent my hubby and son off to visit,, packing mostly light tshirts and one light jacket. It was cold and rainy for a week before it warmed up a bit,, no one can promise you anything. That said,, I too am a proponet of getting a/c. I don't have it at home, its never over 80- 85 here( that would be a heat wave here) and we live on the ocean, so the air moves.. In PAris when its hot,, it can be suffocating,, all that stone and pavement,, plus walking all day , its nice to have a cool sleep.

Glad to see other people agree. I was in Paris in July a month after that heatwave and it was just in the low 80s and was fine. We got a place with A/C and didn't use it. But I definitely think when visiting when the potential for that kind of heat is there, you're better off safe than sorry. And you can get affordable rooms with A/C in Paris anyway. I've been to Orlando in August, I went to the Rivera Maya in July and stayed in a place with no A/C (or electricity at all!), stayed in Provence in July with no A/C... I'm not that much of a wimp when it comes to heat. But there's something about sticky humidity + heat in a big smoggy city that makes it particularly unpleasant. In our room in Paris during the heatwave we could feel the heat radiating from the walls even after it had cooled down to the high 80s outside at night, the room stayed hotter than it was outside, and even with the door to the balcony open there was no breeze or anything to blow the slightly cooler air in. We ended up staying outdoors at a cafe drinking chilled wine until we were totally exhausted and then taking a few cool showers before we could finally sleep. Given that walking around in the heat all day is exhausting enough it's really the last thing you want to deal with. And if you're lucky and the weather is pleasant, so you might have paid an extra 10 euro per room, what's the big deal?

I love this quaint notion that all Parisians live without AC. Modern times, people... Even my relatives who live in Italy had AC installed in their city homes 15 years ago and 5 years ago they finally caved & installed AC in their country house even though they spend most of their time there out by the swimming pool. Big city + humidity is uncomfortable. I was glad to have AC for the first few days of my first trip to Paris in the summer. I definitely needed it. After that, the weather got cool but I still used the AC to drown out some of the street noises outside the hotel late at night. TC, first time I ever stayed in San Francisco was May 2007. I had a hotel with no AC thinking "It's San Francisco where temps rarely get above 75!" Huge mistake...it was in the 90s all week.

Since the discussion has drifted to temperatures in June, I'll chime in. A heat wave can happen, so it's good to get a room with AC just in case. However, last summer we wore a sweater at some point nearly every day in June. July was the same except for 3 days which were hot. The year before, in 2010, it was chilly, until the last Friday in June, when it turned very hot suddenly. Living in Paris, we had a terrible heat wave and drought in 1976, followed by four summers of sad, gray, Parisian skies. The sun would give us hope around 10 but disappear by 11. And so it goes, chilly-hot, chilly-hot, so be prepared for either. We can't generalize from one experience since it varies every year, depending on the gulf stream. As for AC, not one of our friends living in Paris or elsewhere in France has AC. One family member who lives on the Riviera had it installed after the 2003 heat wave, but it is still uncommon in private homes, though more and more common in businesses following the 2003 heat wave.