In this guide
💡 The Short Version: Go between late April and early June, or in September and early October. Average highs run from 16.6 °C in April to 23.4 °C in June and 21.5 °C in September, Versailles’s fountain shows run from early April to late October, and Monet’s garden at Giverny is open from 1 April to 1 November. July and August are the hottest months, with five days a month at 30 °C or more, and December has the most rainy days, 11. Some dates cannot move: 21 June is the Fête de la Musique, 14 July is Bastille Day (see summer events), and on 1 January, 1 May and 25 December the Louvre, Versailles, the Catacombs and the Sainte-Chapelle close. Every week, Monday closes the Musée d’Orsay, Versailles and the Catacombs, and Tuesday closes the Louvre.
Month by month
Temperatures and rain are Météo-France’s 1991 to 2020 averages for Paris-Montsouris (meteofrance.fr, read 30 September 2026). A rainy day is one with 1 mm or more.
| Month | Average high / low | Rainy days | What changes |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7.6 / 3.2 °C | 9.9 | Closures on 1 January. Chambord’s Christmas programme runs to 3 January 2027 |
| February | 8.8 / 3.3 °C | 9.1 | Giverny is closed until 1 April |
| March | 12.8 / 5.6 °C | 9.5 | Versailles is on low-season hours to 31 March: palace 9:00 to 17:30, last admission 16:45 |
| April | 16.6 / 7.9 °C | 8.6 | On 1 April Giverny opens, Versailles moves to high-season hours and the Arc de Triomphe to summer hours and its €22 price. The Musical Fountains start in early April |
| May | 20.2 / 11.1 °C | 9.2 | The wettest month by volume, 69 mm. Closures on 1 May; the Arc also closes on 8 May. Roland-Garros runs 17 May to 6 June 2027 |
| June | 23.4 / 14.2 °C | 8.3 | The Fête de la Musique on 21 June. The Royal Serenade at Versailles starts. Heat can cut monument hours |
| July | 25.7 / 16.2 °C | 7.4 | Bastille Day on 14 July. Paris Plages opened on 4 July in 2026. The Louvre’s free first-Friday evening pauses |
| August | 25.6 / 16.0 °C | 8.1 | Paris Plages runs to the end of the month. The Catacombs open on 15 August |
| September | 21.5 / 13.0 °C | 7.5 | The Journées européennes du patrimoine, on 19 and 20 September in 2026. The Arc de Triomphe’s €22 price ends on 30 September |
| October | 16.5 / 9.9 °C | 9.5 | On 1 October the Arc de Triomphe drops to €16 and 22:30 closing. The Musical Fountains end in late October |
| November | 11.1 / 6.2 °C | 10.4 | Giverny closes on 1 November and Versailles moves to low-season hours on 2 November. The Christmas markets begin, La Défense on 12 November in 2026 |
| December | 8.0 / 3.8 °C | 11.4 | Closures on 25 December. The Arc de Triomphe closes at 16:00 on 24 and 31 December 2026 |
The Christmas markets and what closes over the holidays are on the Christmas markets page.
Closing days
Plan the week round these closing days. Every date is from the sight’s own website, read on 29 and 30 September 2026.
| Sight | Closed every week | Closed on |
|---|---|---|
| Louvre | Tuesday | 1 January, 1 May, 25 December |
| Versailles | Monday | 1 January, 1 May, 25 December |
| Musée d’Orsay | Monday | 1 May, 25 December |
| Catacombs | Monday | 1 January, 1 May, 25 December; open on 14 July, 15 August, 1 November and 11 November |
| Sainte-Chapelle | 1 January, 1 May, 25 December | |
| Arc de Triomphe | 1 May, 8 May, 14 July, the morning of 11 November | |
| Château de Fontainebleau | Tuesday | 1 January, 1 May, 25 December |
| Musée Picasso and Musée Carnavalet | Monday | 1 January, 1 May, 25 December |
- The Louvre is free for everyone on 14 July, and after 18:00 on the first Friday of the month except in July and August. Book a slot anyway.
- Late openings: the Louvre to 21:00 on Wednesdays and Fridays, the Orsay to 21:45 on Thursdays.
- The Centre Pompidou is closed for works until 2030.
Summer heat
The Météo-France averages put 30 °C or more on 5.5 days in July and 5.0 in August, 2.5 in June, and on fewer than one day in May and September. Paris’s record is 42.6 °C, set on 25 July 2019. Monuments change their hours in a heatwave: the Arc de Triomphe opened only from 10:00 to 14:30 from 22 to 27 June 2026 (paris-arc-de-triomphe.fr, 29 September 2026). In a hot week, book the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre for the morning, and keep the Seine for the evening: the evening cruise with musicad is from £21.43 (4.4 stars from 25,939 reviews, GetYourGuide, 30 September 2026).
August
Paris Plages on the Right Bank of the Seine near the Hôtel de Ville. Photo: P e z i, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.
The big sights do not close. The Louvre, Versailles, the Musée d’Orsay and the Catacombs have no August closure, and Paris Plages, the city’s free riverside beach with deckchairs and a swimming site on the Seine, ran from 4 July to 30 August in 2026. It was on the Rives de Seine, between the Tuileries tunnel and the Pont de Sully, and at the Bassin de la Villette (paris.fr, 30 September 2026). The 2027 dates are not yet published. At Versailles, the Musical Fountains run every year from early April to late October, and the Royal Serenade, a sunset show in the Court of Versailles, from June to mid-September (chateauversailles.fr, 29 September 2026).
Winter
The Tuileries garden in snow. Photo: Jean-Pierre Dalbéra, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.
From November the rainy days rise to 10 or 11 a month. The Versailles gardens are free from November to March, and the Christmas markets and lights run from mid-November. Giverny is shut, and the Mont-Saint-Michel abbey is free on the first Sunday of November, December, January, February and March (abbaye-mont-saint-michel.fr, 29 September 2026). For the coach trip, see the Mont-Saint-Michel day trip.
Which month for what
- Versailles’s fountains: April to October; see the Versailles day trip.
- Monet’s garden: 1 April to 1 November; see the Giverny day trip.
- Christmas markets and lights: mid-November to early January; see Paris Christmas markets.
- Bastille Day and the Fête de la Musique: 14 July and 21 June; see Paris in summer.
- Any month: the same tickets sell out, and lift tickets for the Eiffel Tower go on sale 60 days ahead. See what to book before you go.
With a date in mind, the 3-day itinerary and the 4-day itinerary arrange the sights round the closing days.
Common questions
What is the best month to visit Paris?
May, June or September. Average highs are 20.2, 23.4 and 21.5 °C, Versailles's fountain shows and Monet's garden at Giverny are open, and there are on average 0.4, 2.5 and 0.6 days a month at 30 °C or more. April and October are cooler, at 16.6 and 16.5 °C, and Giverny closes on 1 November.
How hot does Paris get in July and August?
The average high is 25.7 °C in July and 25.6 °C in August, and there are on average 5.5 and 5.0 days a month at 30 °C or more (Météo-France, Paris-Montsouris, 1991 to 2020). The record is 42.6 °C on 25 July 2019. The Arc de Triomphe cut its hours to 10:00 to 14:30 during the heatwave of 22 to 27 June 2026.
Is Paris closed in August?
The main sights stay open: the Louvre, Versailles, the Musée d'Orsay and the Catacombs have no August closure, and the Catacombs open on 15 August. The Louvre's free evening on the first Friday of the month does not run in July or August.
Which days are museums closed in Paris?
Monday for the Musée d'Orsay, Versailles and the Catacombs, and Tuesday for the Louvre and the Château de Fontainebleau. On 1 January, 1 May and 25 December the Louvre, Versailles, the Catacombs and the Sainte-Chapelle close, and the Orsay closes on 1 May and 25 December.
