Paris goes dark at about five in December, and that’s the good news. It means the lights come on while you’re still out, the café heaters are glowing by teatime, and there’s a whole evening left for a market and a glass of vin chaud. The days are short and often gray, sure. But the things to do in Paris in December are mostly evening things anyway: the Champs-Élysées lights, the Tuileries market, the department store windows on Boulevard Haussmann, and an ice rink under the glass roof of the Grand Palais. Here are the 2026 dates, what things cost, and what we’d skip.
Paris in December at a glance
The short version first. Most of the Christmas season in Paris runs from the second half of November into the first days of January, so the whole of December is covered, but a few things start late (the Grand Palais rink) or end early (the Notre-Dame market).
| What | 2026 dates | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Tuileries Christmas market | Nov 14 – Jan 3, 2027 | Free to enter, rides extra |
| Champs-Élysées lights | Nov 22 – Jan 3, 2027 | Free |
| Champs-Élysées Christmas market | Nov 22 – Jan 4, 2027 | Free |
| Notre-Dame market, Square René-Viviani | Nov 26 – Dec 27 | Free |
| La Défense market | Nov 12 – Dec 31 (closed Dec 25) | Free |
| Galeries Lafayette windows and tree | From Nov 12 | Free |
| Grand Palais ice rink | Mid-Dec – Jan 6, 2027 | About €27–39 (US$31–45) |
Note: several of these dates come from the organizers via the Paris press, and a few markets still hadn’t posted their final hours in mid-November. Check the day before you go.
What is the weather like in Paris in December?
Cold and damp, rarely freezing. The average high is about 8°C (46°F) and the low about 3°C (37°F), and rain falls on roughly half the days, usually as drizzle rather than a downpour. Snow happens some years. Don’t plan around it.
The bigger thing is the light. The sun comes up after 8:30 and sets a little before 5pm around the shortest day, so your sightseeing day is shorter than you think. We’d do museums and anything outdoor that needs daylight (a walk along the Seine, the view from Montmartre) before lunch, then save the markets and lights for after dark, which is when they look their best anyway.
The Paris Christmas markets worth your evening
Honest opinion first: Paris markets are not Strasbourg or Vienna. They’re smaller, more spread out and a bit more commercial, and you’ll see the same mulled wine and raclette stalls at most of them. What makes them worth it is where they sit. A chalet selling tartiflette is just a chalet, until there’s a cathedral or a 19th-century palace behind it.
If you’re choosing between Paris and a trip to the big German or Austrian markets, our guide to where to go in December covers the wider options.
The Tuileries market
The biggest one in the center, in the Tuileries Garden between the Louvre and Place de la Concorde, and it runs from November 14, 2026 to January 3, 2027. Expect rows of wooden chalets, a Ferris wheel, fairground rides and plenty of food: crêpes, churros, raclette scraped onto bread, and hot wine in paper cups.
It gets crowded on weekend evenings, properly shoulder-to-shoulder by 7pm. Go on a weekday at opening time, or go late, after 9pm, when the families have left and the lights are doing all the work.
Getting there: Metro line 1 to Tuileries or Concorde (lines 1, 8 and 12).
Tip: buy food here but drinks somewhere else. The vin chaud is priced for tourists at the Tuileries, and the same cup is cheaper at the smaller neighborhood markets.
The Champs-Élysées lights and the market that came back
This one’s new for 2026, or new again. After nearly ten years away, a Christmas market is back on the Champs-Élysées, with about 200 chalets in the gardens on the lower stretch of the avenue, between Place de la Concorde and the Rond-Point. It opens November 22 and runs to January 4, 2027.
The same night, the avenue’s plane trees light up, and they stay lit until January 3, from late afternoon to around 1am. The lighting-up evening itself is busy and partly closed to traffic. Fine if you like a crowd, not if you have a stroller.
Our pick is to combine the two: walk the market from Concorde, keep going up the avenue under the lights, and finish at the Arc de Triomphe. That’s about 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) and an easy hour with stops.
Getting there: Concorde (line 1, 8 or 12) to start; Charles de Gaulle–Étoile (line 1, 2, 6 or RER A) at the other end.
Notre-Dame
Small, and in a lovely spot. The market fills Square René-Viviani across the river from the cathedral, on the Left Bank, from November 26 to December 27. Last year it opened about 10am to 8pm, a little later on weekends. Entry’s free.
Don’t come for the shopping. Come for Notre-Dame’s lit-up facade across the water, a hot drink, and then a walk round to the cathedral itself, which has been open again since December 2024. There is often a line at the cathedral door in the afternoon; it moves faster in the morning.
Getting there: Saint-Michel (line 4 or RER B and C) or Maubert-Mutualité (line 10).
Saint-Germain-des-Prés and Montmartre
Two neighborhood markets, both on the small side, both pleasant if you happen to be there. The Saint-Germain one sets up near the church on the boulevard from late November to late December (exact 2026 dates were still not out in mid-November). It leans toward crafts, cheese and gifts rather than rides. Saint-Germain-des-Prés (line 4) or Mabillon (line 10) puts you right on it.
Montmartre’s sits on Place des Abbesses, reportedly from November 28 to December 28. It’s a handful of chalets, honestly. Pair it with the walk up to Sacré-Cœur at sunset and it earns its place; on its own it’s not worth crossing the city for. Take line 12 to Abbesses, which has a long spiral staircase out of the station (or a lift, if it’s working).
La Défense, if you want the big one
The largest Christmas market in the Paris region sits outside the city center, under the business towers at La Défense, and it opens early: November 12 to December 31. It’s huge, with hundreds of stalls over about 15,000 square meters, food from French regions and further afield, and an ice rink that stays open to January 3. It closes at 6pm on December 24 and 31, and all day on Christmas Day.
The setting is concrete and glass rather than old Paris, which is the honest downside. But for gift shopping in one place, nothing in the city comes close.
Getting there: RER A or Metro line 1 to La Défense–Grande Arche, about 15 minutes from Charles de Gaulle–Étoile.
The department store windows
Every year Galeries Lafayette and Printemps on Boulevard Haussmann dress their windows with moving scenes, and this is the one Christmas tradition in Paris that kids reliably love. Galeries Lafayette unveiled its 2026 windows on November 12, designed by Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, who also did the giant tree under the store’s glass dome. Go inside to see the tree. It’s free, and you’ll get a better look from the upper balconies than from the ground floor.
Printemps is right next door. Its 2026 windows were reported as delayed, so check the store’s site before planning around them.
The pavement in front of both stores is packed on weekend afternoons, with barriers and a slow shuffle past the glass. Weekday mornings are calm.
Tip: from November 24 to January 3, the Galeries Lafayette rooftop has a small ice rink with a view toward the Eiffel Tower. It’s smaller than the Grand Palais and a lot cheaper, and the view is the reason to go.
Ice skating under glass at the Grand Palais
The Grand Palais rink is the splurge of a Paris December, and it starts late this year. It’s set up under the building’s restored glass roof from mid-December (December 12 or 13, depending on which source you read) to January 6, 2027, with three sessions a day: morning, afternoon and a late-night session that runs to 2am.
Last season, adult tickets were €27 in the morning, €32 in the afternoon and €39 at night (about US$31, US$37 and US$45, 2026), skates included, with cheaper children’s tickets for the day sessions. The 2026–27 prices had not been published when we checked. Tickets are online only, and the evening slots near Christmas sell out. Gloves are compulsory on the ice, so pack a pair.
If that’s too much, the rinks at La Défense and on the Galeries Lafayette roof are cheaper options.
Cozy cafés for a cold afternoon
This is the part of a December trip people remember. It gets dark, it’s drizzling, and you duck into a café where the windows have steamed up. The classic order is a chocolat chaud, which in Paris usually means thick, dark and not very sweet, often with a pot of whipped cream on the side.
Angelina, on Rue de Rivoli opposite the Tuileries, is the famous one for its very thick hot chocolate. It’s lovely and it’s also a line out the door at 4pm in December, so go mid-morning or take one away.
Café de Flore and Les Deux Magots in Saint-Germain are the old literary cafés. A hot chocolate at the Flore costs around €9.50 (about US$11, 2026), more with cream. You’re paying for the room and the people-watching, and we think that’s fair once.
Carette, at Trocadéro and on Place des Vosges, does good hot chocolate and pastries, and the Trocadéro branch is a short walk from the Eiffel Tower view. Handy after the light show.
For something cheaper, any neighborhood café with heaters on the terrace will do. Sit outside under the lamp, order a café crème or a vin chaud, and watch the street.
Big sights in December, and what closes
The Louvre
December is quieter than summer, but the Louvre is still busy. Since January 14, 2026, a ticket costs €32 (about US$37, 2026) for visitors from outside the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, and €22 for residents. Booking a time slot is required, even for free entry.
It’s closed every Tuesday, on Christmas Day and on January 1. It stays open to 9pm on Wednesdays and Fridays, and those late evenings are the calmest time to go. The first Friday evening of the month is free, which in 2026 means December 4. Expect a crowd that night.
The Eiffel Tower
Open every day, including Christmas Day. The summit by lift costs €36.70 for an adult (about US$43, 2026), and the stairs to the second floor €14.80 (about US$17, 2026). Since September 29, 2026, even the stairs ticket needs a reservation. In winter, the summit sometimes closes for high wind, so book the second floor if you’d be annoyed to miss out.
The tower sparkles for five minutes at the start of every hour after dark. You can see it free from Trocadéro, and in December that happens from about 5pm, so you don’t need to stay out late.
The Jardin des Plantes light trail
Most winters the Jardin des Plantes runs an evening light trail, with giant glowing lanterns shaped like animals and plants winding through the gardens. Last season it ran from November 12 to January 18. The 2026 dates were not out when we checked, so look it up before you go. It’s ticketed and very popular with families, and it sits near Gare d’Austerlitz (lines 5 and 10).
Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve
Christmas in France is mostly a family meal on the evening of the 24th. On the 25th many restaurants and most shops close, the Louvre and the La Défense market are shut, and the metro runs a reduced service. The Eiffel Tower, the Champs-Élysées lights and plenty of cafés stay open, so a long walk and a late lunch booked in advance is a very good Christmas Day.
New Year’s Eve centers on the Champs-Élysées and the Arc de Triomphe. Last year the concert was canceled for crowd-safety reasons and the fireworks went ahead. The 2026 program had not been announced yet. If you go, arrive early, travel light, and expect stations near the avenue to close.
Tip: book a table for Christmas Eve or the 25th now. The restaurants that do open fill up early, and many serve only a set menu.
What to wear in Paris in December
Parisians dress for the cold in dark, plain layers, and you’ll blend in (and stay warm) if you do the same. Think a long wool coat in black, camel or navy, a thick scarf you can wrap twice, and a knit sweater underneath. Jeans or wool trousers both work, and a lot of people wear tights under skirts or dresses all winter.
Shoes matter more than the coat. You’ll walk 15,000 steps a day on cobbles and wet pavement, so leather ankle boots with a grippy sole beat white sneakers, which turn gray by day two. Add gloves, a hat for the evenings and a small umbrella that fits in your bag.
Thin thermal layers are the smart move. Museums, the metro and the department stores are all heated well, so you’ll want to take something off the moment you step inside.
Getting around Paris in December
The metro is the easiest way to hop between markets. A single Métro-Train-RER ticket costs €2.55 (about US$3, 2026), the same price wherever you go in the zone. The reusable Navigo Easy card costs €2 at station counters, and you load tickets onto it.
Staying a week? The Navigo Week pass is €32.40 (about US$38, 2026) and covers unlimited travel across the whole region. It runs Monday to Sunday, not seven days from purchase, so it suits a trip that starts early in the week.
Walking is the other answer. The Tuileries, the Champs-Élysées, Notre-Dame and Saint-Germain are all within about 40 minutes of each other on foot, and the lit-up streets in between are half the point.
Tip: the stations nearest the big markets, Concorde especially, can get very crowded in the evenings. Walk one stop and get on at the next station.
How many days do you need in Paris in December?
Four or five days is our sweet spot. That gives you two full evenings of markets and lights, a museum day, a day for the big sights, and a slow café afternoon you didn’t plan.
If you only have a weekend, do the Champs-Élysées lights and the Tuileries on the first night, Notre-Dame and Saint-Germain on the second, and the Galeries Lafayette tree in between. Our pick of the month is the first two weeks of December, midweek: every market is open, the Grand Palais rink is about to start, and the school holiday crowds haven’t arrived yet.
Looking for somewhere else to spend the month? See our full guide to where to go in December.
Leave a Reply