By combining weather predictions with our tourism data, we now predict the best months to travel to Paris in 2020. In this overview you can find the best months to travel to Paris and what months are best to avoid the French capital. We believe the best to time to travel to Paris is the shoulder season: April and May or September and October.
Each year, the city of Paris welcomes over 23 million visitors. Because these visitors are not evenly spread over the calendar year, some months can be extremely crowded. Summer months are extremely busy while winter months bring harsh weather but only small crowds to the city of love. Unfortunately, you cannot have it all. Great weather brings big crowds while harsh January weather makes a city trip to the French capital far from romantic.
Best time to travel to Paris in 2020
Best weather: June to August
Worst weather: November to February
Best for low crowds: October to March
Worst with huge crowds: July & August
Best time for low crowds and good weather: April to May & September to October
Below you can find our month to month overview where we combine information about Paris’ climate with our own crowd data. Our crowd data is based on our own crowd forecasts for Paris, these predictions can be found here.
January in Paris is not busy but cold
Winter weather in Paris can be cold and wet. Although the city looks beautiful when covered in snow, and the likelihood of this happening is the biggest in January, it is very uncommon for Parisians to witness snowfall in their beloved city. On average there are 14 days with precipitation. Most of these days will be snow free rainy days.
With only 1 hour of sunshine on average per day, average maximum temperatures of 7 degrees Celsius (45 Fahrenheit), January weather makes Paris an unattractive destination. If you are looking to go to museums and visit other indoor attractions, January might be the perfect month to visit Paris with low to no crowds. It is not busy at all in Paris in January.
February brings low crowds to Paris
February is a great month to visit Paris if you want to avoid tourist crowds. However, the weather might be a reason not to visit Paris during the winter months. Climate data shows it is expected to rain on 13 out of 29 days in February 2020. Combined with average maximum temperatures of 8 degrees Celsius (47 Fahrenheit), that rain can make Paris feel cold and wet.
In terms of tourist crowds, February is a good month to visit Paris. Overall it will not be busy in Paris in February, but some days are better than others. There are some school vacations on the European continent that can make Paris feel more crowded some of the weeks. Use our daily crowd predictor for Paris to see what days are better than others in February 2020.
March is a good month to visit Paris
In 2020, March is a great month to visit Paris. In spring, the weather improves each week while crowds are still relatively low outside peak season. There are hardly any school vacations or public holidays in France or elsewhere on the European continent. Although the average temperature is only 12 degrees Celsius (54 Fahrenheit) it is good to keep in mind that the second part of March is already much warmer than the beginning of the month.
April in Paris is good for low crowds but some days are bad
April brings a wave of public holidays and school vacations to Europe. This makes Paris very crowded on some days while other days are very quiet. It will be especially busy during the Easter weekend (April 12, 13). During most other weekends crowds are relatively low. It is wise to bring an umbrella to Paris as it rains on 14 days on average in March. Temperatures are slowly improving during the month with a maximum average temperature of 16 degrees Celsius (60 Fahrenheit).
May is the last pre-season month in Paris
May knows its busy days in Paris. Although some days are not great, we believe May is the perfect month to travel to Paris in 2020. We advise you to avoid public holidays such as Labour day on May 1, Ascension day as well as the weekend of Whit Monday. You can find all these public holidays and ‘not so great weekends’ in our daily crowd predictor for Paris. Meanwhile, the weather in May in Paris is already pretty good with average (max) temperatures of 20 degrees Celsius (67 Fahrenheit) and rain on only 12 days.
June brings great weather but also larg(er) crowds to Paris
Traveling to Paris in early June is great while traveling during the second part of the month is spoiled by large tourist crowds. Although the true peak season starts in July, it can already get very crowd in June. If you are traveling to Paris in June 2020, we advise that you avoid the weekends and opt for a stay during in the middle of the week. Meanwhile, the weather is really good with average maximum temperatures of 23 degrees Celsius (73 Fahrenheit) and only 11 days with rain. Although Paris is not a host city, keep an eye on EURO 2020 football and expect crowds when France plays big games.
Paris in July will be very crowded
July brings school vacations to France and most other European countries. That means that it can get extremely busy in the French capital. Although there are some good days with smaller crowds, we advise tourists to travel to Paris during other months of the year if possible. The exception to this rule is August when crowds are arguably worse. If you travel to Paris in June, we advise all travelers to plan ahead and keep an eye on local events and public holidays.
The two most important dates to remember are July 14 as France celebrates Bastille Day as well as July 19 when the Tour de France finishes on the Champs-Élysées. If France is successful in the UEFA EURO 2020 football competition you can also expect crowds around the bigger matches. June weather in Paris is great with only 11 rainy days and average maximum temperatures of 25 degrees Celsius (77 Fahrenheit).
Paris in August is best to be avoided
August is when peak season peaks in Paris and is best to be avoided. The entire European continent will be enjoying vacation. Expect massive lines to get into your favorite tourist destinations such as the Louvre or the Eiffel Tower. If you decide to go during this busy month, we advise you to plan ahead and buy tickets in advance. You can find skip-the-line tickets and much more here.
Basically all days will be very crowded. Only at the end of the month will it slowly get quieter as schools in Europe open their doors again and tourism slowly slows down. The weather in August in Paris is great with average maximum temperatures of 25 degrees Celsius (77 Fahrenheit) and the least amount of rain of the entire year.
September is good for weather but crowds can still be big
September used to be the perfect month to visit Paris with great weather and smaller crowds. Unfortunately, September in Paris is now busier than in the past. Although the biggest crowds have left the city it can still get (very) busy during the first weeks of the month. Weekends are best to avoid during the entire month. September weather in Paris is amazing with only 11 rainy days and average maximum temperatures of 21 degrees Celsius (70 Fahrenheit).
October has become a great month to visit Paris
With a quickly changing climate, October weather has been soft across Europe the last few years. As a result, October has now become a perfect month to visit Paris. Climate models do not adequately show this change in weather as they normally use 30 years of weather data. Therefore, the average maximum temperature of 16 degrees Celsius (61 Fahrenheit) does not adequately reflect how good October is to travel to Paris. Crowds in Paris in October are low. Please be aware that it can be busy during some weeks and weekends. That is because some Western European countries have school vacations in October. These school vacations are part of our daily crowd predictions for Paris.
November in Paris is cold and wet but also quiet
November is one of the slowest travel months in Europe and also quiet in Paris. With no school vacations, hardly any public holidays and colder weather, most Europeans do not travel during this month. Expect small crowds, cheaper hotel prices and other good deals across Europe and especially in cities like Paris. Do not forget your umbrella and warm clothes with 15 rainy days and average maximum temperatures of 11 degrees Celsius (51 Fahrenheit).
December brings Christmas crowds and bad weather to Paris
December is Paris’ wettest month of the year with 15 rainy days and only 2 hours of sun per day on average. Despite these bad weather conditions, it can still be busy in Paris. Expect crowds around the holiday season: basically the weeks surrounding Christmas when it can get busy in the French capital. Average temperatures will drop to 8 degrees Celsius (46 Fahrenheit).
