A couple walk in the snow towards the Eiffel Tower

Top things to do in Paris in December

Discover all there is to do in Paris during the holidays.

Christmas and New Year celebrations make December a great time to visit Paris, check out our guide for all your need to know, and more!

Paris in December is sure to blow you away. The weather might be charitably described as on the chilly side – daytime temperatures range from 8°C down to 3°C. However, the mass of Christmas and New Year festivities will probably mean you won’t even realize.

The beginning of December in Paris is relatively quiet when it comes to visit numbers too. So if you’ve ever wanted to wander down the snow-laden banks of the River Seine like in the movies or celebrate New Year in sight of the Eiffel Tower this is the month for you.

Keep in mind that some planning is required to fully appreciate Paris in December. Some attractions close completely on Christmas Day, whilst others have reduced hours on December 24 and New Year’s Eve. If you have your heart set on a specific restaurant or cabaret show, it’s best to book well in advance.

Here are just a few ideas on the top things to do in Paris in December.

Absorb the festive atmosphere

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The City of Light certainly lives up to its name with the arrival of December. Each arrondissement (district) takes great pride in showering the dark wintry streets in festive cheer.

Decorative illuminations hang from street lights everywhere, and cover the well-clipped trees and many major buildings. Public squares as far and wide as the Place de la Concorde and Place Charles de Gaulle raise the stakes further with ever more impressive Christmas trees.

With dusk settling over the city from around 5PM there’s plenty of time to take advantage of the free displays. A great way to round off a day of sightseeing is with the city’s fleet of Hop-on Hop-off buses. Alternatively, swap the grand boulevards for the waters of the Seine and take in the scene with a river cruise.

Evening is – surprisingly perhaps – the best time of day to pass through the entrance gates of the Jardin des Plantes in December. That’s because France’s main botanic gardens become home to giant illuminated animal installations during its Festival of Lights. The result is a whimsical Alice in Wonderland trail that won’t fail to get you in the spirit of the season.

Do a little last minute shopping

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One of the world’s top shopping destinations whatever the season, Paris in December sees the window displays of the shops along the city’s main boulevards filled with enticing gift ideas. It takes immense willpower to avoid the temptation to step inside the likes of Boulevard Haussmann’s Galeries Lafayette.

Renowned for its Christmas displays, its already-impressive multi story glass-domed atrium becomes the centerpiece. Elsewhere, all the big names – from Le Bon Marché to BHV Marais – get in on the act.

The wooden chalets of the French capital’s Christmas markets are also not to be missed. In addition to stalls with handmade arts and crafts, you’ll find plenty of souvenir decorations glinting beneath the fairy lights. If you start to feel the cold, opt for a glass of vin chaud (mulled wine) when tucking into a slice of bûche de Noël (yule log).

Christmas markets can be found throughout Paris from the end of November, including outside Notre-Dame Cathedral, within the Tuileries Gardens and at the La Défense business district’s La Grande Arche. Hosting the region’s biggest Christmas village, it has around 300 different stalls to check out.

Join in the seasonal events

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The Tuileries Gardens hosts one of several family-friendly ice rinks that appear in December too. They may not have you pirouetting like an Olympic figure skater any time soon, but it’s hard not to smile whilst slipping and sliding on the ice.

Another great rink can be found on the roof of Galeries Lafayette, from where there’s views across to the Eiffel Tower. On rainy days you need look no further than the Grand Palais exhibition hall. Becoming the world’s largest indoor ice rink, evening skating sessions are accompanied by live DJ sets.

For shows that don’t – necessarily – require audience participation, head to one of Paris’s cabaret clubs. Often creating special Christmas shows, the most famous is the Moulin Rouge, facing fierce competition from the likes of the Paradis Latin and Lido de Paris.

Should bow strings rather than feather boas be your thing, several churches have concerts in the run up to Christmas day. These include the churches of Sainte-Chappelle and Saint-Germain-des-Prés and the seventh arrondissement’s Basilica of Saint-Clotilde.

Bring in the New Year in style

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There is, of course, a second significant celebration held in December – New Year. In some respects, a Parisian New Year celebration is much more muted than those elsewhere in the world. There are midnight fireworks, though not from the Eiffel Tower as it is often imagined.

Instead, the people of Paris tend to congregate on the Champs-Élysées – closed off to traffic – for live music and light displays at the Arc de Triomphe. First though, they are sure to have enjoyed a lavish New Years’ menu at one of the city’s top restaurants.

Needless to say, you’ll need to book your table early if you want to do like the locals. Restaurants with views of the Eiffel Tower are generally booked months in advance.

Celebrate like an ancient Gaul at Parc Astérix

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Visitors who head to Paris in the winter months will usually find Parc Astérix firmly locked until the warmth of spring returns. Not so for the very last weeks of the year.

The amusement park reopens its doors for the Christmas vacation period, to the delight of children of all ages. Thrill seekers can get their fill of roller coasters and water rides, with one of the largest number of any theme park in France.

To make your time extra special, the park puts on four live shows for the Christmas period, alongside an ice rink, Christmas market and plenty of decorations in the style of the Astérix comic books.

Ways to save in Paris in December

The Christmas period goes hand in hand with spending sprees – don’t let that put you off visiting Paris in December. Not only are there plenty of special Christmas events and attractions, but also the ability to explore with Go City – saving on admission to many of Paris’s top landmarks and must-see sights.

Ian Packham
Go City Travel Expert

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View of Pont Neuf and Île de la Cité in Paris
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Where To Stay in Paris

Paris is so densely packed with amazing things to see and do, and so very well connected, that it’s impossible to pick a straight-out winner when it comes to deciding which arrondissement (neighborhood) to stay in. Rather, it’s best to choose based on the type of break you want to have. Traveling with kids? Book a stay in the 5th and 6th arrondissements. Looking for romance and great nightlife? That’d be Montmartre in the 18th. Check out our short guide to where to stay in Paris below. Best for Seeing it All Perched on the Seine’s Right Bank, Paris’s 1st arrondissement is premier by name and premier by nature. This compact little neighborhood is bang in the heart of the action and makes a fantastic base from which to explore the city. The jewel in the 1st’s crown is of course the Louvre – home to some of the most famous artworks in the world, including the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo. Stroll through Catherine de Médici's Jardin des Tuileries, a huge formal garden in the Italian Renaissance style, and spot Aristide Malliol’s larger-than-life female nudes among the park's hundreds of sculptures and statues. You’ll also find the Musée de l’Orangerie here, where several murals from Monet’s Water Lilies series rub shoulders with fellow Impressionist and Post-Impressionist greats including Picasso, Renoir, Matisse and Modigliani. Just over the 17th-century Pont Neuf – one of Paris’s most photogenic bridges – lies Île de la Cité, the tiny island in the middle of the Seine. It’s here you’ll find Notre-Dame Cathedral and medieval Sainte-Chapelle with its incredible soaring stained glass windows – as well as some of the best ice cream in Paris, at the Berthillon shop. The 1st also has you covered for shopping, with the huge Les Halles mall, plus 19th-century covered shopping arcades (and many more next door in the 2nd arrondissement) and big-name jewelers including Chanel, Bulgari, Cartier and Dior in and around Place Vendôme and Rue de la Paix. On top of all this, you’re also just a hop and a skip from most of Paris’s other bucket-list attractions, including the Eiffel Tower and the cute Marais district. And yet staying in le premier needn’t come at a premium. Alongside uber-luxury hotel brands like Mandarin Oriental and the Ritz are plenty of comfortable mid-range options. Best for Living Like a Local The largely residential nature of the 11th arrondissement makes it great for affordable Airbnb stays, meaning you get to live your best life in your very own Bastille apartment. Venture out to wander among the heady aromas of Marché Bastille and pick up freshly baked breads and pastries, fragrant fromages, local wines and more from the dozens of stalls here. This enormous open-air market runs from Place de la Bastille all the way down tree-lined Boulevard Richard-Lenoir every Thursday and Sunday. Being on the fringes of the main action needn’t mean missing out. Bars and restaurants are just as plentiful here as anywhere else, and you’ll find that brasseries, cafés and crêperies have a pleasantly local feel. You’re also within easy strolling distance of the Marais district, and there’s nothing more Parisian than waking on a Saturday, and wandering into its cobbled lanes for a morning coffee and a bag of sugary chouquettes from the boulangerie, as you window-shop the area’s cute independent shops and boutiques. Alternatively, a stroll south over Pont de Sully, with its picturesque views of tiny Île Saint-Louis, will take you straight to the boho Saint-Germain-des-Prés district and Latin Quarter. Best for First Timers First time visiting Paris? The 8th arrondissement provides a solid base for ticking off as many attractions as possible. A stay here places you within strolling distance of the Arc de Triomphe and vast Place de la Concorde, with its regal monuments and fountains, skyscraping Luxor Obelisk, and sweeping views across the Seine to the Eiffel Tower. Indulge in some luxury shopping on the Champs-Élysées, where you’ll find top-end brand names including Louis Vuitton and Chanel, as well as some of the poshest macarons in town at Ladurée and Pierre Hermé. It’s also from the 8th that the city’s Bateaux Parisiens set sail for sightseeing cruises along the Seine. These tours are a fun way to find your bearings and see a stack of attractions, including the Louvre, Eiffel Tower, Notre-Dame Cathedral, Grand Palais and Instagram-tastic Pont Neuf and Alexandre III bridges with minimal effort. Best with Kids Though all of Paris's arrondissements are well connected, the 1st to the 8th are the most central and therefore particularly well suited to families. A stay in any of these neighborhoods will minimize time spent zipping between attractions, as well as making it easier to nip back to the hotel when you discover you’ve left the diaper bag behind. There’s much to recommend the 5th and 6th for family breaks. Set on the Left Bank, these boho arrondissements are home to the historic Latin Quarter and Saint-Germain-des-Prés neighborhoods, where you’ll find stacks of family-friendly hotels and restaurants, as well as a legendary English-language bookstore and a fab Parisian candy shop, both sure to keep the little ones happy for a while. This is also the place for some of the most kid-friendly public parks in town: the Jardin du Luxembourg and Jardin des Plantes. Kids can enjoy puppet shows, pony rides and one of the biggest playgrounds in Paris in the Jardin du Luxembourg, while the stunning formal gardens and pétanque courts ensure there’s enough to keep the grown-ups happy, too. For a perfectly charming activity that you can all get on board with, there are old-fashioned wooden toy boats to rent and sail on the Grand Bassin lake in front of the Palais de Luxembourg. Nearby Jardin des Plantes is home to one of the world’s oldest zoos, which specializes in the preservation of endangered species including such cute critters as red pandas and giant Aldabra tortoises. You can also visit the Grande Galerie de l’Evolution on the park’s edge. This natural history museum showcases some incredibly lifelike taxidermy animals alongside meteorites, massive dinosaur fossils and several thousand plant species. Best for Couples Ah, the City of Love with its gorgeous monuments, cute sidewalk cafés, beautiful gardens and swoonsome, soaring bridges... Where better to go on a romantic break with your significant other? Even the most jaded of couples won’t fail to be seduced by Montmartre, the 18th-arrondissement butte (hill) that can lay legitimate claim to being the city’s most romantic spot. Here, among gently sloping cobbled alleyways and colorful, ivy-clad buildings, lie dozens of adorable bistros, sultry bars and gourmet food shops to help you plan your perfect picnic. Get your bearings on a walking tour then taking in the flamboyant hilltop confection that is the Sacré-Cœur Basilica. Head round the corner to have a cutesy couples’ portrait painted by one of the Place du Tertre’s resident artists and snap a selfie at the wildly romantic-sounding mur des je t’aime (that’s right: the wall of love). The 18th also boasts plenty of great nightlife, with world-famous entertainment including La Cigale concert hall and, of course, the magnificent Moulin Rouge cabaret. Step inside for high-kicking can-can dancing and risqué burlesque from some of the city’s finest performers. You can’t miss it: it’s the one with the neon-lit red windmill. Save on things to do in Paris Save on admission to Paris attractions with Go City. Check out @GoCity on Instagram and Facebook for the latest top tips and attraction info.
Stuart Bak
Stuart Bak
A woman consults her map in front of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris
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Neighborhoods in Paris

Paris is a dense patchwork of 20 distinct neighborhoods, or arrondissements, all within the périphérique (ring road). Each arrondissement has its own identity and dedicated postcode (75001 for the 1st arrondissement, 75002 for the 2nd, and so on), to make it easier to discover at a glance where the hotel, attraction or other address you’re looking for is located. Hop aboard for our whistle-stop tour of all 20... 1st Arrondissement Right in the heart of the action, the premier is home to a number of Paris’s big-ticket attractions, chief among these being the Louvre. Stroll through the delightful Jardin des Tuileries with its tree-lined avenues, riverside views and graceful Rodin statues, and drop by the Musée de l’Orangerie in its southwest corner to admire the fine collection of Impressionist art, including several of Monet’s famous Water Lilies murals. 2nd Arrondissement Treasure hunters rejoice! Here’s where you’ll find many of Paris’s historic covered passages, including Passages des Panoramas, the city’s oldest. Shop under beautiful glass canopies in these atmospheric 19th-century arcades, where you’ll discover all manner of antiques tucked away behind old-fashioned wooden storefronts, plus chic boutiques, cute cafés, well-stocked wine cellars and more. The sticky signature rum babas at Stohrer, Paris’s oldest pâtisserie, on the nearby Rue Montorgueil are also not to be missed. 3rd Arrondissement The Haut Marais district’s quaint cobbled streets are lined with independent boutiques and several top museums, including the Musée des Arts et Métiers and stunning Musée Picasso, where you can view over 700 paintings and surreal sculptures by the Cubist master, including his Self-Portrait and La Celestina. Pause at the gift shop before strolling to the Marché des Enfants Rouges for some of the best street food in town. 4th Arrondissement Overlooking Notre-Dame Cathedral from the Seine’s Right Bank, the Marais neighborhood’s maze of narrow streets is nothing short of enchanting. Take a picnic to the formal gardens in Place des Vosges and people-watch from beneath the linden trees, then wander the arcades that line this charming 16th-century square. Don’t miss the extraordinary modern art collection in the Centre Pompidou, or the equally exceptional ice cream at Berthillon on Île Saint-Louis, a tiny island in the middle of the Seine. 5th Arrondissement Within the winding lanes of the Latin Quarter on the Left Bank, you’ll find a dazzling array of late-night bars and restaurants, sultry jazz clubs and Art Deco cinemas. Pay your respects to Voltaire, Victor Hugo, Marie Curie and the dozens of other French luminaries who are interred or commemorated in the magnificent Panthéon, buy a book at the semi-legendary English-language bookstore Shakespeare and Company, and meet cute red pandas at the Ménagerie in the verdant Jardin des Plantes 6th Arrondissement Walk in the footsteps of the hundreds of artists and intellectuals who have called boho Saint-Germain-des-Prés home across the years, including Sartre, Picasso, Camus and Brecht. The 6th is also home to one of Paris’s finest parks: the Jardin du Luxembourg. Rent antique toy boats and sail them on the lake in front of the Palais de Luxembourg, smell the roses in the exquisite Italianate gardens or simply pull up a chair and watch the locals compete at the ancient game of pétanque. 7th Arrondissement Tick off some of the city’s biggest hitters in the 7th, where you can – deep breath – climb the Eiffel Tower (or picnic beneath it on the lawns of the Champ de Mars), view the biggest collection of Impressionist art on the planet at the Musée d’Orsay, stroll the Musée Rodin’s perfectly sculpted gardens and admire hundreds of years of indigineous art behind the foliage-covered facade of the Musée du Quai Branly. 8th Arrondissement Just across the Seine from the Eiffel Tower is a luxury shopper’s paradise. The Champs Élysees is home to the largest Louis Vuitton store in the world, plus branches of Cartier, Chanel, Dior and more. Treat yourself to a colorful box of macarons from pastry master Pierre Hermé or the opulent Ladurée store, then use the subsequent sugar rush to power you up the 284 steps to the Arc de Triomphe’s viewing platform. 9th Arrondissement Noted for its beautiful Haussmannian architecture, the lively 9th arrondissement continues the shopping theme with Galeries Lafayette – worth a visit for its incredible stained-glass cupola and terrace views alone. Check out Musée Grévin, a 150-year-old wax museum inside the historic Passage Jouffroy arcade and take in a show at the flamboyant Opéra Garnier, an absolute must-visit for Phantom of the Opera fans. 10th Arrondissement Stroll the scenic Canal Saint-Martin, with its picturesque Venetian bridges, tree-lined cobblestone walkways, shaded quays and colorful street art. The 10th is also home to the busy Gare du Nord and Gare de l'Ést train stations, gateways to the likes of Parc Astérix and the Palace of Versailles. 11th Arrondissement Place de la Bastille and its weekly markets make the largely residential 11th arrondissement worthy of your time. Head for the arts and crafts market on Saturdays, and visit the Marché Bastille on Thursdays and Sundays, where local producers showcase the finest foods the region has to offer. 12th Arrondissement Also mostly residential, the 12th is notable primarily for the magnificent Opéra Bastille, as well as its proximity to the expansive Bois de Vincennes. Paris’s biggest public park, it boasts a chateau, a boating lake, a forest, an arboretum and a zoo among other things. 13th Arrondissement Street art fans will find much to enjoy in the residential 13th arrondissement. Here, local artists use huge concrete high rises as their canvas, resulting in some spectacular and often huuuuge murals. 14th Arrondissement Twenty meters beneath the streets of the 14th, you can visit one of the city’s most macabre attractions. The Paris Catacombs contains a labyrinth of tunnels, with a bone-chilling ossuary that contains the mortal remains of some six million Parisians. A must-see, but most definitely not for the faint of heart. 15th Arrondissement At the westernmost point of the Left Bank, the 15th offers some of the Paris’s finest views. Board the Ballon de Paris Generali in Parc André Citroën to rise 150 meters above the city, or whiz up to the 56th floor of the Montparnasse Tower for uninterrupted views of its far more beautiful counterpart, the Eiffel Tower. 16th Arrondissement There are enough specialty museums here to while away a day or more, the Palais de Tokyo with its excellent avant-garde art collection and the anthropological Musée de l'Homme to name but two. The 16th also adjoins the massive Bois de Boulogne park, where you can go boating, stroll through the woods to the Parc de Bagatelle botanical garden, explore the grotto and much more. 17th Arrondissement Many consider this residential area to be the real Paris. Head to its charming Batignolles neighborhood for quirky bistros, boutiques and street markets, and pause to feed the ducks and play pétanque with the locals in leafy Batignolles Square. 18th Arrondissement Take the funicular up to the Sacré Cœur Basilica atop Montmartre and soak up the atmosphere in cobbled streets and squares that have inspired artists from Modigliani to Picasso. It’s here you’ll find the Moulin Rouge cabaret with its iconic neon-red windmill, and the Place du Tertre, where local portrait painters ply their trade. Get yours done, then grab an ice cream and take in one of the city’s best views from the basilica steps. 19th Arrondissement Green space abounds out in the 19th, where hilly Parc des Buttes-Chaumont offers some of Paris’s best views, as well as an Eiffel-designed suspension bridge, secret grotto and artificial waterfall. Nearby Parc de la Villette is a cultural mecca, home to the biggest science museum in Europe, an IMAX cinema, plus several music venues and theaters. Visit in summer for its open-air cinema and the temporary artificial beach at nearby Bassin de la Villette. 20th Arrondissement Last but by no means least, the 20th arrondissement boasts cool street art, independent boutiques and the second-biggest Chinatown in Paris. It’s also here that you’ll find the vast Père Lachaise Cemetery. You could spend many hours wandering the cemetery’s wide avenues and visiting the ornate tombs and monuments where great artistic figures including Oscar Wilde, Jim Morrison, Sarah Bernhardt, Chopin and Édith Piaf are interred. Save on things to do in Paris Save on admission to Paris attractions with Go City. Check out @GoCity on Instagram and Facebook for the latest top tips and attraction info.
Stuart Bak
Stuart Bak

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