September
Wk 37–39
The quietest stretch among this region's best weather weeks: crowd level around 74 out of 100, weather comfort near 77.
- Crowd level
- 74–75
- Comfort
- 73–80
France · Paris
Paris: a city of twenty districts and two inhabited islands in the Seine
From the Celtic settlement of Lutetia on the Île de la Cité, the city grew into 20 arrondissements arranged in a spiral. The Seine carries two settled islands and a riverbank section that has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1991, and with four airports and six terminal railway stations, Paris is now France's largest transport hub.
Busiest week
JulyCrowd level 100
Wk 30 · 1,893,096 overnight stays
Quietest weeks
JanuaryCrowd level 0–1
Wk 2–4 · measured against the region's own year, not against other regions
Sweet spot
SeptemberCrowd level 74–75
Wk 37–39 · quietest while the weather still holds
Warmest month
22 °CComfort 83
July · around 56 mm of rain in the month
Paris in brief
Paris lies on both banks of the Seine at an elevation of 28 to 130 metres and is divided into 20 arrondissements arranged in a spiral, running from the Louvre to Père-Lachaise Cemetery. In the middle of the river lie the Île de la Cité, the oldest settled part of the city, and the Île Saint-Louis; the riverbank between the Pont de Sully and the Pont d'Iéna and Pont de Bir-Hakeim bridges has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1991. Settlement goes back to the Celtic settlement of Lutetia in the third century BC; Paris hosted six World's Fairs between 1855 and 1937 and was, in total, the host of the Olympic Games three times. With four airports and six terminal railway stations, the city is France's largest transport hub and home to UNESCO, the OECD and the International Chamber of Commerce.
When is Paris busy, when is it quiet?
Click a week. The panel on the right explains why it is busy or quiet.
Weather profile
Weather comfort is an absolute scale (0 = poor, 100 = ideal) and a second axis next to the season-relative crowd level.
JanuaryØ 7
FebruaryØ 17
MarchØ 42
AprilØ 77
MayØ 79
JuneØ 91
JulyØ 92
AugustØ 82
SeptemberØ 75
OctoberØ 83
NovemberØ 54
DecemberØ 57
Colour = season-relative crowd levelBar = weather comfort (Sun & warmth), absolute 0–100
Why this week?
September · Wk 37
Crowd level75/100 · little seasonal variation
quietbusy
Weather comfort49/100 · Sun & warmth
+5 % versus the region's annual average.
- Contributing months
- September (100 %)
- Overnight stays/week
- 1,712,031
- School-holiday pressure (source markets)
- 1 % of source markets on school holidays · -1 % crowding from holidays
- Main source markets
- France (76 %) · Germany (5 %) · Netherlands (5 %) · 94% of guests modelled
- Region range
- 1,170,947–1,893,096 (avg 1,625,731)
- Base years
- 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 (excluding 2020, 2021)
v1: Crowd-Score aus der Eurostat-Basisschicht (Übernachtungen), moduliert vom Schulferien-Druck der Quellmärkte, region-spezifisch gewichtet mit dem Quellland-Mix. Season-relativ zur Region. Event-Schichten folgen.
Plan your trip
Pre-filled with the next date in week 37.
DestinationParis
Travel datesPick a week in the calendar
FlightSearch flights (opens in a new tab)
StayFind stays (opens in a new tab)
ActivityExplore activities (opens in a new tab)Ad · commission link
Photos: Johny Goerend · reisetopia · Dino Reichmuth on Unsplash
The travel year in Paris, month by month
The year as a table to read and to cite: crowd level for every month, plus weather comfort and temperature from the climate normals.
| Month | Crowd level0–100, season-relative | Weather comfort0–100, profile “mild” | Avg temperature |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7 | 21 | 5 °C |
| February | 17 | 27 | 7 °C |
| March | 42 | 37 | 9 °C |
| April | 77 | 56 | 12 °C |
| May | 79 | 69 | 16 °C |
| June | 91 | 78 | 20 °C |
| July | 92 | 83 | 22 °C |
| August | 82 | 83 | 22 °C |
| September | 75 | 78 | 19 °C |
| October | 83 | 61 | 14 °C |
| November | 54 | 38 | 9 °C |
| December | 57 | 25 | 6 °C |
The crowd level is season-relative: 100 is the annual peak of Paris itself, not the busiest destination in Europe. The figures say when it is quiet here — not where it is quieter than elsewhere.
Weather comfort 0–100 from the climate normals, profile “mild” – the same profile as the recommendation above, not the selection in the calendar. A “–” means the data for that month is missing.
Index 2.0 · As of 25/08/2026
The windows worth catching
Three windows from the model: first whether the weather suits the region, then how busy it gets.
May
Wk 19–21
A second option, also with usable weather: crowd level around 76, weather comfort near 69.
- Crowd level
- 75–77
- Comfort
- 67–72
July
Wk 28–30
The region's peak: crowd level around 96 out of 100. Only if the dates are fixed.
- Crowd level
- 92–100
- Comfort
- 83–84
Paris compared with Europe
How full the accommodation is here, measured against Europe – on the only measure on which two travel regions can be compared.
- Bed occupancy in Paris
- 50.1
- European median
- 23.1
per cent of bed places, annual mean
per cent of bed places, annual mean
Furthest from the median: December, at 3.3× the value. Closest to the median: August, at 1.3× the value.
Mean across 12 months, weighted by their weeks. This occupancy compares travel regions with one another. The crowding in the table above compares Paris with itself. The two measures are never combined.
Climate through the year
Average temperature with day/night range and precipitation across the twelve months.
- Avg temperature
- Day/night range
- Precipitation
| Month | Avg temperature (°C) | Day avg (°C) | Night avg (°C) | Precipitation (mm) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 4 | 5 | 4 | 78 |
| Feb | 6 | 7 | 5 | 58 |
| Mar | 8 | 9 | 7 | 72 |
| Apr | 11 | 12 | 9 | 52 |
| May | 15 | 16 | 13 | 74 |
| Jun | 19 | 20 | 18 | 71 |
| Jul | 21 | 22 | 19 | 56 |
| Aug | 21 | 22 | 19 | 52 |
| Sep | 17 | 19 | 16 | 60 |
| Oct | 13 | 14 | 12 | 84 |
| Nov | 8 | 9 | 8 | 67 |
| Dec | 6 | 6 | 6 | 82 |
The band shows mean daytime to nighttime temperature. Precipitation shown as monthly total (mm). Typical monthly value (climate normal), not a forecast.
How sunny?
How much sun a typical day delivers, month by month, expressed as hours of full midday sun.
Moderately sunny
≈ 3.3 h of full midday sun per day, annual average
Jun
Sunniest month
| Month | ≈ h of full midday sun per day |
|---|---|
| Jan | 0.9 |
| Feb | 1.8 |
| Mar | 3.0 |
| Apr | 4.7 |
| May | 5.5 |
| Jun | 5.8 |
| Jul | 5.6 |
| Aug | 5.0 |
| Sep | 3.6 |
| Oct | 2.1 |
| Nov | 1.1 |
| Dec | 0.8 |
Basis: mean daily solar irradiance in kWh/m²/day; 1 kWh/m² is roughly one hour of full midday sun (1,000 W/m²). Not the same as measured sunshine duration. Typical monthly value (climate normal), not a forecast.
Directly reachable from
Destination airports of Paris and every European departure airport with a direct connection to them.
Destination airports
Select a destination airport to see the direct departure airports.
“Directly reachable” means a direct connection exists according to our sources. We do not show a live timetable. Availability and flight days can vary by season and airline.
Ski areas in Paris
Mapped ski areas in this region with slope kilometres, lifts and elevation, plus the long-term snow average from our climate data.
- Ski areas
- 1
| Ski area | Slopes | Lifts | Elevation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Janvry - Janvoriaz | not available | not available | not available |
Slope, lift and elevation figures come from open mapping and are complete to varying degrees. “Not available” means not mapped, not “does not exist”. Opening hours and season are not included. Snow figures are long-term averages for the whole region, not snow depth on the mountain and not a forecast.
Paris in detail
Location and extent
The city area of Paris lies at an elevation of 28 to 130 metres, averaging 65 metres; its area corresponds roughly to that of Mainz or Koblenz and less than 12 percent of the area of Berlin. The highest natural elevation within the city limits is the hill of Montmartre at 129 metres; a vineyard grows on its north slope, and since then also in the Parc Georges Brassens, the Parc de Belleville and the Parc de Bercy. The Montparnasse Tower in the 15th arrondissement is the city's tallest building; the two large urban forests, the Bois de Vincennes in the east at 995 hectares and the Bois de Boulogne in the west at 846 hectares, serve the population as recreational areas.
Twenty districts in a spiral
The city is divided into 20 arrondissements, arranged clockwise in a spiral running from the Louvre to Père-Lachaise Cemetery; since 11 July 2020 the 1st to 4th arrondissements have been combined into the Paris Centre sector. Paris became the administrative seat of the Département de la Seine, numbered 75, in 1790, and since the 1968 reorganisation of the Île-de-France départements it has been both a city and a département at once. Père-Lachaise Cemetery, in the 20th arrondissement, lies at the eastern end of the arrondissement spiral.
The islands in the Seine
The Île de la Cité, the oldest settled part of the city, grew over the centuries from an original 8 to 17 hectares, after Henry III had three small islands off its western tip joined together in 1584; the sale of the newly built houses financed the Pont Neuf, the oldest surviving bridge in Paris. The Île Saint-Louis was created from 1614 on the orders of Louis XIII by the building contractor Christophe Marie out of two smaller islands; from 1618 it was first built up with houses for craftsmen, and from 1638 with mansions for high dignitaries. The Île aux Cygnes is an artificial embankment built in the Seine in 1825, carrying a copy of the Statue of Liberty; it supports the Pont de Bir-Hakeim, whose lower level carries the piers for the metro viaduct above. The riverbank between the Pont de Sully and the Pont d'Iéna and Pont de Bir-Hakeim bridges has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site covering 365 hectares since 1991; the Seine divides Paris into the northern right bank, associated with trade and finance, and the southern left bank, with the Quartier Latin as the district of intellectuals.
From Lutetia to capital
The settlement of Lutetia, home to the Celtic Parisii, stood on today's Île de la Cité from the third century BC; it was first mentioned in writing in 53 BC, in a Roman account. Philip II Augustus fortified the city and, from 1190, secured the right bank of the Seine with a wall, at whose western end the Louvre arose; around 1210 the left bank was likewise enclosed by a rampart. On the night of St. Bartholomew's Day, 24 August 1572, thousands of Huguenots were murdered in Paris. Under Louis XIV (1638 to 1715), street lighting and the water supply were modernised and the Invalides and Salpêtrière hospitals were built; the royal residence was moved to Versailles in 1682.
Growth, World's Fairs and occupation
In 1846 the population of Paris passed one million for the first time. Between 1855 and 1937 Paris hosted six World's Fairs, in the years 1855, 1867, 1878, 1889, 1900 and 1937; in 1900, 1924 and 2024 the city hosted the Olympic Games. In 1921 Paris reached the highest population in its history, at just under three million; since then population growth has taken place mainly in the suburbs, while the city's own population has since stabilised. From 1940 until 25 August 1944 the city was occupied by the German Wehrmacht.
Motto and transport hub
The city's motto is "Fluctuat nec mergitur", Latin for "She is tossed by the waves but does not sink". With four airports and six terminal railway stations, Paris is France's largest transport hub and home to UNESCO as well as the OECD and the International Chamber of Commerce. The Île-de-France metropolitan region has around 12.5 million inhabitants, making it one of the largest metropolitan regions in Europe.
Frequently asked questions about the best time to visit Paris
Short answers on timing, weather and getting there, all from the data on this page.
When is the best time to visit Paris?
- The best time to visit Paris is September (Wk 37–39): it is the quietest stretch among the region's best weather weeks – crowd level around 74 out of 100, weather comfort about 77 out of 100.
When is Paris quietest?
- January (Wk 2–4) is the quietest time in Paris. Crowd levels there sit at 0–1 out of 100, the lowest across the year.
When is Paris busiest?
- Paris is busiest in July (Wk 30) with around 1,893,096 overnight stays in the peak week.
What is the weather like in Paris and when is it warmest?
- It is warmest in Paris in July with an average of 22 °C and around 56 mm of rain in the month.
How do you get to Paris?
- Paris is reachable via 2 destination airports with direct flights, including Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) and Paris Orly Airport (ORY).
Quiet travel windows across Europe, once a month
The Crowd Report names the emptiest weeks of the coming months — for every region, not just this one. Free, unsubscribe any time.
Sources and data vintages
Every provenance note on this page, collected in one place.
- Cover photo
- Photo by Léonard Cotte on Unsplash
- Cover video
- Video by Ludovic Delot on Pexels
- Crowding figures
- Index 2.0 · As of 25/08/2026. v1 approximation, calculated from Eurostat overnight stays. Day tourism and cruises (Venice, Dubrovnik …) are still missing, so we show these destinations as quieter than they are. The crowd score is a model-based forecast, not a measurement.
- Climate data
- Generated using Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2025.
- Reachability
Data sources: direct connections from Wikipedia (“Airlines and destinations”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, aggregated and modified by us), cross-checked with Eurostat, Destatis and the UK Civil Aviation Authority; airport data from OurAirports (Public Domain). The derived connection data is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Data as of: September 2026
- Ski areas
Data sources: ski areas from OpenSkiMap, based on OpenStreetMap, licensed under ODbL 1.0; snow depths from ERA5-Land (Copernicus Climate Change Service).
- Region text
- Text by HolidayHub, written from Wikivoyage „Paris“ (1761694) · Wikipedia „Paris“ (270153039) · Wikidata Q90. Wikivoyage and Wikipedia are licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikidata CC0.
- Data basis
- All figures are approximations derived from open data (crowd level from Eurostat overnight stays, climate from Copernicus/ERA5-Land), not measurements.