The best time to visit France depends on where you go: Paris, the Riviera, lavender, harvest or Christmas markets. Our local designers explain each season.
France is big enough to have four climates at once. In late March you can ski in the Alps in the morning and eat lunch on a terrace in Nice. So when travelers ask us for the best time to visit France, we first ask where they are going and what they want to do there. Here is how we match seasons to regions when we design trips from our offices near Lyon and in Nice.
For most first trips, May, June and September are the best months to visit France. The weather is warm without being hot, the days are long, and the main sights are open on full hours without the summer peak.
Spring is when France looks its best. Gardens open, markets fill with asparagus and strawberries, and café terraces come back out.
April can still be cool and showery in Paris and the north, but it is a great month for the Loire castles and Giverny, which reopens for the season in spring. May is warmer, though it has several public holidays (May 1, May 8, Ascension and sometimes Whit Monday), when French families travel and some shops close. Cannes hosts its film festival in May, which fills the Riviera hotels for two weeks.
June is close to perfect: the longest days of the year, warm evenings, and the sea on the Riviera warming up. June 21 is the Fête de la Musique, with free concerts on every street corner. Around June 6, the D-Day commemorations in Normandy are moving to attend, but book the area well ahead.
Summer is high season everywhere except, surprisingly, in Paris.
July 14, Bastille Day, brings fireworks over the Eiffel Tower. It is festive and crowded; we book Seine-side dinners months ahead for it.
The French also travel in July and August, so motorways and trains are full on Saturdays. If you rent a car, avoid changing regions on summer weekends.
September is the month our designers pick most often. Schools have restarted, the sea is still warm on the Riviera, and the light softens.
This is also harvest season. In Burgundy, Bordeaux and Champagne, the grapes come in from early to late September, and in some years into October. Cellars are busy, so tastings need planning, but the energy in the villages is worth it. In the Dordogne, September brings the end of the summer crowds and the start of walnut and mushroom season.
October is cooler, with beautiful color in the vineyards and forests. Paris has a full cultural calendar, and the shoulder-season hotel rates make longer stays more affordable. The Riviera stays mild, though some beach clubs close by mid-October.
Winter is the off season for most of France, with three big exceptions.
The Riviera is mild in winter, often in the 50s °F with blue skies, and the Nice Carnival and Menton Lemon Festival take place in February. It is not beach weather, but it is a fine season for walking, markets and museums.
Our best time to visit tool ranks the months by what matters to you, and compares France with Switzerland, Italy, Germany and Belgium.
Most travelers combine regions, so the trick is finding the month that works for all of them.
Hotel prices in France peak in July and August on the coasts, around Christmas in the Alps, and during big events in Paris such as fashion weeks and major trade fairs. Shoulder months can be 20 to 30 percent cheaper for the same room.
A few practical points we share with every traveler:
We founded Mobee International to show France the way we live it, and the way we live it changes with the seasons. If you ask us for one month, we say September. You get the warmth of summer, the harvest in the vineyards, and a country that has come back from vacation in a good mood.
Our second answer is a contrarian one: December. Paris without lines, Alsace by candlelight, a fondue in the Alps, and hotel staff with time to talk to you. It is a different France from the postcard one, and many of our returning travelers say they prefer it.
The one thing we advise against is trying to see the Riviera, Provence and Paris in the first two weeks of August. Everything works, but you will share it with all of Europe.
Once you have your season, decide on the length. Our 7-day France itineraries cover Paris plus one region, and 10 days leaves room for two. You can browse every France trip we design, or start from the trip that matches your season above.
Tell us your dates and what matters to you, and a designer based in France will send you a priced, custom trip built around your season within 48 hours.
More guides: Month by monthPlanning
For most first trips, September. The weather is still warm, the sea on the Riviera is at its warmest, the grape harvest is under way in Burgundy and Bordeaux, and the summer crowds have gone home. May and June are excellent too, with longer days and gardens in bloom.
The fields of the Valensole plateau bloom from about late June to mid-July, when the harvest begins. Higher plateaus around Sault bloom a little later, often into early August. If lavender is a priority, we plan your Provence days in the first half of July and keep a flexible day.
Not bad, just different. Many Parisians leave on vacation and some independent restaurants and shops close for two to four weeks. The big museums and sights stay open, the city is calmer, and hotel rates can soften. The coasts, by contrast, are at their busiest in August.
The Alsace markets in Strasbourg and Colmar open in the last week of November and run until December 24, with Colmar staying open a few days longer. Hotels in Alsace fill quickly for December weekends, so we recommend booking by September and visiting midweek if your dates allow.
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Two weeks in Europe is a visit. A month is a beginning. The travelers who stay longest are the ones who understand Europe best, and miss it most when they leave.
Before you choose a destination, choose a feeling. The rest will follow.
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