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Christmas in Paris 2026: Lights, Markets, Decorations and Holiday Traditions
Christmas in Paris 2026: where to see the best lights, which Christmas markets to pick, the department-store windows, ice rinks, holiday food and what to expect on December 24 and 25.
Lights, markets, church music and holiday food: how Christmas works in Paris and how to plan it.
At Christmas, Paris turns into a stage, from the glittering Champs-Élysées to a little mulled-wine chalet outside a parish church. Many Parisian families celebrate at home, around a shared table, and that side of Christmas is largely hidden from visitors. Travelers get a different one: lights, shop windows, markets, church music, and holiday food — more of it than anyone can cover in a week.
When Christmas starts in Paris
Earlier than most people expect. The lights and window displays appear in the second half of November, the markets open toward the end of the month, and on November 29 the churches begin Advent, the four weeks of waiting before Christmas. If you’d like a guide in your ear while the lights come on, our self-guided audio walk from Notre-Dame to the Eiffel Tower works well on a December evening, and it runs offline.
The best time to go is late November through the first two weeks of December. Everything is lit and running, and French school holidays haven’t started yet. They begin on December 19, and from then until New Year’s, demand for tickets, restaurant tables, and holiday attractions is noticeably higher. By mid-January the decorations come down. For the season as a whole, see our guide to Paris in winter.
Christmas at the table
The displays in Parisian food shops make it clear that Christmas is approaching. In December, lines form outside the fishmongers, pastry shops fill their windows with holiday cakes, and the brasseries get busier. Oysters are one of the classic Christmas starters in France, and they’re a favorite on Parisian Christmas tables too, even though the sea is a long way off. Oysters with white wine, foie gras on toast, smoked salmon — that’s what December in Paris tastes like.
TouringBee audio guide · Marais Quarter Historical Food Tour. How oysters reached a city so far from the sea, and what queens and the kingdom’s best horses had to do with it. Plus snails, frogs, and the pastry shops of the old quarter — things worth hearing about in December, and tasting too. Download it before the trip and it works offline.
Where to see the best lights
Looking at the lights, of course, costs nothing.
- The Champs-Élysées has the city’s main illuminations, from November 22 to January 4. The lights are on from 5 p.m. to midnight, and all night on December 24 and 31. The finest walk is from Place de la Concorde up toward the Arc in the first hour after they switch on.
- Place Vendôme and Rue de la Paix pair stately architecture with big Christmas trees and jewelers’ façades in lights. The Opéra and the department stores are close by if it starts to rain.
- Avenue Montaigne glows with one fashion-house façade after another, and it’s easy to combine with the Champs-Élysées.
- Boulevard Haussmann is one of the city’s liveliest areas for Christmas lights and window displays, with lit department-store façades within a few hundred feet of each other.
- Bercy Village, a pedestrian street in former wine warehouses, is a low-key alternative to the glitz of the center.
Paris after dark
Paris lit up: a one-hour Seine cruise
An evening sailing with audio commentary shows the illuminated city without the wind in your face — a good plan once the sun sets early.
See the illuminations cruise →The department stores and their windows
The Christmas windows of the big department stores are street theater with a new show every year. Puppets and mechanical figures move, kids stand on special steps to see, and adults film it all on their phones. Fashion houses are often invited to design the windows, and movie stars turn up for the unveiling.
The two best-known department stores are Galeries Lafayette and Printemps, side by side on Boulevard Haussmann. Every year a giant tree goes up under the glass dome of Galeries Lafayette, and it’s worth stepping in for it even with no shopping planned. Printemps next door tells its own story in its windows, and both stores fit easily into one walk. Weekday mornings are the best time for the windows; on the weekends before Christmas, getting close to the glass means squeezing in.
The Left Bank is calmer. In December, La Grande Épicerie, the food hall of Le Bon Marché, shows what the French put on their holiday table. La Samaritaine by the Pont Neuf and the BHV by City Hall are easy to work into walks around the center when you need to warm up.
Christmas markets, big and small
Paris has no single historic Christmas market like Strasbourg’s. Instead there’s a patchwork of big entertainment villages and small artisan markets. It’s best to pick by mood: one big market for the atmosphere, one small one for gifts. Entry is usually free; you pay for food, gifts, and rides.
| Market | Why go |
|---|---|
| Lower Champs-Élysées | Chalets on the grand avenue, under the lights |
| Notre-Dame, Square René-Viviani | About forty artisans, crafts, and a view of the cathedral |
| Tuileries | Rides and a Ferris wheel with a view of the Eiffel Tower |
| Hôtel de Ville | Things made in Paris, and a carousel |
| Saint-Germain-des-Prés | A small market in a beautiful neighborhood |
| La Défense | The biggest one, among the skyscrapers |
The Champs-Élysées market runs from November 22 to January 4, but the chalets keep their own hours and may close earlier than the lights on holiday evenings. The Notre-Dame market is open from November 26 to December 27, so don’t count on visiting it around New Year’s.
The Notre-Dame and Hôtel de Ville markets sit on opposite banks of the Seine, fifteen minutes apart, and they link up nicely into one walk with a cup of mulled wine in hand. A Latin Quarter resident describes both as quieter than the big markets and more local in feel.
Right next to the market in Square Viviani grows the oldest tree in Paris, a black locust planted around 1601. It is linked to the royal gardener Jean Robin, and the tree’s Latin name, Robinia, honors him. The trunk has long been propped up on concrete supports, but every spring the tree still blooms.
Christmas at Notre-Dame and in the churches of Paris
Notre-Dame reopened after its restoration in December 2024, and Christmas 2026 will be the third in the restored cathedral. Nativity scenes go up in Notre-Dame, Sacré-Cœur, Saint-Sulpice, the Madeleine, and other Paris churches, a tradition that came to France from Italy centuries ago. On December 21 and 23, the Madeleine holds a large concert of traditional Christmas carols; tickets should be booked ahead.
For one man, a Christmas service at Notre-Dame changed his whole life. In 1886, eighteen-year-old Paul Claudel walked into the cathedral on Christmas Day a committed atheist and walked out a believer. He went on to become one of France’s leading Catholic writers.
On December 24 and 25, churches are first and foremost places of worship. It’s better to photograph the interiors on other days, and the schedule of services and entry rules for Notre-Dame are published closer to the holiday, so simply showing up for any service isn’t a safe bet. Churches are cold, and an extra sweater is a good idea for a concert. On an ordinary day, there’s time to explore the cathedral at leisure and find the spot where Claudel’s conversion took place, with the TouringBee Notre-Dame de Paris audio guide.
Ice rinks and holiday fun
The most beautiful rink of the season is the Grand Palais des Glaces. From December 12 to January 6, the nave of the Grand Palais, under its glass roof, becomes a huge sheet of ice. Families skate there during the day, and in the evening a DJ takes over. On December 24 and 31, the rink closes earlier than usual.
The rink on the roof of Galeries Lafayette is a different experience: small, and mainly about the view over the rooftops of Paris. One tourist who skated there in December put it plainly: the ice wasn’t great, but the view made up for it. It runs from late November to early January, and sessions are booked on the store’s website. Neighborhood rinks and carousels also pop up across the arrondissements, and many of them are free.
What to eat and drink
- Vin chaud — French mulled wine, warmed with spices, orange, and honey. At the markets, it’s what people drink to keep warm.
- Hot chocolate in a tea room or at a chocolatier: it comes in a little pitcher and is as thick as a dessert.
- Roasted chestnuts from street vendors’ braziers, and marrons glacés, candied chestnuts in elegant boxes, which make a good edible souvenir.
- Candied fruit: strawberries, kumquats, clementines, ginger. One Parisian called them “candy for grown-ups.”
- Bûche de Noël, the Christmas log cake. Every pastry chef in Paris makes their own, and the special creations from top hotel pastry chefs often sell out early. For two people, individual portions are often more practical than a full-size cake. The dessert has a long history: the log was once a real one, burning in the hearth.
Market food is best treated as a snack: there’s a holiday markup, and the quality varies. For dinner, go to a brasserie.
Paris on December 24 and 25
Parisians spend Christmas Eve with family or at a restaurant. On the evening of the 24th, stores close early, the streets empty out, and restaurants switch to fixed holiday menus. A table for Christmas dinner should be booked several weeks ahead. If you have a food allergy or eat vegetarian, let the restaurant know in advance: holiday menus can’t always be changed on the night.
On December 25, many state museums are closed, the Louvre and the Orsay among them. Some private museums and attractions stay open, and the Eiffel Tower usually does too, though it’s worth checking the hours for that day. Markets and rinks may run on reduced hours, and public transit operates, although some lines run a different schedule.
Christmas Day is good for a slow walk along the river and a long lunch. One couple searched for a Christmas lunch spot on the TheFork app and picked Le Train Bleu at the Gare de Lyon, for its holiday decor and crêpes Suzette flambéed right at the table.
Christmas in the neighborhoods
While visitors look at the Champs-Élysées, every arrondissement of Paris has its own Christmas. In the 7th, in December 2024, the shopkeepers themselves paid for the lights on Rue du Bac and Avenue Bosquet, a free ice rink with a view of the dome of Les Invalides went up on Avenue de Breteuil, and outside the church of Saint-François-Xavier volunteers poured mulled wine and sold santons, little clay figures of the parish saints. The town hall gave Christmas packages to elderly residents, and neighbors collected boxes of gifts for the homeless.
The program changes every year, but the idea stays the same: in the residential neighborhoods, Christmas feels quieter and more personal than the postcard version of Paris.
An evening of lights: a three-hour route
Best on a weekday, starting an hour before sunset.
- Galeries Lafayette and Printemps — the windows and the tree under the dome, while it’s still light.
- The Opéra Garnier and Rue de la Paix — by now the lights are coming on.
- Place Vendôme, then along Rue Saint-Honoré to Place de la Concorde.
- The Champs-Élysées from the Rond-Point to the Arc de Triomphe, in full darkness.
With kids or older relatives, part of the way is easier by metro: from Concorde on Line 1 to Franklin D. Roosevelt, then on foot to the Arc. As the Arc de Triomphe comes into view at the end of the glittering avenue, it’s easy to understand why Paris spends so long getting ready for Christmas.
Continue exploring
- Paris in Winter: Is It Worth Visiting? Best Things to See and Do
- Our self-guided audio walk through central Paris, from Notre-Dame to the Eiffel Tower.
- Illuminations river cruise for the lit-up city in an hour.
- Louvre entry ticket with Mona Lisa audio guide on GetYourGuide.
Disclosure: this article contains affiliate links to the TouringBee audio guides, products of the site’s own company, and to GetYourGuide; we may earn a commission on purchases made through them.