Best time to visit Paris
 

Greetings! My wife and I would like to take a 5-6 day trip to Paris next spring/summer. We've been once before and did a lot of the sightseeing - touristy things so we thought this trip would be more of a relaxation type trip. This trip we wouldn't have any real plans but would rather sit at a sidewalk cafe enjoying a glass of wine and maybe strolling around the city.

We would probably want to go see some of the museums but no specific requirements as to which ones and not a high priority. We DO want to go to several high end restaurants for dinners and enjoy some great meals.

Looking at available award redemptions, it looks like we could easily get award tickets in May and August. Which one would be better for what we want?

Any advice is appreciated!

Many restaurants close for some or all of August, so if a particular restaurant is important to you, you'd want to check on that. This may help:
http://parisbymouth.com/paris-august...rant-closures/

I'm not sure how much this helps since the month just passed, but September is a good time to go. My girlfriend and I vacationed over there last month. We found that the sites were not overly crowded, and we had perfect weather. Also, I highly recommend spending a day in Versailles if you have not been.

If your only options are May or August, I'd go with May.

We went in September last and it was very nice. Unfortunately, we go back then - have to go earlier in the year. Looks like I now also have the option of early June and pretty much the entire month of July as well. As mentioned above, it seems that there may be a lot of closures in August so I don't think that would be my first choice.

I'm assuming that by July, the city is overrun with visitors so the early June days might be my best bet.

I'd go in May or early June if you can. I've been to Paris many times in July, August, September and October and other parts of France in April and in May. While August is vacation time for those in Paris there is enough open that it is still doable. It's the small stores that will be closed and sometimes it's disappointing if you're looking to go to your favorite chocolate store, spice store, etc. As AAL said, some restaurants are closed. May 1 is Labor Day and everything is closed.

Bobette

the tourist overrun starts in april, and finally dies out in nov. if you want to avoid tourists, and go to museums and avoid the unwashed masses and school children, go late nov to end of feb, maybe very early march. paris is not that cold in winter. actually, i do not know what paris in may/june is like. i have never been there during those months.

I would definitely go for early June over July. Weather and crowds will typically be better.
I would avoid Paris in July or August.

I live in Paris and always enjoy spending one week of holiday in August at home.

The weather is generally fine and the city is rather empty (nearly all Parisians are gone). Still most museums, shops, and some good restaurants are open (before 15th August).

Just perfect to (re)discover my city (by bike), enjoy some time at public gardens, visit some exhibits, watch some classics at cinemas.

So, Paris for Valentines day is not a bad idea? I was trying to talk my wife out of it as a more relaxing beach vacation in the Carribean sounded better. I've been a couple of times but she's never been outside the US.

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It's no secret that Paris is one of the world's most popular destinations.The famous Parisian springtime might meet all of the expectations of a first-time visitor.models dubai

Someone told Irving Berlin that they had taken his advice and spent "April in Paris" but hated it.
He said "I agree May is the best month".
"But why did you write about April?"
"Because it fitted the music"

I am not quite sure how it is possible to hate Paris, whenever the season.

We spent the last week of May there this year, and went to the French Open as well. It was great weather -- even too hot the day we were at the Open. Good time to be there.

I say May. I also went to Paris in May and was really glad I did because even though it was busy, it wasn't nearly as busy as it would be during the hotter months.

OP here. Just an update - I was able to book award tickets for the last week of May. Looking forward to a nice relaxing trip!