By Harry Nara · Last updated
- Where
- The Jardin des Tuileries and sites citywide
- Tickets
- Free
- Time of year
- November to January
- Dates
- Around the same dates every year
From the city and the Paris tourism office: the Champs-Élysées illuminations from Sunday 22 November 2026 into early January, with a Christmas market on the lower avenue from 22 November 2026 to 4 January 2027, the first there since 2017; La Défense’s market and illuminations from 12 November 2026 to 3 January 2027; the Notre-Dame forecourt tree and lit façade from 29 November 2026 to 6 January 2027. The Tuileries and Saint-Germain markets had not published their dates by mid-October; in 2025 they opened on 15 and 25 November. Whether the Champs-Élysées market returns after this season is not yet known. The dates above are the outer edges of the season.
For years the most common mistake was looking for a Christmas market on the Champs-Élysées, which the city dropped almost a decade ago over security and quality concerns. This season it is back, with chalets on the lower end of the avenue near Concorde, opening the same day as the free illuminations. The other markets have not moved: the big one is the funfair in the Tuileries, the largest by stall count is out at La Défense, and the pleasant small one is in Saint-Germain.
What Christmas in Paris actually is
Roughly seven weeks of markets, illuminations and department-store theatre, running from the second week of November into the first days of January. The Tuileries hosts a gourmet funfair with a big wheel, an ice rink and a long run of chalets between the Louvre and Concorde. The Champs-Élysées lights several hundred chestnut trees along its length. The grands magasins on Boulevard Haussmann build their windows and their trees. And the whole thing is arranged so that the good version is a walk rather than a destination.
Where to watch Christmas in Paris
- La Magie de Noël in the Tuileries, and this is the main one. Chalets the length of the garden, a big wheel, an ice rink and a full funfair, running from the middle of November into the first days of January. Free to walk through, everything inside it paid. It is busy and it is commercial and it is also the most atmospheric of the Paris markets, particularly in the hour after dark.
- The Champs-Élysées, for the lights and, again, a market. Several hundred trees strung the length of the avenue, lit every evening until midnight and all night on the two big nights, and the switch-on closes the avenue to cars. After almost a decade away, a market of chalets has returned to the lower end, near Concorde, a short walk across the square from the Tuileries.
- La Défense, for the largest market by a distance. Several hundred chalets out at the business district, much bigger than anything in the centre and much less picturesque, which is the trade. It is twenty minutes on the RER and it is where you go if the shopping outranks the setting.
- Saint-Germain-des-Prés, for the small and civilised version. A short run of chalets among the boutiques on the Left Bank, no funfair, no crush. The best of the markets if the Tuileries sounds like too much.
- Boulevard Haussmann for the windows, and the walk between them. Galeries Lafayette and Printemps build the windows and the tree under the dome, and the stretch from there down through the Opéra quarter and on to the Tuileries is the single best Christmas walk in the city. Free, and best from about half past four when the light goes.
Tickets and what it costs
Walking through any of it costs nothing. The markets are free to enter, the illuminations are free by definition, and the department store windows are free to stand in front of. Inside the Tuileries funfair everything is paid individually, the rides and the wheel and the ice rink, and it adds up faster than people expect with children. Mulled wine and food along the chalets run at fairground prices. The expensive part of a Paris Christmas is not the markets at all: it is a restaurant table on the two big nights, which is a fixed-menu tradition at a substantial premium and sells out weeks ahead.
Official information and booking: www.paris.fr
Getting there
The Tuileries market is on Métro 1 at Tuileries or Concorde and is walkable from the Louvre. The Champs-Élysées runs from Concorde to Charles de Gaulle Étoile with several stations along it. Saint-Germain-des-Prés has its own stop on line 4. La Défense is the RER A or Métro 1 to the end, about twenty minutes from the centre. Everything except La Défense is within a comfortable walk of everything else, and walking the illuminated stretch between them is the better way to see it than surfacing at each one.
Mistakes worth avoiding
Trusting guidance that says the Champs-Élysées has no market
That was true for almost a decade, and much published advice still says so. This season the chalets are back on the lower avenue, by Concorde, and the Tuileries market is a few minutes away across the square.
Treating La Défense as a scenic option
It is the biggest market in the region by some distance, and it sits among office towers. If you want scale and shopping it is the right choice. If you want the Paris of the photographs, it is emphatically the wrong one.
Leaving a restaurant booking to the week
The two big nights are fixed-menu traditions at prices well above an ordinary evening, and the good tables go weeks ahead. Walking up on the night gets you a tourist menu at a premium if it gets you anything.
Going to the Tuileries at the weekend
It is at its worst on Saturday afternoon and at its best on a weekday just after dark, when the lights have come on and the crowd has not arrived. The difference is considerable and it costs nothing to plan for.
Assuming everything is open through the holidays
Museums and many restaurants close on the two public holidays, transport runs a reduced service, and the markets themselves shut early on the big evenings. Plan those two days as walking days rather than itinerary days.
Other Paris events
Frequently asked questions
Is there a Christmas market on the Champs-Élysées?
Yes, again. The city dropped it almost a decade ago over security and quality concerns, and this season it returns to the lower end of the avenue, near Concorde, opening with the illuminations. Much published guidance still says it is gone.
Which is the best Christmas market in Paris?
The Tuileries, for atmosphere: chalets the length of the garden with a big wheel, an ice rink and a funfair, free to walk through. La Défense is far larger but sits among office towers. Saint-Germain-des-Prés is the small, calm alternative on the Left Bank. Which is best depends on whether you want scale, setting or quiet.
When do the Christmas lights come on?
The Champs-Élysées switch-on is in the second half of November and closes the avenue to traffic for the evening. Most of the markets open in the fortnight around it and run into the first days of January, each confirming its own dates in the autumn.
Is it expensive?
The markets and illuminations are free to walk through, so a Christmas evening in Paris can cost very little. Inside the Tuileries funfair the rides and the ice rink are paid individually and add up quickly with children. The expensive part is a restaurant table on the two big nights, which is a fixed-menu tradition at a large premium and books out weeks ahead.
What is open over the holidays?
Less than people expect. The two public holidays close most museums and many restaurants, transport drops to a reduced service, and the markets shut early on the big evenings. The days either side are normal. Plan the holidays themselves as walking days.
When is the best time to see it all?
A weekday, from about half past four when the light goes. The illuminated walk from the grands magasins on Boulevard Haussmann down through the Opéra quarter to the Tuileries takes about an hour, is entirely free, and shows you more of a Paris Christmas than any single market does.
Sources
- Ville de Paris, official events calendar
- Paris je t’aime, Christmas lights and illuminations
- Paris je t’aime, Champs-Élysées illuminations
- Ville de Paris, the Champs-Élysées Christmas market notice
Dates on this page are checked against the organiser’s own listing and confirmed through 2027. Written and maintained by Harry Nara.