At a Glance
Compared to this destination's peak season
Paris in February
By Harry Nara · Last updated
Paris in February offers some of the best conditions of the year, ideal for romantic getaways. Expect temperatures of 3–9°C, around 9 days of rain, and low crowds across the city. Daily budgets typically land around €65–130 for mid-range travellers. Rooms are easy to find last-minute and hotel prices stay noticeably softer through the season.
Contents14 sections
#Weather in Paris in February
Paris in February averages 3–9°C (37–48°F) with around 9 days of rain, and crowds are low.
| Measure | February in Paris |
|---|---|
| Daytime high | About 9°C / 48°F |
| Overnight low | About 3°C / 37°F |
| Wet days | About 9 |
| Sunset | 5:47pm on the 1st, 6:32pm by the 28th |
| School holidays | 6–22 February 2027 in Paris |
| Crowds | Low, rising in the school holidays |
Figures are Météo-France 1991–2020 normals for Paris-Montsouris.
What that actually means for your trip:
- The evenings come back fast. Sunset moves three-quarters of an hour later across the month, and by the end of February there is light until half past six.
- It is still cold and often grey. Frost and drizzle are normal, and a clear, still day can feel colder than a cloudy one, but by the last week the first mild afternoons bring people back to the café terraces.
- The school holidays change the middle of the month. Paris schools are off from 6 to 22 February 2027, so families fill the museums and the children's attractions for two weeks; the Louvre and the Orsay are noticeably busier.
- The month ends with the countryside in town. The Salon de l'Agriculture opens on 27 February.
Is February a good time to visit Paris? Yes, especially in the first and last weeks. The city is quiet, hotels are still at low-season rates, and February has more going on than January: crêpes for Chandeleur, Chinese New Year in the 13th arrondissement, Valentine's Day and France's great farm show. Pack for cold and damp, and avoid the school-holiday fortnight if you want the museums at their emptiest.
#What to Do in Paris in February
La Chandeleur (Tuesday 2 February)
Candlemas is crêpe day in France. Families make them at home, and crêperies and bakeries put on specials. The custom is to flip the first crêpe while holding a coin in your other hand, for luck through the year. It is a domestic tradition rather than a public event, but the smell of butter and sugar on the streets that week is real.
Montparnasse, where the Breton community settled around the station, has the city's highest concentration of crêperies.
The last of the sales (until 2 February)
France's winter sales started on 6 January 2027 and run for four weeks, so they end on Tuesday 2 February. The final days have the deepest reductions and the thinnest choice; anyone arriving later in the month has missed them.
Chinese New Year (Saturday 6 February)
2027 is the Year of the Goat, and the Lunar New Year falls on 6 February.
The biggest celebrations are in the 13th arrondissement, Paris's largest Asian quarter, around the avenues d'Ivry and de Choisy, with dragon and lion dances and a parade. The parades usually take place on a weekend near the date, and the town halls publish the 2027 dates and routes in January, so check before you plan around them.
Valentine's Day (Sunday 14 February)
Paris takes Saint-Valentin seriously, and almost every restaurant runs a set menu that books out weeks ahead. In 2027 the 14th falls on a Sunday in the middle of the school holidays, so both reasons to book early apply at once.
For something free, walk the Île Saint-Louis and cross to the Pont des Arts at dusk. The city's great chocolatiers, among them Patrick Roger, La Maison du Chocolat and Jean-Paul Hévin, put on their most elaborate windows of the year.
For a quieter romantic afternoon, the Musée de la Vie romantique at the foot of Montmartre is a small house of 19th-century Paris, the home of a painter who received George Sand and Chopin. Its permanent collection is free, and in the warmer months its garden tearoom is one of the prettiest in the city.
The Salon de l'Agriculture (27 February to 7 March 2027)
France's national farm show fills the halls at Paris Expo Porte de Versailles for nine days, and it is one of the most enjoyable and least touristy things you can do in Paris. Every region brings its food: cheeses, charcuterie, oysters, cider and wine, many of them to taste. The prize cattle are treated like celebrities, and politicians come to be photographed with them. Take Métro Line 12 or the T2 and T3a trams to Porte de Versailles, and buy your ticket online.
Solo Travellers
The Cinémathèque française at Bercy, in a building by Frank Gehry, runs retrospectives through the winter and has a museum of cinema history.
For a grey afternoon, the Musée du quai Branly by the Seine holds France's collections from Africa, Oceania, Asia and the Americas in a Jean Nouvel building behind a living wall of plants.
Couples
Skip the 14th itself and go out on the Saturday before, when the same restaurants have tables and prices.
An evening at the Palais Garnier, the opera house of the Phantom of the Opera, is the classic Paris winter night; book ballet or opera on the Opéra national de Paris site.
Families
The school holidays are when Paris puts on its children's programmes.
The Grande Galerie de l'Évolution in the Jardin des Plantes, the Cité des Sciences at La Villette and the carousels in the Tuileries suit a family day; the Jardin des Plantes' great glasshouses are warm and green in the middle of winter. Book anything ticketed ahead for the holiday fortnight.
Groups
The Salon de l'Agriculture is a natural group day out, with a long lunch of regional food on the stands.
In the evening, the jazz clubs of the Rue des Lombards near Châtelet suit a group that wants music with dinner.
#Getting Around
From Charles de Gaulle, take the RER B to Gare du Nord and Châtelet; from Orly, Line 14 of the Métro runs straight into the centre.
All airport journeys use the Paris Région – Aéroport ticket, €14 since 1 January 2026.
In the city, a single Métro ticket is €2.55 on a Navigo Easy card or a phone; paper carnets have gone.
The Navigo Week pass costs €32.40 and covers every zone, airports included, but it always runs Monday to Sunday, so buy it only if your stay starts early in the week.
#Budget & Costs
| Travel style | Per day | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Budget | €60–80 | Hostel or budget hotel, boulangerie breakfast, a bistro lunch menu |
| Mid-range | €140–210 | A 3-star hotel, lunch and dinner out, one or two museums |
| Luxury | €350+ | Palace hotels still near low-season rates |
February is low season, but the school-holiday fortnight and Valentine's weekend push up prices at family and romantic hotels.
Costs worth knowing:
| What | Price |
|---|---|
| Métro single ticket | €2.55 |
| Navigo Week pass | €32.40 |
| Airport ticket, any mode | €14 |
| Louvre, EU and EEA visitors | €22 |
| Louvre, everyone else | €32 |
- Free days: the Orsay on the first Sunday, 7 February 2027, and the Louvre on the first Friday evening, 5 February.
- Avoid the school-holiday fortnight if price and quiet matter most; the first and last weeks of the month are cheaper and calmer.
- The set lunch is the value meal, often half the price of dinner in the same restaurant.
#Food & Dining
February is late winter in the Paris kitchen:
- Black truffle from the Périgord and Provence is in its peak season, on bistro specials boards as omelettes, pasta or shaved over potatoes.
- Crêpes for Chandeleur, sweet or savoury, the latter called galettes in a Breton crêperie.
- Oysters, still at their best in the cold months, at any good brasserie.
- Galette des rois, the almond-filled Epiphany cake, is still in bakery windows in the first days of February.
For markets, the Marché d'Aligre in the 12th runs Tuesday to Sunday mornings and is the cheapest in the city, with the covered Marché Beauvau beside it.
#Nightlife
The Opéra national de Paris runs both the Palais Garnier and the Opéra Bastille through February, with opera and ballet in roughly equal measure.
Duc des Lombards and Sunset/Sunside near Châtelet are the city's best-known jazz clubs, and the New Morning in the 10th hosts bigger names. The natural-wine bars of the 10th and 11th are easy to walk into on a weeknight, harder on Valentine's weekend.
#Shopping
The sales end on 2 February, and the spring collections start to arrive in the boutiques of the Marais and Saint-Germain through the month. The covered passages around the Palais-Royal, Galerie Vivienne and Passage des Panoramas among them, keep you dry. For Valentine's gifts, the chocolatiers of the 6th and 7th arrondissements are the destination.
#Culture & Etiquette
- Book for the 14th. Even neighbourhood bistros fill on Valentine's evening; walk-ins rarely work.
- Greet first. "Bonjour" on entering a shop or café is expected.
- The Pompidou is closed. The Centre Pompidou shut on 22 September 2025 for a renovation due to last until 2030; older guides still send you there.
- Service is included. A euro or two for good service is a courtesy, not an obligation.
#Essential Local Phrases
| Phrase | French | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| Happy Valentine's Day! | Joyeuse Saint-Valentin ! | Zhwah-yez san-vah-lon-teen |
| Happy Chinese New Year! | Bonne année chinoise ! | Bon an-ay sheen-wahz |
| Two crêpes, please | Deux crêpes, s'il vous plaît | Duh krehp, seel voo play |
| I'd like to book a table | Je voudrais réserver une table | Zhuh voo-dreh ray-zer-vay oon tahbl |
| May I taste it? | Je peux goûter ? | Zhuh puh goo-tay? |
| A jug of tap water | Une carafe d'eau | Oon kah-raf doh |
| The bill, please | L'addition, s'il vous plaît | Lah-dee-see-ohn, seel voo play |
#Packing List
- A warm, water-resistant coat
- Scarf, gloves and a hat for cold mornings
- Waterproof walking shoes with grip
- A thermal layer for the coldest days
- A compact umbrella
- One smarter outfit for Valentine's dinner or the opera
- A foldable bag for market and farm-show shopping
#Backup Plans
If it is grey for days: follow the covered passages from the Palais-Royal to the Grands Boulevards, then spend the afternoon at the Musée de l'Orangerie with Monet's Water Lilies.
If the museums are packed in the school holidays: go to the smaller ones, the Musée Jacquemart-André or the Musée de la Vie romantique, or use the Louvre's free first-Friday evening, 5 February 2027, from 6pm to 9pm.
If you wanted the Pompidou: go to the Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris in the Palais de Tokyo for twentieth-century art.
#Safety & Health
Paris is safe in February. Pickpockets work the Métro, the Louvre and Sacré-Cœur, and the crowds of the school holidays and the farm show give them more cover; keep bags closed. Wet cobbles and frosty mornings make the streets slippery. Transport strikes happen more often in winter than in summer, so check the RATP app each morning.
Emergency: 112, or 15 for medical help and 17 for police.
#What's New for February 2027
- The winter sales end on Tuesday 2 February, the same day as Chandeleur
- Chinese New Year is on Saturday 6 February, the Year of the Goat
- Paris school holidays run from 6 to 22 February
- The Salon de l'Agriculture runs from 27 February to 7 March at Porte de Versailles
- Paris Fashion Week for women follows from 1 to 9 March
#About This Guide
By Harry Nara (founder of WhenToWander), updated October 2026 for February 2027. Climate figures are Météo-France 1991–2020 normals for Paris-Montsouris. Dates and prices verified against:
- Salon International de l'Agriculture for the 2027 dates
- Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode for the March fashion week
- Louvre for the free evening and admission prices
- Légifrance for the rule that sets the sales dates
- Centre Pompidou for the renovation closure
- Île-de-France Mobilités for transport fares
For the rest of the season, see Paris in winter, and for the year as a whole, the best time to visit Paris.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is Paris romantic in February?
Yes — Valentine's Day is taken seriously here, with restaurants offering prix-fixe menus and the Pont des Arts and Pont Neuf busy with couples. Book dinner reservations 3–4 weeks ahead for February 14, especially anywhere with a view.
When is Paris Fashion Week in February?
In 2027 the women’s ready-to-wear shows run from 1 to 9 March, just after February, according to the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode. Hotels in the 1st and 8th arrondissements rise in price during the shows, so a late-February trip that runs into March may meet them.
What's the weather like in Paris in February?
Cold and often grey, with highs of about 9°C, lows of about 3°C and around nine wet days. Snow is rare. The evenings lengthen quickly, from sunset before 6pm at the start of the month to about 6:30pm by the end. Pack a warm coat, a scarf, gloves and waterproof shoes.
Are there indoor activities for a rainy February day?
Plenty: the Louvre, the Orsay, the Orangerie, the Picasso Museum and the covered passages such as Galerie Vivienne and the Passage des Panoramas. Sainte-Chapelle’s stained glass and the Catacombs also work on grey days. The Centre Pompidou is closed for renovation until 2030; the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris is the place for modern art meanwhile.
How much does it cost to visit Paris in February?
Budget-conscious travellers can expect daily costs of €65–130, covering accommodation, food, and local transport. Quieter periods usually push prices toward the lower end of this range.