Opening hours in Paris
Opening days and hours for museums, shops, and restaurants in Paris might not be the same as the ones in your home country. Organise your visits according to the Parisian rhythm to make the most of your days in the city.
Opening hours in Paris
Opening days and hours for museums, shops, and restaurants in Paris might not be the same as the ones in your home country. Organise your visits according to the Parisian rhythm to make the most of your days in the city.
Paris, like any big city, has the advantage of being almost always alive and awake. This, however, doesn’t mean you can expect to find everything open all the time. Most daytime activities in Paris take place between 10:00 am and 7:00 pm.
Outside of that, you’ll probably still find what you’re looking for (a supermarket, food, a pharmacy), you’ll just need to look for a little longer. In terms of weekly schedules, a lot of establishments, especially the bigger ones, are open through the weekend. Small shops or supermarkets are usually closed on Sundays.
Museum and sights
Most museums in Paris choose a weekday as their closing day (for example Monday or Tuesday). They normally open between 9:00 am and 10:30 am and close between 5:00 pm and 7:00 pm.
During the weekend, some museums stay open for longer in the evening. Quite a few museums also allow their temporary exhibition visitors to stay for an extra hour on Thursdays or Fridays.
Something that people don’t generally take into account (they actually should) is the time wasted in line at the various museums and monuments, especially when visiting the busiest sites - like the Eiffel Tower, and other popular attractions.
One way to avoid this is to get your tickets in advance or get a Paris Museum Pass. The Pass lets you skip the queues and gives you free access to all the main sights in the city. You can get your Paris Museum Pass here .
Restaurants
In Paris, the majority of the restaurants and eateries serve food at specific hours. Lunchtime is between 12:00 pm and 2:30 pm. Dinner is served between 7:00 pm and 11:00 pm.
Boulangeries and bakeries, on the other hand, normally open early in the morning (7:00 am or earlier) and close around 7:00 pm.
Of course, fast food places (both local and big chains) normally serve food at almost any time of the day, and you might even find local all-day restaurants.
Shops
You’ll find that shops’ opening times vary greatly with the location and the type of shop. Most commercial activities are open Monday to Saturday, 9:30 am to 7:30 pm.
However, large department stores, malls, and shops in touristy locations (like the Champs-Élysées), are often open on Sundays and at a later time (until 9:00 or 10:00 pm).
Public offices (post offices, administrative offices, banks, etc) are generally open Monday to Friday, from around 8:00 am to the early evening.
Nightlife
Paris is a city with a vibrant and lively nightlife. Most bars, pubs, and cabarets open around dinner time or right after, around 10:00 pm.
After a lot of bars start closing down, around 1:00 am, it’s time for nightclubs and discos, which stay open until dawn. Casinos are open until 4:00 am at least.
