10 things to see and do in Paris in springtime

Spring in Paris is undoubtedly one of the best times of the year to visit the French city. This is thanks to a very pleasant climate with mild temperatures and a wide variety of events and activities typical of these months.

Holidays such as Easter combine with the city's beautiful springtime postcard to offer many activities and events outside of the more typical things to see and do in Paris. If you want to or will be travelling to the historic city in spring, in this post I share with you a list of the best things to do during this time of year and all the useful information about it.

Paris is a city full of beautiful parks and gardens that are cared for with special care and attention. It is in spring when these places are at their most beautiful, mainly because of the flowering that gives passers-by a very colourful and beautiful postcard.

There are dozens of parks and gardens perfect for a pleasant spring stroll. The Tuileries Garden, between the Louvre and Place Concorde, Montsouris Park in the south of the city, Belleville Park on the hill of the same name with one of the best views of the capital and Buttes Chaumont Park, located in an old quarry in the east of Paris, are some of the options to consider.

As the good weather arrives in Paris, Parisians take the opportunity to take to the streets and enjoy the pleasures they can't experience for much of the year. I'm talking about something as simple as having a coffee on a nice terrace. A luxury only reserved for spring and summer, since the rest of the year the temperatures are not suitable.

One of the best places to enjoy it is the Montmartre district. Its steep streets are lined with dozens of typical Parisian cafés with their small terraces and pretty façades. One example is the café des Deux Moulins, near the Moulin Rouge, which was the setting for the famous film Amelie. But there are many more that I invite you to discover in the streets of the Montmartre district.

If you ask a Parisian what his or her favourite springtime activity is, there is a very high probability that the answer will be a picnic. It's a typical Parisian postcard at this time of year in places like the Champ de Mars under the Eiffel Tower.

But of all the options in this sense that we can visit in the French city, the favourite for Parisians, and my personal recommendation, are the Luxembourg Gardens. These centrally located gardens are beautifully decorated with flowers and have large lawns where you can have a picnic in spring when the weather is nice. It is an essential activity in the Parisian spring.

If you choose to travel to Paris during the Easter holidays, you can make the most of these Parisian-style festivities. There are two ways to enjoy it. From a more religious point of view, it is an ideal time to visit the city's churches, of which there are many and very beautiful. The Sacré Coeur Basilica, La Sainte Chapelle, La Madeleine Church and of course Notre Dame are the most famous and beautiful in the city. However, the interior of the Notre Dame cathedral cannot be visited after the great fire it suffered in 2019.

The typical alternative to enjoy Easter has more to do with the sense of taste than with the sense of sight. I'm talking about the famous chocolate eggs and bunnies typical of this festive season. Paris is a city of pastries and its streets are lined with hundreds of patisseries offering these chocolate delicacies.

In mid-May, almost to say goodbye to spring and welcome summer, one of the most magical nights of the year takes place in Paris. The night of the museums is celebrated all over the country, but it is in the capital that it is most enjoyable. On this night you have the opportunity to visit many museums and exhibitions all over Paris for free.

The big museums such as the Louvre and the Musée d'Orsay also take part in this event and open their doors at night. All this is complemented by concerts and artistic and cultural events all over the city in a perfect itinerary to enjoy culture on a magical Parisian spring night.

Spring is also a time for big sporting events. Two of the biggest take place at this time. The first takes place at the beginning of April and is the Paris Marathon. This race brings together more than 60,000 runners and many more spectators around the race course that passes by iconic sites such as Notre Dame, the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower.

The other big event is Roland Garros. The French Tennis Open is one of the most important tournaments in the world of tennis, the most important on clay, and always brings together the best tennis players on the planet. It is held in late May and early June at the Stade Roland Garros complex in Paris.

When the trees are in bloom, the temperatures rise and the days are sunnier, strolling around Paris is a real pleasure. Walking is always a good idea, but it does restrict the distance you can cover. That's why in spring one of the best options is to rent a bike and ride around Paris taking advantage of the good weather.

With the Paris Pass tourist card, you can take public bicycles and explore the city centre or areas such as the Palais Royal complex, the Belleville district or even take your bike to the Bastille and discover the outskirts of the capital with places as interesting as the Vincennes forest.

It is always advisable to get to know Paris from different perspectives. And one of the most beautiful is a cruise on the Seine River. The spring temperatures are perfect for this, even for a cruise on the Seine at night.

Along the way you will see monuments such as the Invalides, the Musée d'Orsay, Notre Dame Cathedral, the Louvre, the Grand Palais and the Eiffel Tower. You can choose to accompany your cruise with dinner on board or choose from various options and combinations. Here are the best options for cruises on the Seine.

As spring progresses it is becoming more and more common to have clear days and skies, one of the best options to take advantage of this fact is to see Paris from the heights from the best viewpoints in Paris.

The most famous of these is, of course, the Eiffel Tower. It is also the highest, but there are other alternatives such as the viewpoint at the Sacré-Coeur Basilica, the Montparnasse skyscraper, the second tallest building of its kind in France, or even on the top terrace of the Arc de Triomphe. Paris is even more beautiful from above.

The Palace of Versailles is one of the must-see sights of your trip to Paris. The charm of the place lies not only in the palace, but also in its gardens. Considered one of the most beautiful in Europe and the world, the royal gardens of Versailles look especially beautiful in spring.

The floral decoration is tremendously beautiful at this time of year and the gardeners take special care to make them look spectacular. During these months you can also enjoy the spectacle they put on with the palace fountains, playing with lights and music. A springtime visit is a must.

The weather is one of the fundamental factors when deciding when to visit Paris or another city. In this sense, spring has plenty of arguments to convince you.

In the months of March, April and May, the hours of sunshine gradually increase and with them the temperature. From a high of just over 10°C in March, the average temperature rises to 20°C in May, rising to around 15°C in April. The minimum temperatures rise from 5 degrees Celsius in the first months of spring to a minimum of 10 degrees Celsius in May. In general, it is a very pleasant climate with very mild temperatures.

The only downside to spring, and this is a common issue in almost every month of the year, is the rainfall. May is one of the wettest months of the year and in general it is almost impossible to avoid rain in spring.

The spring months are the prelude to the start of the high tourist season in Paris, which runs from late May to September. In general, the spring months are not very busy, considering that Paris is one of the most visited cities in the world, and there are not too many problems finding accommodation.

The exception to this is Easter week, when many people take the opportunity to visit Paris during this holiday period, when there is a considerable increase in demand and the number of tourists.

The prices of accommodation and tourist attractions such as Paris are particularly dependent on demand. Since spring is not yet the high season, demand is not as high and therefore prices remain reasonable.

The exception is at Easter, when many places are on holiday and the demand for accommodation rises considerably. And with the demand, so do the prices.

In spring you can experience everything from sunny and pleasant days to rainy and windy days. That's why you should pack your luggage thoroughly and be prepared for various scenarios. What you should not miss in your suitcase is:

• Light and comfortable clothes for the sunny and more spring-like days.
• Extra warm clothes for cloudy days and evenings.
• Comfortable shoes for the long walks through the streets of Paris.
• An umbrella or mackintosh is a must in case you get caught in the rain.