Paris is a wildly romantic city located in the north of France on the River Seine. I have visited Paris in spring (late March) and summer (mid-July), and there is something different and more peaceful about visiting Paris in the dead of winter.
For one, there are little to no tourists in Paris during this time of year. Visiting Paris in the spring, during the spring break travel season, was honestly a horrible idea. The Louvre was absolutely packed to the point that it was almost not worth going. Most of the museums and landmarks were this way which was quite overbearing at times.
Before you go, here is a packing guide for your next European trip!
Summer, in mid-July, was an amazing experience because it was Bastille Day (July 14th) and most of the locals headed to the coast for holiday. I practically had the city to myself and really enjoyed myself for that whole weekend.
Depending on when you visit Paris, you can enjoy the city in different ways, which gives you even more reasons to keep going back. My mom and I visited Paris in January of 2019 before my semester in Milan, Italy. It was our last hurrah before she moved me into my school. We didn’t really know what to expect upon arriving in January when it came to the weather, but we had a wonderful time and I do recommend visiting Paris in January.
To be transparent, it was VERY cold. It snowed a few times and the sun felt like it never really came out. Being from Colorado, we were decently prepared for this, but our winters are dry and cold since we have no humidity. The humidity in Paris did add another layer of chill to our days. Frequent coffee stops were very necessary on this trip.
We packed heavy coats, thick socks, scarves, gloves, hats, warm shoes, and more. I will link some of my favorite options below.
My mom and I met at the Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris at the end of January.
From the airport, we purchased a bus ticket at one of the stands and got on the bus route towards the Opera building which is in the heart of the city and near where our hotel was.
There is something so magical about seeing the distinctly blue rooftops of Paris when you first arrive and start making your way into the city. I remember the first time I visited Paris, seeing those rooftops made me realize that I had finally arrived.
I love people watching when I am traveling, especially in a foreign city. There’s so much you can learn about the culture just from that. Are people on their phones or are they not? What are the women wearing? What are the men wearing? What kind of food shops are most common? Are people talking with their hands? Are people greeting each other on the streets?
Our bus dropped us off at the Opera building in the heart of Paris and we began walking to our hotel, with ALL our suitcases. Dragging suitcases around in Europe is always tough because the streets are made of cobblestone and so rolling your suitcase on the European sidewalks and streets is anything but smooth. It was also raining on this day, but we were both too happy to be in Paris to care.
The gray skies, minimal tourists, and the winter chill made the city even more romantic than I had remembered.
We arrived at our quaint hotel in Paris, checked in, showered, and hit the ground running.
I’ve put together a list of my favorite walking shoes for Europe below!
We walked to the Louvre from the north side. (Rue de Rohan & Rue de Rivoli). Coming from the north is always exhilarating because as you enter the ground of the Louvre, the city begins to uncover itself. The glass pyramid of the Louvre begins to show, followed by the statues and blue roofs in the Louvre Plaza, and to the right the Eiffel Tower becomes visible, as well as the Notre Dame to the left.
Depending on the time of year, the Plaza of the Louvre and the fields **Get name* can be completely filled with locals and tourists. On this day in January, we had the whole place to ourselves. It was incredible.
We made the most of the few days that we had in Paris. Below, I’ve put together a list summarizing our schedule.
The Louvre
The Louvre is one of my favorite museums in the entire world. I could spend hours on end in this museum. There is so much to see, and even the building itself is a work of art.
Musee d’Orsay
This museum is another one of my favorites. It is on the River Seine, directly across from the Louvre. The Musee d’Orsay is an old train station that was converted into a beautiful art museum.
This museum houses works by Renoir, Degas, Monet, Van Gogh, and more.
Panthéon
The Panthéon is worth the visit if you are in the area. It is a beautiful building that sits atop a hill in the 5th arrondissement, which is also a beautiful area. We walked from the Wine Tasting class to the Panthéon.
This building is dedicated to the greatest French citizens. Tourists are able to enter the crypt and visit tombs to pay their respects to these historically important people.
A few notable people laid to rest in the Panthéon are Victor Hugo, Marie Curie, Voltaire, and more. I went into the Panthéon not knowing what to expect and ended up learning so much this day. I walked away with a new appreciation for the history of France and its people.
Notre Dame
My mom and I were so grateful to visit the Notre Dame when we did, because only a few weeks later it was on fire. We visited the Notre Dame at night after a long day and I remember it was freezing cold.
We were not allowed to bring any bags inside the cathedral, so we went in one at a time while the other stood outside holding the bags.
It was almost colder inside the cathedral because of the stone and lack of insulation. I had been to Paris a few times and marveled at the exterior of this building but had never actually entered the cathedral. The architecture and stained glass inside of this church is breathtaking and completely worth the visit.
We were only here for about thirty minutes and then walked back to our hotel.
Sainte-Chapelle
The Sainte-Chapelle is a stunning gothic royal chapel located near the Notre Dame in the medieval Palais de la Cité. This chapel opened in 1248 and was the home to the Kings of France through the 14th century.
One of the most important relics of Christendom, the Crown of Thorns, was housed in this chapel and later moved to the Notre Dame. The Crown of Thorns survived the fire of 2019 in the Notre Dame.
This chapel transports you back in time completely. It is so well-preserved and the style of architecture is like nothing I have seen before. Visiting this chapel was one of the highlights of our trip to Paris.
Again, it was so wonderful to visit these stunning cathedrals, chapels, and museums on cold cozy days with barely anyone around. The experience was entirely different and beautifully enhanced for us.
Interior 
Exterior
Wine Tasting in Paris
This tour was located in the 5th arrondissement, very close to the Panthéon. We loved this wine tasting class!
This class is about two hours and you are able to taste six different wines that are paired with delicious French cheeses. We found this class to be extremely educational and fun!
We learned how to read wine labels, the different wine regions in France, and the different processes to make wines in the different regions. We also met other travelers and made great connections.
After this class, we were in a beautiful area of Paris that I had never explored before. We wandered around, explored the Panthéon, and had dinner in the area
Anne is Cooking
The Wine Tasting and Cooking classes that we booked throughout our trip really added so much to our experience in Paris. It’s one thing to travel and sightsee, but it’s another to go into someone’s home, see how they live, and converse over home cooked food.
We met up with Anne and other travelers at an adorable bakery in Montmartre. The location was provided upon booking.
Anne went inside and purchased fresh croissants and baguettes for our class… and I mean FRESH. I don’t think I have ever tasted such a delicious croissant.
Anne taught us how to cook certain traditional French dishes and we all took turns completing steps of the cooking process. We met travelers from around the world, shared stories from our home countries, and learned the art of French cooking.
After this, we explored Montmartre, which is a unique and beautiful area of Paris with great food and shopping.
Montmartre
After our cooking class with Anne, we walked up to the Sacré-Cœur Basilica of Montmartre. There was barely anyone here since it was freezing, which allowed us to really take in our surroundings from atop this hill.
There are tons of small, family-owned shops in this area, as well as cute coffee shops and restaurants.
It was nice for a change to visit smaller shops and to not see designer flagships on every block.
Macaron Cooking Class – Airbnb Experience
We booked this cooking class through Airbnb and absolutely LOVED it!
The classes were hosted by Gabby & Carlos in their charming apartment in Paris and was about $50 each. We arrived after dinner and were there for about two hours. I linked Gabby & Carlos’ profile above because I am no longer finding the exact cooking class that we took, but they have other classes available at the moment.
The class was super hands on and we were able to eat the macarons and take the rest home. It was such a cool experience to be in a typical Parisian apartment on a cold winter night sharing stories and making macarons.
The Concierge
The Concierge is directly down the street from the Sainte-Chapelle chapel. It used to be a part of the old royal palace, but was transformed into a prison, which was historically significant during the French Revolution.
Marie Antoinette was famously imprisoned here, along with thousands of others, during the French Revolution. The prisoners would be taken from the Concierge to other areas of Paris to be publicly executed by guillotine.
I learned a lot about the French Revolution on this visit, but was also reminded that people spent their last hours alive in this building full of fear. That energy is still there in my opinion. It was tough to visit this site but very educational.
Palace of Versailles
Visiting the Palace of Versailles was high on the list for my mom and we carved out a full day to do just that.
The Palace is a little ways outside of the city center, so we had to take the RER C train to get there.
We had a scheduled entry time on our ticket so we made sure to get there about 30 minutes early. We stopped in a coffee shop and waited in the snow for the doors to open. It was a very cold morning but it added to the magic of Versailles.
We had only seen photos of Versailles in the Summer with its beautiful gardens, which we unfortunately did not get to see. The only con to visiting Versailles in the Winter was missing out on the gardens.
The major pro to visiting this gigantic palace was that we almost had the whole place to ourselves! Even the Hall of Mirrors was relatively empty. It was wonderful. We read every sign and wandered down every hall.
There are a few restaurants inside of the palace so that you can eat without leaving the grounds. We took advantage of that and stayed at the palace for most of the day.
I would totally recommend visiting Paris in the winter if your schedule allows for it! The prices are much lower, the crowds are almost nonexistent, and the weather provides an extra sense of romance and mystery.
If you do end up booking any of the experiences that I linked above, please leave a comment letting me know how it went!
